The United Kingdom

Ecommerce platform Floodlight has raised 6.4 million dollars in a seed funding round. The company offers a smart business account where ecommerce business owners can manage and optimize their finances. “This seed round is an exciting validation of our platform and its potential to meet the needs of unserved SMEs”, says Noam Bernstein, CEO and co-founder.

Ecommerce software provider Shopline is expanding into Europe. The Singapore-based company is launching a European headquarters in London. It raised 182 million dollars last year in order to accelerate its global expansion.

Google Shopping advertising specialist Producthero is now hosting Google CSS advertisers which were formerly customers of competitor Aisle 3. This enables the company to strengthen its position as Google CSS-partner in Europe.

United Kingdom-based ecommerce pricing platform BlackCurve has raised 750,000 British pounds (856,127 euros) in a funding round. With the capital injection, the company wants to expand in its core online markets. It will also drive down its cost of sale.

Patchworks has raised 4 million pounds (4.4 million euros) in growth capital. The ecommerce integration platform wants to use the funds to enhance its product offering. The company also hired Jim Herbert from BigCommerce as their new CEO.

Online fashion marketplace Secret Sales has reached a 70 percent year-on-year growth in sales in 2022. This was largely driven by the company’s international expansion last year. It expects to maintain a growth of 85 percent this year.

Non-food online sales in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and Spain are expected to grow up to 4 percent. This is mostly driven by rising prices due to inflation. At the same time, sales volumes are set to fall up to 5 percent.

London-based startup Kuai Commerce has raised 2.4 million dollars (2.22 million euros) in a funding round. The capital injection will be used to launch an ecommerce solution that helps European merchants to sell their wares in the East.

Amazon plans to close three distribution centers in the United Kingdom, the company’s biggest market in Europe. After investing heavily during the pandemic ecommerce boom, the retail giant is experiencing a dip in demand.

Amazon has reached a settlement with the European Commission. The ecommerce giant says it will not use data from partner sellers for its own products. It will also add a second Buy Box. By doing this, the platform avoids a billion dollar fine.

The software and payments solution provider ClearCourse has acquired ecommerce platform provider Sellerdeck. Both companies are able to expand their product offering, thanks to the acquisition. The financial terms of the deal are undisclosed.

More than half of online stores in Britain close their customer care after 5 pm. Additionally, 27 percent of the online stores in the country are only available during the daytime on Monday to Friday. “A missed opportunity”, says Jonathon Huggett, Business Development Manager at Salesupply UK.

Beerwulf, the Heineken-owned online beer retailer, has launched its own marketplace in the Netherlands. Now, third party retailers can sell products on its platform. Beerwulf’s new platform will enter the United Kingdom in 2023, followed by Germany, France and Italy.

Online furniture retailer Made.com has announced that it is appointing administrators. The company is thus preparing for insolvency, as it was unable to be sold by the end of October. Earlier this week, it also suspended its trades.

Fashion retailer H&M is considering payment for online returns. Return fees could help cut increasing company costs. H&M is testing the change in return policy in Norway and the United Kingdom.