Central European ecommerce to grow by 8% in 2026
Online spending in Central Europe is expected to grow by 8% this year, rising from €191.3 billion in 2025 to €206.6 billion in 2026. According to ECDB and Mastercard, the market is entering a more stable phase after the pandemic boom and several years of stagnation. Germany remains by far the largest ecommerce market in the region, while Poland is expected to grow by around 9% and Greece by around 11%. See more on Ecommercenews 

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Kaufland keeps expanding – but growth mainly comes from new markets
Kaufland will expand its marketplace to Spain and the Netherlands in late summer, bringing its marketplace network to nine countries. In 2025, GMV across Kaufland’s marketplaces grew by 11.9% across all countries. At the same time, the group figures paint a more sober picture. Lidl and Kaufland generated €1.7 billion in combined European ecommerce revenue – Schwarz Group only reports the figures jointly – which was flat year on year. The growth therefore appears to be driven mainly by expansion. In Germany, Kaufland’s GMV grew by 4%. See the full story on Ecommercenews (expansion), Wortfilter (online GMV) and Rundschau Online (group figures) 

easyGoup launches fulfillment platform in Europe
easyDelivery has launched a delivery and fulfilment platform for consumers and merchants. From day one, the service provides access to more than 350,000 parcel shops, lockers and other pickup and drop-off locations across the UK and Europe. This includes Germany, France, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands and Poland, among others. The launch fits into easyGroup’s broader commerce strategy, which also includes plans to build the new Easyshop marketplace together with OnBuy. Read more on ChannelX  

Joybuy opens up to European and Chinese sellers
Joybuy, JD.com’s online department store, is evolving into a marketplace. In the second half of 2026, the platform plans to allow selected third-party sellers from Europe and China, initially through a curated model with trusted brands. Sellers will be able to either store their products in Joybuy warehouses or ship directly to customers themselves. Find out more on Ecommerce News 

B&Q Marketplace grows faster than its ecommerce sales
B&Q continues to expand its marketplace and has now launched the Cameras and Wearable Tech category. B&Q Marketplace GMV recently grew by 29%, while ecommerce sales increased by 16%. Online penetration also rose from 16% to 19%. This means the marketplace is growing significantly faster than the British DIY retailer’s ecommerce business. See more on ChannelX

Amazon adjusts checkout and product titles
Amazon is changing two parts of the customer journey. With the new “Add to Delivery” feature, Prime customers in Europe will be able to add items to existing orders without going through checkout again or paying additional shipping costs. At the same time, Amazon is reducing product titles to a maximum of 75 characters. Additional information can be moved into “Item Highlights” with up to 125 characters. From July 27, titles that are still too long will gradually be replaced by AI-generated recommendations. Read more on Onlinehändler-News (checkout) and ChannelX (product titles)   

Allegro tests cross-border trade with Ukraine
Allegro is working on solutions for cross-border trade with Ukraine and is already testing them with partners. This suggests that the Polish marketplace is preparing a possible entry into the Ukrainian market. After Czechia, Slovakia and Hungary, Ukraine would be Allegro’s next expansion market – and its first move outside the EU. See more on Liga.net 

compliance News

Shein launches compliance training for marketplace sellers
Shein is launching a new training series for its marketplace sellers, focusing on product safety, quality and compliance. The courses are being developed with partners including Bureau Veritas, Intertek, SGS and TÜV SÜD. However, Shein does not say whether participation is mandatory or how many sellers will take part. For a platform increasingly under pressure over product safety and seller control, this is exactly where more transparency would be needed. See the full story on Ecotextile 

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Der Beitrag Marketplace Universe News 15.06.2026 – Kaufland expands again, and Amazon adjusts checkout erschien zuerst auf Marketplace Universe.

DDoS attack takes eBay offline
eBay was targeted by a large-scale global DDoS attack, claimed by the Iranian hacker group 313 Team. At the end of April 2026, this led to repeated disruptions – with estimated revenue losses of up to USD 200 million per day. Sellers were affected by limitations in sales operations and transactions. eBay refers in this context to its seller protection, which is intended to safeguard affected merchants in case of platform-related issues. Find out more on Cybersecurity (DDoS) and Wortfilter (seller protection)

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eBay significantly increases revenue and GMV
eBay generated revenue of USD 3.1 billion (+19%) and GMV of USD 22.2 billion (+18%) in Q1 2026. eBay also reports 136 million active buyers and points to strategic progress in advertising and payments. Read more on eBay 

Cloud business and advertising drive Amazon growth
Amazon also significantly increased revenue to USD 181.5 billion (+17%) and operating income to USD 30.3 billion in Q1 2026. Key growth drivers remain AWS (+28%) and advertising, while investments – particularly in AI infrastructure – continue to rise sharply. See more on Stocktitan 

Etsy beats expectations
The handmade marketplace Etsy exceeded revenue forecasts in the first quarter and increased Gross Merchandise Sales (GMS) by 5.5% to USD 2.5 billion. Growth was mainly driven by more active buyers and a 2% increase in GMS per buyer. More on Fashionnetwork

Vinted further connects DACH markets
Vinted continues to link its country marketplaces. Together with Austrian Post, it has now connected Germany and Austria for the first time. Previously, German users could trade with France, Italy, and the Netherlands, while Austrian users were connected to France and Italy. Find out more on Ecommercenews  

Zalando prepares launch in Bulgaria
Zalando continues its expansion in Europe. After launching in Portugal and Greece, the market entry in Bulgaria is expected on August 1. More on Worldef 

B&Q expands marketplace with Tech & Home Office
The British DIY marketplace B&Q continues to grow and adds a new “Tech & Home Office” category – ranging from furniture to monitors and printers. This addresses rising home office demand and gives sellers access to over 20 million monthly visitors. See more on ChannelX

Wild News

GameStop wants to acquire eBay
The gaming platform GameStop has made an unsolicited takeover bid for eBay worth $55.5 billion. The offered price is about 20% above eBay’s current share price. If eBay rejects the proposal, GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen plans to take the offer directly to eBay shareholders. With this move, GameStop aims to build a stronger competitor to Amazon, while also planning significant cost reductions following a potential acquisition. Read more on BBC

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Der Beitrag Marketplace Universe News 04.05.2026 – Gamestop wants to buy eBay, and eBay Under DDoS Attack erschien zuerst auf Marketplace Universe.

Marketplace Country Quadrant UK 2026: The Return of the British Giants

The British market has evolved rapidly over the last years. From Europe’s powerhouse to post-Brexit decline to battle field for aggressive Chinese players to local heroes-playing field, outlook changed hard and fast in just a few years. ECDB’s data for 2026 now projects the UK e-commerce revenue to reach €167.09 billion in 2026. Following a period of relative cooling, growth is regaining serious momentum, projecting an impressive 6.4% year-over-year increase.

The level of market penetration is truly remarkable: nearly one in every three pounds (29.7%) in the UK is now spent online. In a country of 69.6 million people where internet penetration stands at a saturated 99.3%, “offline” retail is rapidly becoming an outlier. However, the most compelling trend is the “platform boom” led by domestic giants. Retailers like Tesco, Next, and John Lewis have aggressively adapted to the marketplace model and are now dominating the landscape. Our freshly updated Marketplace Country Quadrant UK 2026 reflects this shift.

What’s changed? The great domestic shift

Compared to the previous year, the face of the Marketplace Country Quadrant UK has shifted radically:

• Next & TikTok Shop: Both have officially ascended to the generalist tier. Next has completed its transformation into a broad-based platform, massively pushing its marketplaces as the main driver for growth. And TikTok Shop has expanded well beyond its initial niches to become a major force in categories like Food.
• AliExpress & Very: These players have been repositioned. AliExpress seems to be losing the battle against the determined local heroes and has lost its place among the generalists. It is still relevant in some categories but much less the attacker it was one year ago. Very’s marketplace is doing well, but in many marketplaces it has been overtaken by the stronger growth of competitors like Next, which is why we moved them to the category leader’s board for now. 
• The Brexit Filter: International Platforms (apart from Amazon and ebay) are struggling in the UK. ManoMano has disappeared completely from the quadrant, Zalando is nowhere to be seen, and Decathlon is fighting for their place on the category leader board. The bureaucratic friction of post-Brexit trade acts as a natural filter, weeding out cross-border actors lacking local infrastructure.

The 2026 Quadrant in Detail

Looking closely at the current Marketplace Country Quadrant UK, the balance of power is clearly defined:

Generalists

• Amazon & eBay: Defending their foundational roles as the ultimate market leader and re-commerce hub, respectively.
• Next & Tesco: The new gold standards for successful British platform strategies.
• TikTok Shop: The social commerce powerhouse now serving all major categories.
• Temu: Present, but far less dominant here than on the European mainland.

Specialists by Category

• Fashion & Shoes: Shein dominates the budget segment, while John Lewis and Very capture the curated lifestyle niche.
• Electronics: Back Market continues to capitalize on refurbished tech, flanked by Argos and OnBuy.
• Home & Living: A three-way battle between premium John Lewis, specialist Wayfair, and value-driven AliExpress.
• DIY & Garden: B&Q defends its top spot against a revitalized Argos and AliExpress.
• Sports: JD remains the benchmark, with Decathlon and John Lewis providing market breadth.
• Beauty & Care: TikTok Shop dominates this category, but as they ascended to the generalist tier, we also look at Superdrug, ASOS and Very to fill the niche.

Market Analysis: Marketplace Universe Opinion

The Marketplace Country Quadrant UK makes one thing abundantly clear: The British “Local Heroes” didn’t just crash the marketplace party; they took it over. With a staggering 94.4% of e-commerce revenue generated via domestic purchases, the UK is no longer a landscape for quick cross-border wins. If you want to succeed here, you have to commit to local platforms. The moat is deep, but thanks to the high digital affinity of British consumers, the potential for those who cross it is greater than ever.

Want to add your voice?

Did we miss an emerging player in our analysis? Help us make the quadrant even more precise for 2027!

Do you have anything to add to our country quadrant for the UK? Let us know!

Interested in a different country or a specific product category? Check out all our quadrants here!

Der Beitrag Top Marketplaces in the UK – Marketplace Country Quadrant UK 2026 erschien zuerst auf Marketplace Universe.

TikTok Shop grows rapidly in Germany
One year after its launch, around 15% of German online shoppers have already purchased via TikTok Shop, according to NielsenIQ. Depth of usage is also increasing. The average purchase frequency rose from 2.3 to 3.3 purchases per year, while spending per buyer increased by around 32%. TikTok is thus increasingly evolving from a discovery channel into a transaction platform. Find out more at NielsenIQ 

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EU tightens rules for low-value imports
The EU is stepping up its actions against low-cost imports from China and plans to introduce a €2 handling fee in addition to the uniform €3 customs duty. The customs duty will apply from July 2026, while the handling fee is planned to be introduced from November 2026. See more on Transport-online 

Temu owner PDD misses expectations
PDD Holdings reported revenue of $12.6 billion in Q4 2025, falling short of analyst estimates. The company cites intensifying competition in China as well as growing global uncertainties, such as tariffs in the US, as key factors weighing on its business – also impacting the international growth of Temu. Read more at Retailgazette 

OnBuy expands into eight new markets
The marketplace OnBuy is launching in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Poland, Hungary, Romania, the Czech Republic and Switzerland, bringing its presence to 21 European markets. The expansion follows strong growth, with quarterly sales increasing by 152% last year. See more at Ecommercenews 

Otto begins international rollout with the Netherlands
Otto Group is opening its marketplace to international sellers in phases. Partners from the Netherlands will be onboarded first in the first half of the year. Poland, Austria, France, and Spain will follow by the end of 2026, Denmark is planned for early 2027. At the same time, the business continues to grow, with GMV reaching €7.5 billion (+6%). The marketplace is expanding faster (+9%) than the 1P business (+3%) and now includes around 6,100 sellers. See the full story at LinkedIn 

Kaufland bundles retail media in its own platform
Kaufland is launching “Kaufland Interact”, a central retail media platform that bundles all advertising offerings – from online shop to in-store screens. This includes display units at store entrances as well as checkout screens. The goal is unified booking across all channels. Read more on Invidis 

Kingfisher posts strong growth
Kingfisher plc reported a pre-tax profit of £378 million for FY 2025/26, up 23% year-on-year. The increase was driven by cost-saving measures and strong performances from B&Q in the UK and Screwfix in the UK and France. See more on HarwichandManningtreestandard 

Hype News

#BookTok drives book sales in Europe
More than 50 million books were sold across Europe in 2025 through the #BookTok community, generating around €800 million in revenue. Germany is the largest market ahead of the UK, with 28 million books sold and €482 million in revenue linked to the trend around TikTok. See the full story at ChannelX 

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Der Beitrag Marketplace Universe News 30.03.2026 – TikTok Shop grows rapidly in Germany / EU Extends Processing Fee for Packages / Otto start with Sellers from Netherlands erschien zuerst auf Marketplace Universe.

Shein has more than 600 sales partners in Germany
The marketplace of Shein continues to expand its seller network in Europe: in Germany alone, more than 600 sales partners are now active. This marks a shift from a pure private-label model towards a more open marketplace with a growing merchant base. At the same time, in France, the government also failed in its second attempt to temporarily suspend the marketplace following a scandal involving child-like sex dolls. More on Ecommerecnews (Germany) and Reuters (France)

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Amazon to invest over €5 billion in Poland
Amazon plans to invest €5 billion in Poland by 2028, aiming to challenge local market leader Allegro. Part of the investment will go toward a new fulfillment center. The company has already invested €10 billion in the market since 2012. See more at Ecommercenews 

Temu grows rapidly in Spain and Italy
Temu served an average of nearly 130 million Europeans per month in the second half of 2025. That is 12 percent more than in the first six months of last year. Especially Spain and Italy saw a strong increase in users. Find out more on Ecommercenews 

Galaxus continues to post losses in Germany
Online retailer Galaxus has accumulated losses of more than €200 million in Germany. Nevertheless, parent company Migros continues to push ahead with expansion – not for short-term profits, but for strategic effects on purchasing, logistics, and pricing in its home market. Read more on NZZ 

Kiabi Expands Its Marketplace Business
Following its launch in France, Kiabi is accelerating its digital transformation with the European rollout of additional marketplaces. Spain and Italy are the first on the list, with other countries set to follow. See more on Retaildetail 

Kingfisher bets on agentic shopping features
Kingfisher plans to introduce agentic AI-powered shopping features on the websites of B&Q and Castorama in France and Poland, as well as Brico Dépôt in France. The goal is to move beyond traditional keyword search by enabling a more intuitive, conversational product discovery experience. Find out more at TheRetailBulletin 

POs News

MediaMarktSaturn Opens Its Spaces to Decathlon
As part of its “Space as a Service” concept, MediaMarktSaturn is leasing retail space to Decathlon. This is creating shop-in-shop areas in select stores that combine sports and technology, thereby revitalizing unused retail space. This approach demonstrates how large retail spaces are becoming increasingly flexible: Instead of traditional product categories, hybrid shopping destinations are emerging that boost foot traffic and share costs. See the full story on RetailDetail 

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Der Beitrag Marketplace Universe News 23.03.2026 – 600 German Seller on Shein / Amazon Invests in Poland / Kiabi Expands Marketplace Business erschien zuerst auf Marketplace Universe.

eBay launches live shopping in Germany
Following the US and UK, eBay is bringing its live shopping format to Germany. eBay Live enables curated live shows in which retailers, brands and influencers can present products and offer them for auction or immediate purchase. Live commerce is a rapidly growing retail segment that is already well established, particularly in China. See more on eBay (German)

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Major outage of marketplace service provider Rithum right before black week
The platform of marketplace service provider Rithum was down for almost 48 hours at the end of last week. According to the company, this was due to problems during maintenance work. Rithum first processed the backlog of orders, then the backlog of product data. See more on Channeladvisor 

Amazon fails in appeal against VLOP classification
An EU court has rejected Amazon‘s appeal against its classification as a Very Large Online Platform (VLOP). This means that Amazon must comply with the requirements to disclose certain company data. Zalando also recently failed in its appeal against its classification as a VLOP. Read more on Reuters 

Amazon now second-largest online retailer in Belgium
Only three years after launching a dedicated online store for Belgium, Amazon has grown into the country’s second-largest online retailer behind bol. The company continues to invest heavily in Belgium: part of the investment is going towards same-day delivery. See more on Ecommercenews

Allegro lowers growth forecast
Allegro recorded GMV growth of just over 10% in Poland in the third quarter, with profits rising by 17% to €245.4 million. Nevertheless, the company is lowering its annual GMV forecast to 8–9% (previously 9–10%) due to a slow start to the Black Friday period. Read more on Reuters 

B&Q now welcomes German sellers
The B&Q marketplace continues to open up to international retailers and, following Ireland, Italy, Spain, Poland and the Netherlands, has now also made registration possible for German sellers.  The GMV of B&Q’s parent company Kingfisher rose by around 45% to £228 million in the first half of 2025 compared to the same period last year. Find out more on ChannelX

Reality Check News

EU Sellers disappointed by their Temu-Experience
After six months on the Temu marketplace, TradeDownCo is pulling out again – the hoped-for alternative to Amazon proved unsustainable for local sellers. Massive discount pressure, lack of price control, complex workflows and structural disadvantages compared to global (mainly Chinese) sellers made profitable operations impossible. Several other sellers are reporting the same experience. Read the full story on LinkedIn 

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Der Beitrag Marketplace Universe News 24.11.2025 – eBay Live launches in Germany / Allegro lowers forecast / B&Q now welcomes German sellers erschien zuerst auf Marketplace Universe.

Shein has massively expanded its product range. In addition to fashion, shoes, accessories and beauty items, the platform now also offers jewelry, electronics, sports and outdoor, home & living, DIY, pet supplies, office supplies and even car accessories. The assortment in these new verticals seems to be sold almost exclusively by marketplace partners. Shein

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Amazon will change the marketing fees for deals in the US, making deals more expensive in many cases – the biggest mistake Amazon has brought up in the past 24 months according to Amazon expert Malte Karstan. LinkedIn

 For Prime customers, Amazon is offering the deal event “Spring Deals 2025” from March 25 to 31. In the US, Amazon is using it to simultaneously push its Temu clone Amazon Haul: All deal orders at Haul automatically receive a 50% discount. AboutAmazon (spring deals)  Retail Drive (Haul)

Amazon launched in Ireland, giving Irish shoppers access to more than 200 million products with prices in euros and no customs fees. There will soon be an extra page for brands, “Brands of Ireland”. Channelx

Because consumer sentiment continues to deteriorate, Douglas has lowered its sales forecast for the current fiscal year from 4.7 to 4.9 billion euros to 4.5 billion. Wallstreet-Online

 Etsy now has only 5.6 million sellers, 1.4 million fewer than a year ago. In particular, the number of active sellers fell sharply. Marketplacepulse

The British B&Q Group, which also operates the DIY marketplace Kingfisher, generated sales of 3.8 billion pounds in 2023/24, of which 154 million were in the marketplace business. B&Q’s brand awareness is 92%. Channelx

Cross Border News

The Romanian online market is growing by more than 10% annually, with online shoppers spending EUR 7.7 billion on purchases in 2024. The eMag group, which is a leader in the marketplace business, is also expecting to see 10% growth after investing in payment options and logistics. Turkish competitor Trendyol also wants to grow with the Romanian market, and a new logistics center near Bucharest should help. Ecommercenews

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Der Beitrag Marketplace Universe News 24.03.2025 – Shein’s range grows fast / New pricing for Amazon Deals / Etsy lost 1.4 million Sellers erschien zuerst auf Marketplace Universe.

Fashion Bombshell: Zalando has announced the acquisition of competitor ABOUT YOU, marking a major shakeup in the European fashion e-commerce and marketplace industry. Marketplace-Universe

Amazon expansion: Amazon opened its 22nd country marketplace in South Africa and announced number 23: Amazon Ireland will start in Q1 next year. About Amazon

TikTok Shop is finally coming to continental Europe: The platform is about to launch in Ireland and Spain. SCMP

Temu opened its marketplace for EU-based sellers in August. The middlewares reacted fast and announced their first API integrations to Temu in late fall. In November, Amazon answered – and brought “Amazon Haul” to Europe. Marketplace-Universe China Gadgets

Start of new marketplaces

Lots of new marketplaces started this year in Europe, among them are the platforms of OBI Group Holding, HAPPY SIZE, Tesco, fashionette, Castorama and zooplus.

Wherever you lokk: Internationalization

International expansion was high on many marketplaces’ agendas in 2024: Kaufland Global Marketplace started in Poland and Austria, while Allegro launched in Hungary and Slovakia. Skroutz went to Romania, MODIVO started in Italy and Czechia. B&Q opened its platform to international sellers and OnBuy has moved its ambitious plans for internationalization to 2025.

Clearouts and Consolidation

Amazon, OTTO and Zalando have cleared out their platforms. Otto lost several hundred sellers, Amazon kicked hundreds of small brands out of their vendor program. And in the last days of Dezember, disturbing rumors about new clearup in Zalando’s wholesale and partner program reached Valeries inbox. Marketplace-Universe

The second difficult year in a row led to consolidation in the marketplace landscape: Mytheresa bought its insolvent rival YOOX NET-A-PORTER. The French electronics and home appliances group (and marketplace provider) Fnac Darty has acquired a 91.1 % share in Unieuro S.p.A., Italy’s leading electronics and appliances retailer. And German premium fashion retail chain Breuninger is looking for a buyer. Marketplace-Universe

Second-Hand goliath Vinted opened its platform to professional sellers in UK, France and Germany, and expanded its business modell to used electronics.

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Der Beitrag Marketplace Universe Greatest News 2024 erschien zuerst auf Marketplace Universe.

Otto has lost over 1.100 seller partners on its marketplace since April 2024, the German business newspaper “Handelsblatt” reports. Nearly 700 sellers were fired from the marketplace by Otto, round about 500 sellers have left the platform on their own account due to frustration over raised fees, technical problems and high return rates. LinkedIn

More News

The DIY marketplace B&Q has been growing fast in the first half of 2024. 1.5 million products are now listed on diy.com by 1.300 merchants. Overall, the platform turned a GMV of 157 million British pounds from January to July 2024, 40 percent of this GMV results from the marketplace. Kingfisher

Marketplace Universe Weekly readers have already known for weeks what Amazon has now officially announced: The next Prime Day Deals will commence on October 8 and 9. LinkedIn

The struggling FBA aggregator SellerX is not being auctioned after all. Main investor BlackRock wanted to auction the company on September 17 because it wasn’t able to pay its loans. In the end, BlackRock cancelled the auction just before midnight on September 16. Exciting Commerce

Future News

New data from emarketer suggests that e-commerce in Western Europe might be on the rise again. Online sales in Germany, UK, France, Italy and Spain together could grow by 5 percent in 2024. LinkedIn

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Der Beitrag Marketplace Universe News 23.09.2024 – Otto is massively losing sellers / SellerX is not being auctioned / e-commerce might rise again erschien zuerst auf Marketplace Universe.