Check out our monthly round-up for January and February. If you want to learn more about ecommerce and marketplaces or get in touch with one of our experts, visit our Marketplace Solutions page here: 

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The European Payments Initiative (EPI) is looking to create a new pan-European payment system

EPI is a collaboration of major European banks, including BFCM, BNP Paribas, BPCE, Crédit Agricole, Deutsche Bank, DSGV, ING, KBC, La Banque Postale, Nexi, Société Générale, Worldline, Belfius, DZ Bank, ABN Amro, and Rabobank.

One of EPI’s major initiatives is to develop a digital wallet that allows users to transfer money between different bank accounts. Most recently, they have acquired the Dutch payment service iDeal (used by 90% of Dutch online shoppers), as well as Payconiq, a technology provider of iDeal and Belgian payment platform Bancontact. According to EPI, iDeal is reportedly going to form the basis of an EU-wide payment system.

Martina Weimert, CEO of EPI Company, states: “Together we will join forces to realize EPI’s vision as we build an innovative solution based on a new, unified instant payment scheme and platform for Europe… We are developing a new, scalable platform to address the modern and evolving payment needs of European consumers and merchants in the best possible way, with efficient, state-of-the-art technology.” 

Amazon to expand its B2B division across Europe in an effort to grow amidst rising costs

It’s no secret that fulfillment and operational costs have been rising. In response, Amazon plans to expand its b2b division, “Amazon Business”, in Europe, as well as to close a range of brick-and-mortar stores and pop-up shops across the UK and the US. Despite having grown gross sales in Europe at a compound annual rate of 25%, the ecommerce giant is heavily driving more cost-efficiency. Aside from investing more in its B2B proposition, Amazon has also recently cut more than 18,000 staff in Europe and increased the costs of its multi-channel fulfillment service for Amazon sellers.

Driving stronger advertising strategies on and off Amazon using first-party data [new whitepaper]

Businesses that hope to grow and stay relevant as we enter a cookie-less world should be implementing advertising strategies that leverage first-party data, comply with complex privacy regulations, and exceed customer expectations. Amazon DSP or “Demand-Side Platform” is one of the most powerful tools in the game to help businesses just achieve that. In Incubeta’s latest whitepaper, “The Power of Amazon DSP: Advertising with First-Party Data, On and Off Amazon”, get a fundamental understanding of what Amazon DSP is all about and how it can add value to your business. 

DoorDash builds out its retail media presence to compete with Instacart

Over the past six months, DoorDash has been upping its game in the retail media space to capitalize on one of the fastest-growing revenue streams for marketplaces in Europe.

What started as a delivery service for restaurants in 2013 has since expanded into various other areas: white-label delivery, convenience, alcohol delivery, grocery, and more. In November of 2022, DoorDash even partnered with Sephora in the US, shortly after launching their advertising solutions for brands of all sizes

5% of European spending goes to subscriptions

According to research by ING Bank, Europeans spend an average of EUR130 per month on a variety of subscriptions (e.g., video, music, sport, or food). They estimate that over €350 billion is spent annually on subscription purchases, which corresponds to about 5% of the total household consumption in Europe. ING also forecasts this amount will grow by approximately €190 billion every year. 

Cross-border ecommerce in the EU worth €179 billion 

Online stores in the EU have achieved a record-high turnover of € 105.5 billion across borders. According to ​​the 5th edition of the “Top 500 Cross-Border Retail Europe”, an annual ranking of the top cross-border online shops, the top 10 retailers for 2022 (across 15 countries within Western Europe and Scandinavia, and the United Kingdom) are:

Top 1: Ikea

Top 2: Lidl

Top 3: Zalando

Top 4: H&M

Top 5: LEGO

Top 6: Zara

Top 7: Jysk

Top 8: Bauhaus

Top 9: Notino

Top 10: Adidas

The fastest-growing companies in Europe

Last March, The Financial Times and Statista released the seventh edition of the FT 1000, which features the fastest-growing companies in Europe based on revenue growth between 2018 and 2021. Topping the list is mobile games producer, Tripledot Studio (UK), followed by an insure-tech company called Marshmallow (UK), and a lithium battery maker known as WeCo (Italy). The ecommerce sector is represented by 95 companies overall.

Italy takes the lead as the most represented country on the list with 260 companies, followed by Germany at 217 and the UK at 155. However, while the UK takes third place on the list of most represented countries, London is the leading city that’s home to the most fast-growing companies (83). Paris comes in second (34), with Milan as a close third (33). 

The Top 10 Most Searched Keywords on Amazon in Europe and the UK (January-April 2023)

What products are shoppers searching for? According to various data sources such as Statista, data tells us that in most cases in Europe and in the US, online product search doesn’t start on Google, but on Amazon.

So, if we think about the customer journey and the role Amazon plays from the very beginning, as a search engine as well as a marketplace, then insights into the keywords people are searching for can be incredibly valuable. 

View the monthly breakdown of the top 10 most-searched-for keywords on Amazon across Spain, Germany, France, the UK, Italy, the Netherlands, and Sweden.

View Search Term Report

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If you want to learn more about ecommerce and marketplaces or get in touch with one of our experts, visit our Marketplace Solutions page