DHL Supply Chain is the new logistics service provider for Reflaunt, a technology platform that enables branded fashion resale. The collaboration shows the growth and potential of recommerce in Europe.

DHL and Reflaunt claim to have found a solution to the challenge of scalability in successfully reselling fashion items. According to the press release, following a successful one-year pilot with DHL Supply Chain in Poland, Reflaunt will now be able to offer their customers a platform that redefines how brands power their resale operations; bringing together scalability, infrastructure, and cost management.

Under the arrangement, brands contract with Reflaunt to manage their resale operations. All products are handled and authenticated by DHL personnel at DHL facilities. The logistics service provider picks up, inspects, grades, and photographs the products before adding them to Reflaunt’s proprietary technology. DHL also manages inventory, storage, fulfillment, and outbound distribution. According to Reflaunt, the partnership will expand its recommerce capabilities and further reshape the dynamics of fashion resale.

Reflaunt services Concierge and Takeback are already operational with brands like Altuzarra, Balenciaga, Harvey Nichols, and Net-a-porter. The services are fully integrated into a European DHL Supply Chain warehouse operation. Reflaunt reaches more than thirty platforms for outbound sell-through, including eBay, Rebelle, Saks OFF 5th, Vestiaire Collective, and Yoox.

With its new logistics partner, Reflaunt will be able to maximize the sell-through of items, including returns, providing brands with “a comprehensive solution that mitigates the complexities of the resale market”, the company states. According to CEO Stephanie Crespin, Reflaunt brings circular fashion closer by tearing down walls between 1st and 2nd hand, and between ecommerce and recommerce.

The European recommerce market is booming, with Amazon already booking over a billion euros per year in second-hand shopping revenue. Last week, Wish announced a European trade-in service.

A report from the insurance provider Chubb found that the ecommerce problems of most concern among consumers regarding social commerce were different from those expressed by retailers.

Notably, the report found that consumers tend to trust social media commerce marketplaces more than other channels. Social media commerce platforms were trusted by 85% of the survey-takers who used them. Traditional ecommerce platforms, however, had a trust rating of only 48%. Physical stores, meanwhile, scored a trust rating of 70%, and companies’ own digital storefronts had a trust rating of 55%.

The survey was commissioned by the insurance provider Chubb and performed by the firm iResearch. The authors assessed perspectives from 500 adult consumers, as well as 525 online merchants.

Consumer responses showed that 75% of those taking the survey had been victims of financial fraud. Delivery delays were also common, showing up in 61% of responses. That category was followed by lost payments due to glitches in the purchasing process (55%). Behind that was frequently receiving damaged items (42%).

Comfort levels with social media shopping tended to decrease among older generations, with Gen Z showing the highest rate of activity. 46% of Gen Z participants in the survey were comfortable with buying via social media, compared to 30% of millennials, 22% of Gen X shoppers, and 0% of baby boomers.

Putting those results into context, the report’s authors framed trust gaps as one biggest ecommerce problems and a major obstacle to customer loyalty.

According to Amy McNeece, senior vice president of digital consumer partnerships for Chubb in North America, no matter whether it’s on social media or on e-commerce platforms, the customer journey must be simple, easy and give the consumer confidence as their trust is fragile. Delivery issues, damaged products and online scams can all shatter consumer trust in an instant, and customer loyalty is critical in the age of digital commerce.

Trust tended to skew higher in Latin America versus other regions. Shoppers there buying online at least three times per month (75%) showed up at a higher rate than North America (62%), Europe (59%) and Asia-Pacific countries (56%).

Latin America’s fast-paced online shopping reveals a savvy digital consumer. This has been driven by mobile and social media leapfrog behaviors during the last decade. The emerging middle-class consumer has access, thanks to e-commerce platforms, to a wider and broader range of services than through traditional channels.

As for retailers, the Chubb report spotlighted another set of unique ecommerce problems with social media channels. 81% of retailers said they sold through social media marketplaces, and three-quarters indicated that they used social media front-end experiences for marketing. However, trust elsewhere remained a challenge, according to the findings.

Just 35% of online merchants expressed trust in social commerce marketplaces for inventory management. Results were also below 40% for ease of navigation (30%), refunds and returns (31%), shipping and fulfillment (33%) and payment processing (35%).

This skepticism was further illustrated by 70% of retailers indicating that items they sold on social media marketplaces were not delivered in what they considered to be good condition. That failure rate was lower (54%) for goods sold via ecommerce platforms. In addition, 65% of merchants cited a lack of delivery options. 60% mentioned an overall lack of control regarding the state of the goods being delivered to be a problem.

The amount of online shoppers in Europe decreased 1 percent in 2023. However, the amount of regular online shoppers has remained stable. And 7 out of 10 of these regular online shoppers were active on C2C platforms, where they bought or sold secondhand products.

These data come from the E-shopper Barometer 2023 by Geopost, a French logistics company. The report gives insight into the latest developments and trends in online shopping. More than 24,000 Europeans in 22 countries, between the ages of 18 and 70, participated.

According to the report, the share of European online shoppers has decreased slightly in the last two years. Both in 2022 and 2023, the share dropped 1 percentage point. The share of regular online shoppers remained stable. According to 65 percent of them, online shopping is a way to save money.

The use of consumer-to-consumer (C2C) platforms is very common for these regular shoppers. At least 70 percent bought or sold on these platforms in 2023. A third said that their purchases of secondhand products had increased. And consumers mostly sold on these platforms to free up space at home.

There are differences when we look at consumers in each countries. Within the Netherlands, 77 percent of online shoppers bought or sold on secondhand platforms. In Italy, that share was 66 percent. In the United Kingdom, the share was 74 percent, in Germany it was 73 percent and in France it was 75 percent.

At the same time, social media is also ingrained in online shopping. Last year, 70 percent of regular online shoppers used social media to get inspiration or information. And 48 percent bought products directly through social media platforms.

Last week, Shopify has launched its Winter ’24 Edition, which includes more than 100 product updates to its ecommerce platform. These include features to make international selling easier. Merchants can now add a localized online store for up to 3 markets.

The ecommerce software provider launches a Shopify Edition twice a year. It catalogs every platform update from the past six months. These include new features in product merchandising, like color swatches and a file picker where all media files on Shopify are available.

Last year, the company increased the prices of its subscription plans. With the newest updates, all subscriptions have new features as well.

Merchants now have the option to start a localized store with custom markets. They can tailor their store for each market. According to Shopify, doing so will result in higher conversion. As a result, these features make cross-border selling easier for merchants.

The localized store includes a tailored storefront and layout, accounting for regional and cultural differences per market. Other possibilities are currency conversion, setting prices per market, translating your content per market and using local payment methods.

The feature is included in all pricing plans. Merchants can create 3 localized stores. And only sellers using the Advanced plan can add more markets, for almost 60 euros per market.

Recommerce is a relatively new term, which includes solutions like repair, remanufacturing, rental services, reconditioning, refurbishing, and resale. Online marketplaces such as Vinted are good examples of c2c recommerce marketplaces.

In 2022/23, the European recommerce market was valued at 94 billion euros. The market share, compared to the total European ecommerce market, is now 12.3 percent. It is expected to increase to 14 percent in the next three years.

According to a research by Cross-Border Commerce Europe, the recommerce market is projected to grow 5 times faster than the overall retail market by 2025. A previous research indicated that the recommerce market was worth 75 billion euros in 2021.

The researchers already projected that the market will be worth 120 billion euros by 2025. With the market’s current growth, that is still to be expected. This means that the market value will increase 27 percent in the next three years.

According to the research, 76 percent of online shoppers think that the attitude to second-hand shopping has improved. And according to 41 percent, buying second-hand has even become a status symbol. This shows that the image of the recommerce market is still improving.

At least 85 percent of shoppers either bought or sold used goods last year. And 27 percent did that for the first time. 69 percent of sellers in the recommerce market said the money they made helped them pay bills. And 39 percent said that reselling helped them make ends meet.

Many consumers have turned to recommerce for its sustainable image, but the researchers say that there are some limitations to it. Reselling is a positive step, but its benefits could be limited if buyers choose second hand clothes in addition to, rather than instead of, new outfits. Rentals could be more detrimental to the environment, primarily due to the transportation involved in exchanging shared goods. Online peer-to-peer rental platforms offering multi-category fashion products promote sustainability but also increase ‘last mile’ logistics routes for cleaning services.

In the manifesto prepared in the lead-up to the elections for a new European Parliament, Ecommerce Europe states that it is more important for online sellers that existing rules are enforced than the introduction of new rules.

Ecommerce Europe is the united voice of the European Digital Commerce sector, representing the interests of companies selling goods and services online to consumers in Europe as their official website presents.

Ecommerce Europe describes its manifesto as “a way forward for the European Union to unlock the potential of the European economy and the digital commerce sector”. According to the interest group, this ambition can only be realized by adhering to a set of guiding principles, with enforcement priority being a prominent one: “Think enforcement first, and new rules second.”

Ecommerce Europe also calls for understanding companies’ realities to design rules they can comply with, to respect better regulation principles, and to ensure coherence across legislations. Another principle regarding regulations is “Think small first, to work for the 90% of companies making up our economy.”

Other prerequisites include the preservation of channel-neutrality, the assurance of harmonization, and the defense of a level playing field for all companies. “By following these principles when regulating any aspect of the economy, we could ensure that the common objective of a green, digital, and inclusive economy is fulfilled, “ the manifesto says.

Ecommerce Europe has put forward concrete policy priorities for the new EU mandate, including closing the loop on the EU circular single market, streamlining data requirements, and leveraging digital tools to improve consumer information. All the priorities are developed in its manifesto.

The elections for the European Parliament take place from June 6 to 9. According to Ecommerce Europe, in the next five years ecommerce in Europe will play a crucial role to realize continental economical ambitions.

After years of tempered growth, European online spending will grow more rapidly in the coming years, according to the group, reaching an estimated 30 percent of retail sales by 2030.

Online retailers are grappling with ‘the biggest-ever wave of January returns’, according to returns provider ZigZag headquartered in the United Kingdom. The percentages are much higher than a year ago, even though shoppers have to pay for returns more often.

ZigZag, acquired by Global Blue three years ago, bases its observation on user data from of its returns management platform, www.ecommercenews.eu reports. In the UK, the number of returns from December 24 to January 2 was 16 percent higher than the same period a year ago. In the United States, the number of returns was a staggering 26 percent higher than a year earlier.

On January 1 and 2, ZigZag recorded an absolute peak: British online sellers received 42 percent more returns than in the first two days of 2023. Al Gerrie, ZigZag’s CEO, said that the influx is not surprising in the current economic climate. It is indicative of how consumers are trying to keep spending down.

He added that they are not expecting returns to be up 42 percent over the whole of January, but these figures show they can expect to see one of the busiest Januarys ever for returns. It is possible that shoppers are returning Christmas gifts and purchases now with the intention of purchasing them cheaper in the January sales – a complex situation that retailers will need to carefully navigate.

Of all the online returns ZigZag registered during the Christmas period, almost half (48 percent) were paid returns. This is a lot more than a year earlier. In Germany and France, for example, paid returns increased by 13 and 20 percentage points, respectively.

And 63 percent of ZigZag’s retail clients now include a paid returns solution in some capacity. This demonstrates that paying for returns is becoming the new norm. Online retailers would much prefer products not to be returned at all, because handling costs are much higher than customer contributions. This is why many retailers are now using paid returns. Avoiding  returns is a top priority for many online retailers.

In the past fiscal year, MediaMarkt’s revenues more than doubled to 137 million euros. Over the next three years, external trade volume is expected to reach 750 million euros. The company is experiencing substantial growth with its marketplace.

This information comes from Ceconomy’s publication of its figures for the fiscal year 2022/2023. The owner of MediaMarkt and Saturn saw a significant increase in revenue, up by 4.7 percent to 22.2 billion euros.

The growth is attributed to sales in physical electronics stores, which saw a significant uptick post the COVID-19 crisis. However, online revenue dropped below the 5 billion euro mark, which was surpassed in the previous fiscal year. The online revenue share decreased from 25 percent to 23 percent in a year.

Ceconomy expects the online revenue share to grow again in the coming years, reaching approximately 30 percent in the fiscal year 2025/2026. MediaMarkt’s marketplace plays a crucial role in the growth expectations.

After various trial phases, MediaMarkt opened its doors to external sellers in its home and top market Germany about two years ago, with Austria and Spain following later.

While marketplace sales were 65 million euros in the fiscal year 2021-2022, they reached 72 million euros more in the just-concluded fiscal year, an increase of 111 percent. The GMV reached 137 million euros, and this amount is expected to multiply several times in the next three years.

Ceconomy speaks of ‘significant momentum’ for its marketplace and expects not only to earn more from external sales but also increasingly from partner advertisements.

At the end of September 2023, Media Markt had around 1,100 resellers with a total of 1.4 million products on its platform, several hundred thousand more than a few months earlier. The marketplace is set to be rolled out in the Netherlands and Italy in the new fiscal year.

Merry Christmas!

We wish you a joyous Christmas and a happy and prosperous New Year.

Kickstart Solutions Team

Amazon is increasingly using rail and sea transportation in Europe, with a 50 percent growth in utilization this year. According to the company, rail and short sea routes are not only more environmentally friendly but often more efficient and even faster.

Amazon is opting for trains or boats more frequently in and around our continent, and less often for trucks on the road. The company is collaborating with European carriers such as Cargo Beamer, Viia, the Mercitalia Group, Grimaldi, Stena Line, and DFDS to transport products through over 100 rail lanes and more than 300 sea routes, leading to nearly a halving of carbon emissions.

Amazon emphasizes that third-party sellers account for approximately 60 percent of sales on the platform. The online marketplace is constantly working on optimizing inventory across warehouses on the continent, including those of partners who use Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA).

With its Climate Pledge, co-signed by hundreds of other major companies, Amazon aims to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2040. This is ten years earlier than the ambition outlined in the Paris Climate Agreement.

Amazon is attempting to make various aspects of its operations more sustainable, often in collaboration with chain partners. New steps are continually being taken and actively promoted.

For instance, a year ago, the company announced an investment of over 1 billion euros until 2027 to decarbonize its transportation network in Europe. This year, Amazon has initiated dozens of renewable energy projects in Europe, strengthening the continent’s clean energy capacity and employment. Last month, the ecommerce giant announced that all boxes, bags, and envelopes used for deliveries in Europe are now recyclable. Just last week, Amazon revealed that its European second-hand sales have grown into a billion euros business.