Otto.de, Germany's second-largest online marketplace, has opened its platform to Dutch retailers. The move marks the first step in a broader European expansion strategy and gives Dutch ecommerce businesses access to one of the most significant untapped marketplaces in continental Europe.

Until recently, selling on Otto.de required a German legal entity and a German VAT ID. That barrier no longer applies to Dutch companies. As of March 2026, businesses registered in the Netherlands with a B.V., N.V., or V.O.F. structure and a valid Dutch VAT ID can apply directly, provided they participate in the OSS procedure.

Why Otto Is Worth Taking Seriously

Otto is not a niche player. In the past fiscal year, the platform reached a GMV of approximately 7.5 billion euros, growing 6 percent while the broader German online retail market grew 3.2 percent. The marketplace arm contributed significantly to that growth, increasing by 9 percent and now counting 6,100 active seller partners. 

The platform now has 12.6 million active customers and over 19 million products available. Fashion and Sports recorded the strongest category growth, followed closely by Home and Living.

A Curated Marketplace — Not an Open Platform

Otto operates a curated marketplace model. Each retailer is individually checked and vetted before being granted access, with quality positioned as the platform's core differentiator. This means the application process takes time, and not every seller will be accepted.

For those who do qualify, the monthly basic fee is €99.90, regardless of the number of products listed. Commission is charged per item sold, with rates determined by product category.

What Dutch Sellers Need to Arrange

Meeting the eligibility criteria is straightforward for most established ecommerce businesses, but there are four areas to address before applying.

Legal and tax structure. A Dutch legal entity (B.V., N.V., or V.O.F.) with a valid Dutch VAT ID is required. Participation in the OSS procedure, using that Dutch VAT for cross-border purposes, is also mandatory.

Customer service in German. This is the requirement that will determine whether most Dutch sellers can realistically operate on the platform. Otto mandates German-language customer service as a condition of selling, not a recommendation. Native-level support, available across the week including evenings and weekends, is the standard expected by German consumers.

Shipping from an EU warehouse. Products must be shipped from a warehouse located in Germany or elsewhere in the EU.

Returns handling. Returns must be accepted at a warehouse in Germany or one of the selected EU countries: the Netherlands, Denmark, France, Italy, Austria, Poland, Spain, or the Czech Republic.

The German Customer Service Requirement: The Deciding Factor

For Dutch sellers evaluating the opportunity, the logistics and legal requirements are manageable. The German customer service requirement is where the decision often gets complicated.

German consumers have high expectations for customer support, in their language, across their preferred channels, and outside standard office hours. A part-time German speaker or a translated support script will not meet that bar. Otto is explicit about this: quality is the platform's top priority, and it applies the same standards to its sellers as to its own operations. otto

Sellers who cannot credibly deliver German-language support risk both their seller rating and their continued access to the platform. Getting this right from the start is significantly easier than fixing it under pressure after go-live.

For companies without existing German-speaking capacity, outsourcing to a specialist customer service provider with native German agents is the most reliable route. Pay-per-interaction models, which charge only for actual volume handled, make this accessible even for sellers starting at lower order volumes on a new platform. Our partner Salesupply, for example, provides native German customer service for ecommerce brands on exactly this basis.

Looking Ahead: More European Countries to Follow

Otto's international expansion does not stop with the Netherlands. Sellers from Poland, Austria, France, and Spain are expected to be able to apply later in 2026, with Danish retailers following in early 2027.  For European ecommerce brands with the operational infrastructure to meet Otto's requirements, the window to establish a position on the platform — before the wider European seller base arrives — is now.

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The Scandinavian e-commerce market is growing exponentially. Denmark, Norway, and Sweden were all ranked in the top 10 of cross-border countries. This is an annual ranking of the best 16 European countries in cross-border online shopping by CBCommerce. These countries are thus of high interest for e-retailers to expand to. Furthermore, these countries are frontrunners leading the way for the rest of Europe in technology and sustainability. But what is important to know about these countries? 

Entering the Scandinavian e-commerce market can be challenging with several obstacles during the process. Not trusting foreign websites and customer service not offered in the native language are examples of reasons for Scandinavian consumers not to shop at foreign webshops (Statista, 2021).1 Fortunately, there are options to overcome these obstacles and be a successful cross-border e-retailer in the Nordics e-commerce market. Research has been conducted to determine key takeaways for e-retailers looking to expand across national borders to one or more countries in the Scandinavian region. Approximately 250 e-retailer websites in the countries Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Iceland, and Norway were analyzed to understand key website features per country. The outcome of the analysis has been evaluated and compared with expert interviews and existing literature. The most notable outcomes have been synthesized into six key takeaways. 

1. Website localization

The first key takeaway is a well-known concept for those active in cross-border e-commerce: localization of the website. For all cross-border e-commerce activities, translating a website into the native language of the country directly contributes to local success. This mainly has to do with consumer trust in a website. If it is in their own language, the look and feel are familiar, and the consumer will be more inclined to trust the e-retailer and thus place an order. This also applies to webshops that go cross-border to Scandinavian countries. In practice though, localization can still be a difficult experience for e-retailers. Thorough knowledge of the local language and customs is needed to perform localization optimally. Alongside translation and local customer service, currencies, and practices, local payment, and delivery options must be considered (PostNord, 2016).  

2. Uniquely local payment methods

E-retailers the world over provide different payment methods for online transactions. In Scandinavian countries, the most common payment methods e-retailers provide are credit card and debit card of local bank transactions via the webshop. Online banking is also a popular payment method, especially in Sweden (almost 70% of most visited webshop provide this option). The tool After Pay is provided by more than 50% of e-retailers in Norway and Sweden. This is in stark contrast with Iceland, Finland, and Denmark where After Pay is quite limited in use. Not offering the preferred payment methods of a consumer base is known to be a reason not to shop at foreign webshops (Statista, 2021), and is thus very important in an e-retailer’s localization strategy per country.

3. Logistics and fulfillment particularities

Providing complete information about logistics is another important key takeaway. Consumers want updates on logistics and the opportunity to have choices. The ability to choose the method and place of a return, such as a pickup point or collecting from home, can positively impact consumers’ purchase intentions(PostNord, 2019). Indeed, studies have proven time after time that providing a simple option to return products or services, and the possibility to choose from several alternatives, can have a positive influence on the number of website visitors and conversion rates.

The most provided delivery option is home delivery followed by delivery at a pickup point. Furthermore, evening delivery is proven to be a popular delivery option in Denmark and Finland and is offered by approximately 15% of Finnish retailers. Machine pickup points, automated parcel lockers where customers can collect and send packages are an up-and-coming delivery option in the Scandinavian countries. Although this option is not provided by e-retailers in Iceland, Norway, and Sweden, 20-25% of e-retailers in Denmark and Finland offer machine pickup points. Around 60-80% of Scandinavian e-retailers offer returns via postal service, which is the most common return option. Returning a parcel at the physical store is also provided by 21% of Finnish e-retailers, however, not every e-retailer has a physical store or warehouse. Returning via a local return point is almost never used by Scandinavian e-retailers.

4. The importance of policies

Offering a general policy, privacy policy, and security policy is important in maintaining consumer trust. Almost all the e-retailers in every Scandinavian country notify web visitors about their policies. Only around 65% of Finnish e-retailers offer information about the privacy statement, general terms and conditions, and a security closure, while 70%-75% of e-retailers in Iceland offer this information. More than 90% of the e-retailers of Denmark, Norway and Sweden are offering information about privacy, security, and general terms and conditions.

As of 1 July 2021, a new VAT rule for international e-commerce is applied throughout the EU Single Market. This rule states that all imported goods from non-EU countries are taxed with VAT. Although Norway and Iceland are not members of the European Union, these two countries are part of the European Free Trade Association and members of the European Economic Area. Iceland and Norway must therefore comply with the same terms as the other European Union members and are equal partners in the internal market. This bar chart presents the provided policies by e-retailers of each country. The data is gathered via analyzing 186 e-retailers from Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Denmark, and Finland in 2021.

To maintain the trust of the consumer and their data, a security trust mark can be implemented on the website, preferably shown on the homepage of the website. 

5. Sustainability

In Scandinavian countries, sustainability has become one of the most important social issues for consumers and companies. Whether through media or government regulation, Scandinavian consumers are now keener to make conscientious choices when shopping online. 

Transparency of the product supply chain and manufacturing, as well as transportation, has become increasingly important for consumers. In fact, one in three Scandinavian consumers paid extra in 2019 for carbon offsetting with delivery (PostNord, 2019).8 However, further analysis of e-retailer websites revealed less than 5% offer sustainable options, such as green delivery or sustainable products. Online stores that offered sustainable options typically indicated this with a certificate on the website.

Examples of these certificates include CEWE-sustainability, CO2 neutral, Ecolabel/Eco swan, and Sustainable packaging (translated from Danish). These results strongly indicate that it is important to show the sustainability of products, packaging, and/or delivery.

6. Internet access

The household internet penetration rate in Scandinavian countries is above 94%, and of the households in Norway, 98,4% have access to the internet. Almost every household in Scandinavia has access to the internet, making their use of digital tools quite advanced, and heightening digital skills across the region. To be sure, these digital skills are utilized in a wide range of online activities, such as consumption of online content or shopping online. In

2019, over 50% of consumers in Scandinavian countries purchased goods online. Of note, in Sweden, 70% of the consumers purchased goods online. Additionally, shopping via a mobile phone has become easier over the years. In 2019, almost 50% of consumers used mobile phones to shop online. Technology has evolved very quickly, and innovations like social media platforms have created an entirely new infrastructure to support shopping online via a mobile phone. Using a mobile device to shop online has increasingly become more of a normal habit in the

life of Scandinavian consumers. To conclude, results from this study show that localization is one of the most important factors to be successful in cross-border e-commerce. Despite Scandinavian countries often being lumped together under one umbrella, localization is crucial if one wants to be truly successful in these e-commerce markets. These differences may seem slight, but they are important to take into consideration in a cross-border e-commerce strategy.

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Looking globally, the most popular online stores from Sweden are H&M and Ikea. However, in Sweden, these huge players are not in the top five of biggest e-commerce stores. According to Ecommerce News, in the previous year, NetOnNet proved to be the number one.

Sweden is well-known for a lot of things, but they are most popular for their big enterprises known all over the world. Brands such as H&M, Ikea, Volvo, ICA, Ericsson and Spotify are all Swedish. These brands are giants all over the world but when you look at popularity within the country itself, it is something completely different. 

NetOnNet

NetOnNet is an electronics and media selling company. In addition, it has an immense assortment of all products that have to do with consumer electronics. Consumers can buy TV’s, gaming equipment, stereos and all types of other gadgets. NetOnNet is like a Swedish version of Amazon. Just like the Dutch Bol.com or CoolBlue.

The biggest online stores in Sweden

Online shopping is big in the Nordic countries and Sweden is the country where most people shop online. At the end of 2019, the e-commerce industry in Sweden was good for €8.2 billion. Various big companies have had a huge contribution to this number. According to EcommerceDB, the top five e-commerce domains in Sweden are:

• NetOnNet: 300.64 million euros
• Apotea.se: 255.56 million euros
• Elgiganten: 254.07 million euros
• Zalando: 250.4 million euros
• Apoteket: 169.46 million euros

The net sales growth percentages in 2018/2019 for these companies were as follows: NetOnNet 8%, Apetea.se 21%, Elgiganten 11%, Zalando 17% and Apoteket 21%. 

Out of the top five, the German company, Zalando, is the only foreigner amongst all these local brands. Furthermore, electronics e-tailer NetOnNet leads this list with online sales of over €300 million. Number two is online pharmacy Apotea.se. In third is Elgiganten, this ‘competitor’ of NetOnNet is just behind with 254 million euros. The fourth and fifth place are Zalando and pharmacy Apoteket.

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More and more online retailers in Europe are using the e-commerce software Shopify, says Ecommerce News. Celebrating its 14th birthday this year, the software provider is already exceedingly popular. The Canadian company currently has its biggest popularity in the United States. 73.24% of all live websites are based in there. Let’s see where the company stands in the world and in Europe today. 

What do they do?

Shopify is a Canadian provider of e-commerce software. The company was founded in 2004 but they officially started the company they are today in 2006: an e-commerce solution software company. Shopify operates with a subscription method with a transaction fee for companies who use the software.

Following the success of business, the company built an API and a popular app store. Ever since 2010, thanks to the launch of their mobile app, retailers have been able to manage their online shop via their phones.

In 2018, twelve years after the official launch of the company and its product, Shopify surpassed the impressive 1 billion dollar revenue mark. 2018 was a big year for the company, as their revenue grew by 59% since 2017.

Worldwide and in Europe

As of today, there are nearly 1.5 million Shopify e-commerce websites live. Although being a Canadian-based company, ‘only’ 34,454 of their e-commerce websites are live in Canada. Going south, into the United States, there are roughly 1.1 million Shopify websites as of today. The software has also clearly reached Oceania, roughly 43.000 websites are live in Australia already.

Looking at Shopify in Europe, there are a few significant countries. Behind the US being the number one, comes the United Kingdom, good for almost 60.000 websites and 3,9% of Shopify’s global coverage. Other notable European countries following the UK are Germany with 23,111, France with 18,806 and the Netherlands with 12,331.

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American social media giant Facebook prepares to apply for regulatory approval in Indonesia to launch mobile payments. It does this in partnership with three local digital fintech companies, reports Reuters.

If everything proceeds as planned, this could be among the first services under the unified payment service Facebook Pay It, which the social media platform announced in November 2019. The service allows users to make payment across Facebook's channels, including WhatsApp and Instagram, without leaving the platform.

The three digital e-wallet operators Facebook is talking to are Indonesian Gojek's GoPay, fintech startup OVO and LinkAja. According to Filianingsih Hendarta, Assistant Governor of Bank Indonesia and responsible for payment system, policies comments that local firms are asking questions about approval for payment partnerships with Facebook. No one has submitted a formal application yet.

Open up the Asian market

In August 2019, Facebook has already started first talks to these firms to launch digital payment services in Indonesia. According to a spokeswoman for Facebook, the social media platform seeks to bring digital payments to more countries. The company believes 'digital payments will open up extraordinary opportunities for businesses to grow."

Facebook is looking to accelerate its expansion in South-East Asia. For the platform's services, Indonesia is a large market. It has a total population of more than 260 million and the region's largest economy. About 100 million people in the country already use one of Facebook's services.

Elsewhere in Asia, the social media company talks to buy a multi-billion dollar stake in Reliance Industries Ltd's telecom unit, an Indian conglomerate.

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German supermarket Aldi launched its first online grocery service in the United Kingdom. The discounter offers consumers a box with 22 essential items to help those in isolation during the COVID-19 outbreak.

The special box contains items such as everyday foods and essential household items. Alongside, there are a few treats to help consumers in the United Kingdom to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. The box is available for a retail price of 25 pounds (€28,77).

Foods

Consumable products in the box contain tinned soup, rice and pasta. Other usable products are antibacterial handwash and toilet paper. In line with current measures taken, the box will be delivered to the doorstep with full contactless delivery.

Aldi states that there is a consumption limit per buyer. A customer can order one food parcel box per week. "Our delivery promise is three to ten days. However, we will try to prioritise this order so you can get it as fast as possible," the supermarket explains.

This is the first time that Aldi sells groceries online in the United Kingdom.

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To avoid a potential fine of €1 million per day, Amazon shuts its warehouses in France for a week. This follows a French court ordering Amazon to limit its deliveries to essential goods. It also has to allow an inspection of the safety arrangements during the COVID-19 outbreak crisis.

Based on this order, Amazon decided to temporarily close all six French warehouses instead of limiting deliveries. The marketplace will apply for government support offering partial unemployment pay for its personnel.

"The company is forced to suspend all production activities in all of its distribution centres in order to assess the inherent risks in the COVID-19 epidemic and take the necessary measures to ensure the safety of its employees," says the marketplace.

Measures

Based on comments from Amazon, the company seems to have taken measures. Despite that, company workers have still been complaining to unions. Amazon has been justifying all actions it has taken during the COVID-19 outbreak on the basis that it is prioritising the delivery of essential goods. In reality, it seems that, despite all announcements, consumers happily buy anything they want to keep themselves occupied during the lockdown.

Shutting down Amazon France warehouses has come into effect immediately, starting yesterday, April 16th. For merchants, this means that any stock in French warehouses is basically locked down. This concerns both retailers using Amazon France FbA and retailers using Amazon FBA Mulit-country Inventory. The latter group might not even know part of their inventory is in store in France.

Consumers can still buy on the French platform. It is likely Amazon falls back on its logistics organisation and will fulfil orders from other European warehouses.

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By the end of 2020, RetailX predicts B2C e-commerce in the United Kingdom is worth €222.5 billion. This is an expected increase of almost 11% when comparing this to the market at the end of 2019. At that time, the UK B2C e-commerce market in the was valued just over €200 billion.

Despite growing, 10.96% is the lowest predicted growth rate since 2016. In 2016, the e-commerce industry increase by just 4.47%. With this new growth prediction, the UK B2C e-commerce market remains the largest in Europe. The research expects that 96% of British consumers to be online this year. 87% of these consumers expect to buy something online in 2020, the market is very mature and digitised.

Your UK Delivery Provider

The research by RetailX also shows which delivery providers online consumers in the United Kingdom prefer. On top of the list, we find Royal Mail. 52.7% of respondents indicate this as their favourite delivery service providers. Other - sometimes smaller - popular parcel delivery service providers are Hermes (16.1%), DPD Group (14.2%), Parcelforce (4.7%), DHL (4.1%), Yodel (3.1%), UPS (2.8%) and UK mail (2.2%).

Popular to buy... and to return

Not surprisingly, the research finds that returns amongst British consumers happen most often with fashion products. 30% of consumers have returned clothing, followed by 13% returning shoes. 7% of the consumers have returned consumer electronics.

Fashion, at the same time, is the most popular online shopping category. 60% of the respondents in the research indicate they bought a fashion item online. Shoppers in the United Kingdom prefer to do this on Amazon, Marks & Spencer, Asos, Denenhams, Argos, Topshop and Zalando. Other popular product categories are household items (49%), holiday accommodations (44%) and travel arrangements (43%).

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One of South Korea's biggest e-commerce firms, Coupang, says its operating loss shrank by a third in 2019. It is helped by a 64% climb in revenue as it expanded its customer base and online demand for home appliances and groceries surged, reports Reuters.

Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, Coupang sees its sales jump even more in 2020. Operating loss of the South Korean company in 2019 came in at 721 billion won ($593 million). In 2018, the loss was still 1.1 trillion won. Total revenue grew to 7.2 trillion won. It is the second year in a row that the total revenue grows with more than 60%.

Coupang is backed by the Japanese SoftBank Group. For this company, these stronger results are a relatively bright note. SoftBank Group announced earlier this week it expects its $100 billion Vision Fund to book a loss of 1.8 trillion yen due to the worsening performance of its tech bets.

COVID-19

The COVID-19 outbreak results in an e-commerce growth-spike. Many people turn to online shopping these days and sales in brick-and-mortar stores soar. In South-Korea, online shopping jumped 25% to 11.96 trillion won ($9.8 billion) in February. This accounts for 28% of all retail sales, government statistics indicate.

Coupang says that, since mid-February, the number of deliveries grew to 3 million a day. Late last year, the normal was 2.2 million. Part of Coupang's strategy is delivery within 24 hours. This is what they call 'Rocket Delivery'. To grow market share, they have invested quite a lot to realise this. It is still a question whether these investments will pay of in the current market. As noted, the South Korean company is far from being profitable.

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Marketplace Amazon postpones its major summer shopping event, Prime Day, according to Reuters. This is due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Usually, the event takes place in July.

At this moment, it is unlikely the event will happen at least in August. It expects a potential $100 million hit from excess devices it might now sell at a discount.

The marketing event started in 2015 to boost sales during the summer shopping lull. It previously occurred in July, though the company never publishes the date far in advance.

This decision means Amazon has about 5 million extra devices it would have expected to sell sooner. These are items such as its suite of voice-controlled Echo speakers. Third-party retailers are affected just as well, as they have come to depend on Amazon's platform for revenue.

Although Amazon never publishes exact revenue numbers from its Prime Day event, it states merchants contributed to $2 billion in sales during the event in 2019. At that time, the event spanned 48 hours and 18 countries.

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