Czech beauty retailer Notino generated €1.76 billion in revenue during its latest financial year, reinforcing its position as one of Europe’s most successful cross-border e-commerce businesses.

The Brno-based company closed fiscal year 2025, covering May 2025 to April 2026, with revenue growth of 11.5% year on year. Notino now serves more than 40 million customers across 27 European markets, supported by a combination of localized online stores, mobile commerce, physical retail and beauty-service partnerships.

Although growth slowed during the Black Friday and Christmas shopping period, the company reported a significant acceleration in early 2026. Revenue growth reached 27% during the opening months of the calendar year, suggesting that the retailer entered its new financial period with renewed momentum.

The results demonstrate how a retailer originating in Central Europe can build a large cross-border business by combining regional localization with centralized technology, logistics and brand management.

Poland remains Notino’s largest European market

Poland generated more than 15% of Notino’s total revenue, making it the company’s largest national market.

The Czech Republic, where Notino is headquartered, accounted for approximately 12%, while Italy contributed 9%. Romania represented a further 7% of annual revenue.

The geographical distribution of its sales highlights the genuinely cross-border nature of Notino’s business. Rather than depending heavily on its domestic market, the retailer has built substantial operations across Central, Eastern, Southern and Western Europe.

Croatia and Lithuania were the company’s fastest-growing markets during the financial year, with revenue in both countries rising by more than 25%.

These results also illustrate the opportunity available in smaller European markets. While Germany, France, Italy and Spain are often considered the primary destinations for international e-commerce expansion, markets in Central and Eastern Europe can offer strong growth where competition, customer acquisition costs and online retail penetration differ from those in the continent’s largest economies.

Revenue has more than doubled in four years

Notino’s latest performance forms part of a much longer period of rapid expansion.

The company generated approximately €737 million in revenue in 2021. Four years later, annual revenue had increased by more than €1 billion to reach €1.76 billion.

In 2022, the company reported turnover of more than €1.03 billion, representing year-on-year growth of 32%. At that stage, Notino said customers were purchasing the equivalent of 3.5 products every second.

Fiscal year 2024 revenue subsequently reached approximately €1.58 billion, up 18% year on year. The latest €1.76 billion result therefore represents continued double-digit expansion, although at a more moderate annual rate than in some previous periods.

Notino nevertheless said it continued to grow faster than the wider European e-commerce market while maintaining a sufficiently strong financial position to keep investing in its infrastructure and customer experience.

Four in ten Notino orders now come through its app

Mobile commerce has become a central element of Notino’s customer-retention and sales strategy.

Approximately four out of every ten orders are now placed through the Notino mobile app. The company has invested in simplifying the purchasing process, improving digital services, increasing personalization and introducing a loyalty program designed to encourage repeat purchases.

The proportion of app-based orders is particularly significant for the beauty sector, where frequent purchases, product discovery, personalized recommendations and loyalty incentives can encourage customers to return regularly.

An app can also provide retailers with a more direct relationship with customers than conventional web traffic. It reduces dependence on search engines, marketplaces and paid advertising channels while creating additional opportunities for personalized offers, product reminders and loyalty rewards.

Notino’s loyalty program was initially introduced in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. The retailer plans to refine the program using customer feedback before expanding it gradually into additional European markets.

This controlled approach reflects one of the central challenges of cross-border e-commerce: a program that performs well in one market may need to be adapted to different customer expectations, pricing environments and purchasing habits elsewhere.

Physical stores become an important growth channel

Despite its origins as an online retailer, Notino is increasingly developing an omnichannel model.

The company currently operates 27 physical stores across eight European countries. Revenue generated through those stores increased by almost 30% year on year, substantially faster than the company’s overall annual growth rate.

Notino opened its first physical store in Croatia during the latest financial year and plans to open its first Slovenian store in Ljubljana in autumn 2026.

The expansion demonstrates that physical retail can complement rather than replace an e-commerce-led strategy.

Beauty products can be difficult to evaluate entirely online. Fragrance, makeup and skincare customers may want to test products, receive advice or compare different options in person before purchasing. Stores can therefore support product discovery and build trust, while the online platform provides a broader range, convenient delivery and repeat-order functionality.

Physical locations can also serve as local brand-building tools in markets where a retailer is less established. They give customers a visible point of contact while strengthening the credibility of the broader online operation.

Notino is building a broader beauty ecosystem

The retailer’s strategy now extends beyond selling physical products.

Through the Notino Partner platform, customers can book appointments with participating beauty salons. The service connects more than 8,000 salons with customers in five European countries and processed approximately 1.5 million bookings during the latest financial year.

Notino plans to introduce the service in Croatia and Austria during 2026.

The platform gives the company an opportunity to become involved in a wider portion of the customer journey. Instead of interacting with consumers only when they purchase cosmetics, Notino can also participate when they book hair, skincare or other beauty services.

This model can potentially create a reinforcing ecosystem. Customers discover products through the website or app, visit stores to test them and use the same brand to access related professional services.

For cross-border retailers, this broader ecosystem approach can provide an advantage over competitors focused exclusively on product transactions.

New leadership structure supports European expansion

Notino has also reorganized its senior leadership as the company prepares for its next stage of growth.

After more than six years leading the business, Zbyněk Kocián transferred management responsibility to three co-CEOs: Bartosz Kliś, Lukáš Havlásek and Jakub Šedý.

Responsibilities have been divided across three main areas of the business. The company believes that the structure will accelerate decision-making and allow it to manage an increasingly complex European operation more effectively.

Šedý oversees areas including finance, legal affairs, human resources, facilities, logistics and strategy. He said Notino had maintained healthy profitability, increased absolute EBITDA, improved working-capital efficiency and reduced net debt, although the latest figures remained subject to final audit at the time of his statement.

According to Šedý, Notino recorded growth of more than 20% in every month from February 2026 onwards.

The operational changes are intended to create a more agile organization capable of continuing to invest in technology, logistics, customer experience and talent while preserving financial discipline.

Logistics and localization remain central to the model

Notino’s growth provides a useful example of the infrastructure required to scale a cross-border retail business across Europe.

Operating in 27 markets requires more than translating a website. Retailers must manage different languages, currencies, payment preferences, delivery expectations, product regulations, promotional calendars and customer-service requirements.

Notino says it operates in 27 countries and works across 22 languages. Its workforce numbers more than 2,800 employees, according to the company’s careers information.

The company combines these local market capabilities with centralized investment in areas such as technology, inventory, logistics and digital customer experience.

This balance is important. Excessive centralization can produce a customer experience that feels disconnected from individual markets, while excessive decentralization can duplicate costs and create operational complexity.

Notino’s scale suggests that it has been able to build a common European retail platform while maintaining sufficient local adaptation to compete in very different national markets.

What Notino’s results mean for European e-commerce

Notino’s €1.76 billion revenue result offers several lessons for retailers pursuing international growth.

First, successful cross-border expansion need not begin in Europe’s largest markets. Notino grew from the Czech Republic and made Poland its largest revenue source, while some of its fastest growth is now coming from Croatia and Lithuania.

Second, localization must extend beyond language. Mobile behavior, loyalty schemes, delivery options, physical retail and beauty-service partnerships all need to reflect how customers shop in each country.

Third, omnichannel retail can strengthen an online-first business. Notino’s store revenue grew by almost 30%, indicating that physical locations are becoming a meaningful contributor rather than a secondary brand exercise.

Finally, direct customer relationships are becoming increasingly valuable. With 40% of orders coming through its app, Notino is reducing its dependence on external discovery and acquisition channels while creating more opportunities for repeat purchases and personalized engagement.

Notino prepares for its next European growth phase

Notino enters fiscal year 2026 with a larger customer base, a new leadership structure and further physical and digital expansion planned across Europe.

The company’s annual growth rate of 11.5% is lower than the exceptional increases recorded in some earlier years. However, the acceleration to 27% growth during the first months of 2026 indicates that momentum may be strengthening again.

Its progress also shows that European e-commerce growth is increasingly being driven by retailers capable of combining digital scale with local market execution.

Notino is no longer simply a Czech online perfume retailer selling internationally. It has developed into a multi-market European beauty platform incorporating e-commerce, mobile shopping, stores, loyalty services and salon bookings.

The next challenge will be maintaining that local relevance and operational efficiency as the business grows larger and competition in European beauty retail intensifies.

The post Notino reaches €1.76 billion as European cross-border growth accelerates appeared first on Cross-Border Magazine.

As e-commerce continues to expand across Europe, the environmental impact of parcel delivery is becoming increasingly important. More online orders usually mean more delivery vehicles, more stops, more congestion, and higher emissions—especially during the last mile.

Poland, however, has developed one of the most efficient e-commerce delivery models in the European Union.

There is no official EU ranking that identifies one country as the greenest market for e-commerce delivery. Nevertheless, Poland has the strongest claim thanks to its dense parcel-locker network, widespread consumer adoption and highly consolidated last-mile delivery system.

Why last-mile delivery is an environmental problem

The last mile is often one of the least efficient stages of e-commerce logistics.

Large trucks can transport thousands of parcels between fulfillment centers and regional depots. Once those parcels enter the final delivery stage, they must be distributed across hundreds of individual addresses.

Traditional home delivery can involve:

• Fragmented delivery routes
• Frequent stops and vehicle idling
• Failed delivery attempts
• Repeat journeys
• Increased urban congestion
• Higher emissions per parcel

Parcel lockers help address this problem by allowing carriers to deliver dozens of orders to a single location rather than visiting each customer individually.

This is where Poland has gained a significant advantage.

Poland has Europe’s densest parcel-locker network

Parcel lockers are not a niche delivery option in Poland. They are a central part of the country’s e-commerce infrastructure.

Recent industry estimates indicate that Poland has more than one parcel locker per 1,000 inhabitants, the highest density in Europe. The total national network is estimated at approximately 45,000 to 47,000 automated parcel machines.

InPost is the country’s dominant operator. At the end of the first quarter of 2025, the company operated 25,949 automated parcel machines in Poland, representing annual growth of around 15%.

Competition is also increasing. Allegro, DHL, DPD, Orlen and other operators continue to expand their own locker and pickup-point networks.

This means Polish consumers can frequently find a locker close to their home, workplace, supermarket or daily commuting route.

How parcel lockers reduce delivery emissions

The environmental benefit of parcel lockers is based on consolidation.

A courier delivering 50 parcels to individual homes may need to make dozens of separate stops. The same 50 parcels can potentially be delivered to one or two automated machines.

This can reduce:

• Kilometers driven per parcel
• Delivery vehicle stops
• Time spent idling
• Failed delivery attempts
• Repeat journeys
• Residential traffic congestion

InPost has reported that deliveries to its automated parcel machines generate significantly lower emissions per parcel than home delivery. The company has also estimated that its locker network avoided more than 180,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions in Poland in 2020.

These numbers are based on company calculations rather than a standardized EU methodology, so they should be interpreted carefully. However, the operational principle is clear: delivering many parcels to one location is usually more efficient than delivering them individually.

Consumer behavior strengthens the Polish model

Parcel lockers are not automatically sustainable. If customers drive several kilometers solely to collect an order, part of the emissions advantage can disappear. Locker location and consumer behavior are therefore essential.

Poland performs particularly well because parcel collection is often integrated into everyday journeys.

Industry research suggests that approximately 62% of Polish users collect parcels while already traveling for another purpose. In urban areas, the average distance to a locker has been estimated at around 350 meters.

This makes it more likely that customers will collect parcels while walking, commuting, shopping or traveling home from work.

The density of Poland’s network is therefore one of its greatest strengths. The closer lockers are to consumers, the less likely they are to require a separate car journey.

Fewer failed deliveries

Failed home deliveries create additional emissions and costs. When a customer is unavailable, the carrier may need to attempt delivery again, redirect the parcel or return it to a depot.

Parcel lockers largely eliminate this issue. Once the parcel is deposited, the delivery is complete, and the customer can collect it at a convenient time.

This improves first-attempt delivery rates and allows carriers to organize more predictable and efficient routes.

Sustainability without sacrificing convenience

One reason the Polish model has grown so quickly is that parcel lockers are not only more efficient. They are also convenient.

They offer consumers:

• 24-hour availability
• No need to remain at home
• Flexible collection times
• Contactless access
• Easier returns
• Often lower delivery costs

Poland shows that sustainable delivery models are more likely to succeed when the environmentally preferable option is also the easiest option.

Consumers may choose lockers primarily for convenience, but the result is still a more consolidated and potentially lower-emission delivery network.

A scalable response to growing parcel volumes

Poland is one of Europe’s fastest-developing e-commerce markets.

Polish logistics forecasts suggested that parcel operators could handle approximately 1.34 billion shipments in 2025, compared with around 1.21 billion in 2024.

Managing this growth entirely through home delivery would create additional pressure on roads, fleets and urban areas.

Poland’s out-of-home delivery infrastructure allows the market to absorb rising parcel volumes without requiring an equivalent increase in individual residential delivery stops.

It does not make the entire e-commerce supply chain carbon-free. Fulfillment centers, long-distance transport, packaging, returns and electricity consumption still generate emissions.

However, it provides a scalable way to make the last mile more efficient.

Is Poland officially the EU’s greenest delivery market?

Poland has not been officially recognized as the EU’s greenest country for e-commerce delivery.

There is currently no European index that compares all member states using the same indicators, such as:

• Emissions per parcel
• Electric vehicle adoption
• Locker utilisation
• Failed-delivery rates
• Customer collection distance
• Returns emissions
• Renewable energy use

Countries such as Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands also have strong sustainability credentials.

Nordic markets are advanced in electric delivery fleets and fossil-free fuels, while Germany and the Netherlands have invested heavily in electric vans, cargo bikes and zero-emission urban logistics.

Poland’s strength is different. It has created Europe’s most developed consolidated parcel-delivery ecosystem.

For this reason, it is more accurate to describe Poland as the EU leader in eco-efficient e-commerce delivery infrastructure rather than as the officially greenest delivery country.

What e-commerce companies can learn from Poland?

The Polish model offers several lessons for European retailers and logistics providers.

Make out-of-home delivery visible

Parcel lockers should be offered prominently during checkout instead of appearing as a secondary option.

Prioritize convenient locations

Lockers deliver the greatest environmental benefit when they are close to homes, workplaces, shops and public transport.

Encourage consolidated delivery

Retailers can promote lockers through lower prices, loyalty rewards or clear sustainability information.

Integrate returns

Using the same network for deliveries and returns can reduce home collections and simplify reverse logistics.

Combine lockers with cleaner vehicles

The most sustainable model combines parcel consolidation with electric vans, cargo bikes, renewable electricity and route optimization.

Poland offers a blueprint for Europe’s greener last mile

Poland’s position as a leader in eco-friendly e-commerce delivery is based on structural efficiency rather than a single environmental initiative.

Its dense parcel-locker network reduces the number of stops required to deliver growing volumes of online orders. Widespread consumer adoption also means that lockers are integrated into daily life rather than treated as an occasional alternative.

The system is not completely emission-free, and its environmental performance still depends on vehicle type, locker location and customer behavior.

Nevertheless, Poland offers one of Europe’s clearest examples of how convenience, efficiency and sustainability can support one another.

As e-commerce parcel volumes continue to rise, Poland’s delivery model could become an increasingly important blueprint for building a greener and more scalable European last mile.

The post Poland Emerges as the EU Leader in Eco-Friendly E-Commerce Deliveries appeared first on Cross-Border Magazine.

Customs Clearance Challenges: Why Data Has Become the Foundation of Cross-Border Success

CBM: Customs regulations seem to be becoming more complex every year. What are the biggest customs clearance challenges online retailers are facing today?

Guy Cliffe: Interestingly, the biggest challenge isn't necessarily the regulations themselves—it's how quickly customs requirements are evolving across the world.

Authorities are moving away from paper-based processes and placing far greater emphasis on advance electronic data, automated risk profiling and supply chain transparency. That means retailers need to start thinking about customs much earlier in the fulfillment process.

Businesses are also selling into more international markets than ever before, each with different thresholds, documentation requirements and customs rules. Managing that complexity while still delivering the seamless customer experience consumers expect has become one of the biggest operational challenges in cross-border e-commerce.

The retailers that perform best are those that stop viewing customs as an administrative obligation and start treating it as a strategic part of their international operation.

CBM: Since Brexit, how has the customs landscape changed for retailers selling between the UK and the EU?

Guy Cliffe: Brexit fundamentally changed how goods move between the UK and the European Union. Customs is now part of every shipment. Most businesses have adapted remarkably well, but I still see companies underestimating the importance of customs preparation.

One of the most common mistakes is assuming customs only matters when goods are ready to leave the warehouse. In reality, customs begins with the quality of the product data inside a retailer's own systems. Incorrect commodity codes, incomplete product descriptions or inaccurate customs values all create unnecessary delays, additional costs and poor customer experiences.

Returns are another area that is frequently overlooked. Many retailers are missing opportunities to recover import duties or simplify reverse logistics because customs isn't being considered as part of the overall returns strategy.

CBM: Many retailers struggle with customs delays. What usually causes shipments to be held at the border?

Guy Cliffe: Most delays aren't actually caused by customs authorities. They're caused by the information businesses submit. Missing shipment data, inconsistent documentation, inaccurate classifications, or discrepancies between commercial documents are what typically trigger additional inspections.

As customs authorities increasingly rely on automated risk assessment systems, data quality becomes the deciding factor. Retailers often assume they need a faster logistics solution when, in reality, improving the quality and consistency of their customs data will have a much greater impact.

CBM: Product data seems to be becoming increasingly important. How critical are accurate product descriptions and HS codes?

Guy Cliffe: They're absolutely fundamental. Good customs clearance starts long before a parcel reaches the border. Every product description, HS code, declared value and shipment detail contributes to how customs authorities assess risk.

Generic descriptions like "gift" or "clothing" are no longer sufficient. Retailers that invest in detailed product information don't just reduce delays—they improve compliance, minimize manual intervention and ultimately create a much better customer experience.

CBM: Regulations such as ICS2 are changing customs procedures across Europe. How should retailers prepare?

Guy Cliffe: The most important thing is recognizing that ICS2 isn't a standalone regulation. It's part of a much broader shift towards digital customs. Authorities increasingly expect shipment information before goods even begin their journey.

Retailers should review the quality of their customs data today, work closely with experienced customs partners, and ensure their systems can support different international reporting requirements. Businesses that build flexibility now will adapt far more easily as new regulations continue to emerge.

CBM: How do customs challenges differ between marketplaces and mid-sized online retailers?

Guy Cliffe: Large marketplaces benefit from enormous scale and sophisticated technology, but they also have to manage millions of products from thousands of different sellers. Maintaining consistent customs data at that scale is extremely challenging.

Mid-sized retailers usually have much greater control over their own product information, but often lack dedicated customs expertise or experience entering new international markets. Despite those differences, the fundamentals remain exactly the same. Success depends on accurate data, robust processes and choosing the right customs partner.

CBM: Returns aren't usually associated with customs. Why should retailers think differently?

Guy Cliffe: Returns should be part of every retailer's customs strategy. Every returned item may involve import duties, VAT, and customs procedures. One of the biggest missed opportunities is the recovery of duty.

Many retailers are entitled to reclaim duties on returned goods but simply don't have the processes in place to do so. A well-managed returns operation doesn't just improve customer experience—it improves cash flow and reduces unnecessary costs.

CBM: Technology is transforming customs. Which innovations are having the biggest impact?

Guy Cliffe: Automation is removing much of the manual work that has traditionally slowed customs. Direct integration between retailer systems and customs platforms helps ensure information is captured accurately and submitted consistently.

We're also seeing automated validation tools identify missing or inconsistent data before shipments even reach customs. Looking ahead, intelligent technologies that provide better supply chain visibility and identify compliance risks before goods move will become increasingly valuable.

CBM: Finally, what should retailers prepare for over the next two to three years?

Guy Cliffe: Customs authorities will continue placing greater emphasis on advance electronic data, digital compliance and security screening. Manual processes will continue to disappear, while scrutiny of low-value e-commerce shipments is likely to increase.

The retailers that invest today in robust data, integrated technology and flexible customs processes won't simply remain compliant.They'll be the businesses best positioned to compete internationally while delivering the frictionless customer experience consumers increasingly expect.

The post SPOTLIGHT ON… Guy Cliffe: Director at UKP Worldwide appeared first on Cross-Border Magazine.

UK fintech company Kord has raised £6.4 million in Series A funding to expand its platform for customer onboarding, regulatory compliance and payment processing.

The round was led by Guinness Ventures, with participation from Beringea, SFC Capital and angel investors. The investment brings Kord’s total funding to approximately £9 million since the company's founding in 2020.

Kord plans to use the new capital to expand its team, accelerate product development and attract more customers across the property, legal and financial-services sectors.

The company is addressing a persistent problem in regulated industries: businesses often rely on several disconnected systems to verify customers, conduct anti-money-laundering checks, manage documents and process payments. Kord aims to bring those processes together within one platform.

What Kord does

Kord is a London-based fintech infrastructure company founded by CEO James Owusu. It operates as the business-to-business brand of Checkboard Limited.

Its platform is designed for regulated organizations such as estate agents, law firms, conveyancers, lenders and brokers.

Kord combines several services that companies would traditionally obtain from different providers, including:

• Digital onboarding
• Identity verification
• Know-your-customer checks
• Anti-money-laundering screening
• Sanctions monitoring
• Source-of-funds verification
• Electronic signatures
• Client-money accounts
• Payment collection
• Compliance reporting

The company’s main objective is to integrate customer identity, compliance information, and payment activity into a single workflow.

This can reduce duplicated administration and provide businesses with a clearer record of who the customer is, where the funds came from and how the transaction was processed.

Why Kord raised £6.4 million

Kord intends to use the Series A funding to strengthen its technology and expand across regulated industries. Many companies still use one provider for identity verification, another for compliance checks, a separate platform for documents and an external payment service.

This fragmented approach can create delays, increase costs and make oversight more difficult. Customers may also be required to submit the same information several times as they move between estate agents, mortgage providers, conveyancers and law firms.

Kord wants to replace this fragmented process with a more coordinated digital transaction system. Rather than offering only an identity-verification tool, the company is developing infrastructure that connects onboarding, compliance decisions and the movement of money.

Connecting compliance and payments

One of Kord’s central ideas is that customer identity and payment activity should not be handled separately. A business may verify a customer successfully during onboarding but use a different platform to receive or distribute funds.

When those systems are disconnected, it can be difficult to maintain a complete view of the transaction. Kord allows businesses to collect customer information, verify identity documents, complete compliance checks, review the source of funds, and manage payments within the same environment. 

The company also provides digital wallets and client-money accounts for regulated organizations. This integrated model is intended to create a stronger audit trail and reduce manual work. It may also help businesses identify inconsistencies between the person completing the onboarding process and the individual or organization sending the money.

Responding to identity fraud

Fraud prevention is an important part of Kord’s proposition.

Generative AI has made it easier to produce manipulated documents, false images and convincing digital identities. Regulated companies therefore need to compare customer information against multiple data sources.

Kord says its API-based platform helps businesses verify identity information and detect suspicious discrepancies.

The company describes its payment infrastructure as a closed-loop environment in which identity, compliance data and payment activity remain connected.

This approach is designed to reduce risks such as impersonation, payment diversion and account substitution during high-value transactions.

For regulated businesses, the ability to connect a verified identity directly to the movement of money could become increasingly valuable as digital fraud becomes more sophisticated.

Property transactions are a key market

The property sector is one of Kord’s main target markets. Buying or selling a property involves several parties, including buyers, sellers, estate agents, lenders, solicitors and conveyancers.

Different organizations may need to complete their own identity, compliance and source-of-funds checks. This can lead to duplication and longer transaction times. Kord wants businesses to complete identity verification, anti-money-laundering screening, document collection and payments through a more coordinated system.

Reducing administrative friction could help transactions move more quickly and lower the risk of delays caused by missing or repeated documentation. However, Kord cannot remove every cause of failed property transactions. Financing problems, broken chains, survey findings and changing customer circumstances also play important roles.

Its value lies in simplifying the compliance and payment stages.

Supporting law firms and conveyancers

Law firms and conveyancers are another important market segment because they frequently handle large sums of client money. These businesses must verify customer identities, screen for sanctions, establish the source of funds and maintain records of the checks they complete.

Kord combines these compliance functions with payment processing and client-money accounts. The platform is designed to create a clear record of how funds were received, held and transferred.

This is important because compliance involves more than completing a check. A regulated company may need to demonstrate which documents were reviewed, when the review took place, which risks were identified and why a transaction was approved. Kord aims to centralize that information within an audit-ready record.

Investor interest in fintech infrastructure

Kord’s funding reflects wider investor interest in fintech companies that provide infrastructure to regulated industries.

Investment is increasingly moving beyond consumer banking applications toward business-to-business services such as:

• Identity verification
• Regulatory technology
• Fraud prevention
• Payment infrastructure
• Client-money management
• Transaction monitoring

These services are becoming more important as traditionally paper-based sectors adopt digital processes.

Property and legal services still rely heavily on emails, PDF documents, manual checks, bank transfers and disconnected software. Kord is betting that companies will increasingly prefer integrated platforms instead of purchasing multiple separate tools.

A modular platform

Kord describes its technology as modular, allowing customers to adopt individual services or combine several functions. A business could use Kord only for identity verification or source-of-funds checks while retaining its existing payment platform.

Another customer could use the full system for onboarding, compliance, client accounts and payments. This flexibility may help Kord serve industries with different requirements.

An estate agent may prioritize identity checks and source-of-funds verification, while a law firm may require detailed compliance records and client-money services. Kord also offers API-based integration, allowing its technology to connect with existing customer management, accounting, and case management systems.

What comes next for Kord?

Following the Series A round, Kord will focus on product development, recruitment and customer acquisition. Its main challenge will be proving that the platform can scale across different regulated industries while remaining simple to use.

Integration will also be critical. Law firms, financial-services companies and property businesses already depend on specialist software. Kord’s ability to connect with those systems could determine how quickly customers adopt its platform.

The company is expanding at a time when regulated businesses face two competing pressures. Customers expect faster and more convenient digital experiences, while regulators require stronger identity checks, fraud controls and record-keeping.

Kord is attempting to meet both demands by building compliance directly into the transaction process.

Building trust into digital transactions

Kord’s £6.4 million Series A is ultimately an investment in digital trust infrastructure.

The company is not trying to remove compliance from regulated transactions. It wants to make compliance more connected, efficient and easier to manage.

By bringing together identity verification, anti-money-laundering checks, source-of-funds analysis, client accounts and payments, Kord is addressing a structural weakness in many regulated industries.

Customer information and customer money are still frequently managed through separate systems.

The new funding gives Kord additional resources to expand its platform and strengthen its position across property, legal and financial services.

As digital fraud becomes more advanced and regulated industries continue to modernize, platforms that connect identity, compliance and payments could become an increasingly important part of Europe’s fintech market.

The post Kord raises £6.4 million to unify onboarding, compliance and payments appeared first on Cross-Border Magazine.

Large fashion companies operating in the European Union can no longer destroy unsold clothing, accessories and footwear under a new rule intended to reduce textile waste and promote more circular business models.

The prohibition entered into application on July 19, 2026, under the EU’s Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation, commonly known as the ESPR.

The measure directly affects fashion brands, retailers, marketplaces and e-commerce companies that manage excess inventory, discontinued collections and returned products. Instead of sending usable goods to landfill or incineration, affected businesses must prioritize resale, donation, repair, refurbishment, remanufacturing or recycling.

For the fashion e-commerce sector, the regulation transforms returns and excess inventory from a cost-management issue into a compliance priority.

What does the EU ban cover?

The prohibition applies to unsold:

• Clothing
• Clothing accessories
• Footwear
• Returned products within these categories

Large companies are affected from July 19, 2026. Medium-sized enterprises are expected to be subject to the same prohibition as of July 19, 2030, while micro and small businesses are currently exempt.

The rule covers products that were never sold as well as returned goods that remain suitable for resale, repair or reuse.

Companies must follow the EU waste hierarchy. This means prevention and reuse should be prioritized before recycling, incineration or disposal.

Discount sales, outlet distribution, secondary marketplaces, donation programs and repair services may therefore become increasingly important routes for unsold stock.

Why has the EU introduced the measure?

The European fashion sector generates significant waste before many products are ever used.

According to figures referenced by the European Commission, between 4% and 9% of textile products placed on the European market are destroyed before use. This represents an estimated 264,000 to 594,000 tonnes of textiles annually.

The Commission also estimates that destroying unsold textiles generates approximately 5.6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions every year.

These figures include more than the environmental impact of disposal. Every destroyed product also represents wasted raw materials, water, energy, transport and labor.

The prohibition is intended to discourage overproduction and encourage brands to improve forecasting, stock management and product circulation.

Are any exceptions allowed?

Products may still be destroyed in limited and justified circumstances.

Possible exceptions include goods that:

• Present a health or safety risk
• Are contaminated
• Are damaged beyond repair
• Are counterfeit
• Infringe intellectual-property rights
• Cannot reasonably be reused or recycled

However, high storage costs, reduced profitability or the difficulty of reselling a product are not sufficient reasons for destruction.

Businesses using an exception must be able to prove why destruction was necessary. This may require safety reports, damage assessments, correspondence with donation partners or evidence that reuse and recycling options were unavailable.

Relevant documentation must generally be retained for 5 years to allow national authorities to inspect it.

Why the ban matters for fashion e-commerce

Online fashion retailers are particularly exposed because they normally process higher return volumes than physical stores.

Customers often order several sizes, styles or colors and return the products they do not want. Returned goods may arrive with damaged packaging, missing labels or signs of handling. Seasonal products can also lose value while they move through the returns process.

In the past, some companies concluded that inspecting, cleaning, repackaging and restocking a low-value product cost more than disposing of it.

That calculation must now include regulatory compliance.

A product cannot be destroyed simply because processing it is expensive. Retailers must determine whether it can be resold, repaired, donated or recycled before considering disposal.

This increases the importance of fast returns processing. The longer a product remains in a returns center, the more likely it is to lose commercial value.

Reverse logistics becomes a compliance function

Retailers need visibility over what happens to every returned or unsold product after it reaches a warehouse, fulfillment center, store or logistics partner.

A compliant reverse-logistics operation should be able to direct products towards:

• Immediate resale
• Cleaning and repackaging
• Repair or refurbishment
• Outlet or secondary-market sale
• Donation
• Recycling
• Documented destruction as a last resort

This will require better product grading and stronger links among order management, inventory, and warehouse systems.

Companies should also review contracts with fulfillment and waste-management providers. Agreements should clearly explain who assesses returned goods, who approves disposal and who stores the evidence supporting each decision.

Outsourcing logistics does not necessarily remove the retailer’s regulatory responsibility.

Recommerce could benefit

The ban is likely to increase the supply of clothing and footwear available for resale.

Brands may expand official second-hand stores, outlet platforms, refurbishment programs and partnerships with recommerce marketplaces.

Other companies may use business-to-business liquidation networks to sell excess stock to authorized resellers rather than destroying it.

Luxury brands face a more complex challenge. Heavy discounting can weaken exclusivity, while uncontrolled liquidation may place products in unauthorized sales channels.

These companies may need to develop controlled resale programs, authenticated second-hand platforms or material-recovery systems that protect both compliance and brand value.

Better forecasting becomes essential

The best way to avoid problems with unsold stock is to produce and purchase more accurately.

Fashion businesses are likely to invest further in artificial intelligence, predictive analytics and real-time stock visibility.

Useful measures include:

• Smaller initial production runs
• Faster replenishment cycles
• Improved local demand forecasting
• Earlier markdowns
• Stock transfers between markets
• Pre-orders
• On-demand production
• Better analysis of return reasons

Retailers that identify weak demand early can redirect stock while it still has commercial value.

The regulation may therefore favor companies with flexible supply chains over businesses dependent on large advance orders and long production cycles.

Marketplaces must clarify responsibility

Online marketplaces may also be affected when they own inventory, provide fulfillment services or determine how returns are processed.

They must establish who owns a returned product, who decides whether it can be resold and who is responsible for documenting any disposal.

Marketplaces may need to revise automatic destruction settings and provide sellers with clearer resale, donation and recycling options.

This is especially important for fulfillment programs in which merchants have limited control over how returned or aging stock is handled.

What should retailers do now?

Affected businesses should immediately review every point at which returned or unsold stock leaves their inventory.

Priority actions include:

• Suspending automatic destruction policies
• Establishing product-grading procedures
• Creating resale, repair, donation and recycling routes
• Requiring approval before destruction
• Retaining evidence for every exception
• Reviewing logistics-provider contracts
• Training warehouse and returns teams
• Improving inventory and returns data
• Identifying approved resale and recycling partners

Companies should also prepare for disclosure obligations that require greater transparency about the quantity and types of unsold goods they discard.

A major change for European fashion

The ban on destroying unsold clothing and footwear is part of the EU’s wider effort to make textiles more durable, repairable and recyclable.

For fashion e-commerce, its impact will be felt across inventory planning, returns management, fulfillment, resale and logistics.

Unsold products can no longer be treated as disposable stock. They must be tracked and directed towards the most valuable compliant alternative.

Businesses with accurate forecasting, efficient reverse logistics and established resale networks will be best positioned to adapt.

For the European fashion industry, destruction is no longer the simplest answer to excess inventory.

The post EU ban on destroying unsold clothing and footwear enters into force appeared first on Cross-Border Magazine.

The European Union’s fintech industry has become a major infrastructure provider for global e-commerce. European companies now process trillions of euros in payments, provide financing to millions of online shoppers, connect merchants to local payment methods, and enable marketplaces to manage sellers, currencies, fraud, and payouts through a single platform.

The industry’s global importance is visible in the numbers:

• European B2C e-commerce turnover reached €842 billion in 2024.
• Adyen processed approximately €1.394 trillion in payments during 2025.
• Klarna facilitated $127.9 billion in gross merchandise volume in 2025.
• Klarna served approximately 118 million active consumers and 966,000 merchants by the end of 2025.
• Mollie provides payment services to more than 250,000 businesses.
• The euro area recorded approximately 77.7 billion non-cash payments in the first half of 2025.
• E-money transactions in the euro area reached approximately €300 billion during the same six-month period.

These figures show that EU fintech is no longer a niche financial-technology sector. It is part of the core infrastructure supporting international digital commerce.

Europe’s e-commerce and fintech market in numbers

European B2C e-commerce turnover increased from €784 billion in 2023 to €842 billion in 2024.

That represented:

• Nominal annual growth of 7%
• Real growth of approximately 4.6% after inflation
• An increase of €58 billion in one year

The expansion of online commerce is also reflected in consumer adoption.

In 2025, approximately 78% of EU internet users purchased goods or services online. In 2015, the equivalent share was approximately 62%.

Online-shopping adoption was particularly high among younger European consumers:

• 90% of internet users aged 25–34 shopped online
• 87% of those aged 35–44
• 84% of those aged 16–24

Fintech companies support this market by connecting shoppers, merchants, banks, card networks and local payment systems.

The volume of European payments is considerably larger than e-commerce turnover alone. The euro area recorded approximately 77.7 billion non-cash payments in the first half of 2025, an increase of about 7.7% compared with the same period one year earlier.

Excluding e-money payments, cards represented approximately 73.9% of the number of non-cash transactions. Credit transfers represented around 19.3%, while direct debits accounted for approximately 3.3%.

This scale provides European payment companies with a large domestic market in which to develop technology before expanding internationally.

Adyen demonstrates the global scale of EU payment infrastructure

Amsterdam-headquartered Adyen is one of the clearest examples of the EU fintech industry’s international impact.

During 2025, Adyen processed approximately €1.394 trillion in payment volume.

Its results included:

• €649 billion processed in the first half of 2025
• €745.3 billion processed in the second half
• €2.36 billion in annual net revenue
• €311 billion in point-of-sale payment volume

Adyen’s 2025 processed volume was approximately 65% larger than the entire €842 billion European B2C e-commerce market reported for 2024.

The comparison is not exact because Adyen processes both online and physical-store transactions. Nevertheless, it demonstrates the scale achieved by a single European fintech company.

Adyen provides payment infrastructure to international retailers, digital platforms, subscription companies and marketplaces. Its services can include:

• Online and in-store payments
• International and local payment methods
• Multi-currency processing
• Recurring transactions
• Fraud detection
• Payment authentication
• Marketplace payments
• Merchant payouts
• Financial accounts
• Card issuing

Adyen’s platform business also provides evidence of the growth of embedded finance.

In the third quarter of 2025, its platform net revenue reached €68.6 million, increasing by 50% year over year.

This suggests that marketplaces and software platforms increasingly want to integrate payments and financial services directly into their own products.

European BNPL has changed global online checkout

Sweden’s Klarna has helped turn buy now, pay later from a regional payment option into a global e-commerce product. Klarna reported $127.9 billion in gross merchandise volume in 2025, representing 22% annual growth.

By the end of that year, Klarna had:

• Approximately 118 million active consumers
• Around 966,000 merchants
• Operations across numerous European and international markets

By the first quarter of 2026, the company reported:

• 119 million active consumers
• More than one million merchants
• Quarterly gross merchandise volume of $33.7 billion
• Quarterly revenue of $1 billion
• GMV growth of 33% year over year

Klarna’s merchant network grew by approximately 49% in the year leading to the first quarter of 2026.

Its expansion shows how an EU fintech model can influence consumer expectations in markets such as the United States.

BNPL allows customers to postpone payment or divide the purchase price into installments. For merchants, it may reduce the immediate affordability barrier associated with higher-value purchases.

However, performance varies by market and product category. BNPL does not automatically guarantee higher conversion or average order values for every merchant.

The sector also faces increased scrutiny concerning consumer debt, affordability assessments and the use of multiple credit providers.

EU fintech makes cross-border e-commerce easier

International e-commerce requires merchants to manage more than card acceptance.

Businesses selling across borders must handle:

• Local payment preferences
• Currency conversion
• International acquiring
• Settlement currencies
• Refunds
• Fraud prevention
• Seller verification
• Regulatory compliance
• International payouts
• Financial reconciliation

EU fintech companies increasingly combine these capabilities into a single integration.

For example, an international merchant selling across Europe may need to offer:

• iDEAL in the Netherlands
• Bancontact in Belgium
• Bizum in Spain
• SEPA Direct Debit
• Local bank transfers
• Klarna
• International cards
• Apple Pay
• Google Pay
• Account-to-account payments

Dutch fintech Mollie provides payment services to more than 250,000 businesses across approximately 30 countries.

The company reported net-revenue growth of 29% in 2025 and expanded into 12 additional markets.

Payment aggregation is especially important for small and medium-sized businesses. Without fintech providers, merchants may need separate contracts, banking relationships and technical integrations for every payment method and market.

By centralizing these services, fintech reduces the cost and complexity of international expansion.

Open banking is creating an alternative to card payments

The EU’s revised Payment Services Directive, PSD2, established the regulatory basis for open banking.

PSD2 allowed licensed providers, with customer permission, to access banking information or initiate payments directly from bank accounts.

For e-commerce, this created an alternative to conventional card payments.

Account-to-account payments may offer merchants:

• Faster confirmation
• Reduced dependence on card networks
• Potentially lower transaction costs
• Lower exposure to card chargebacks
• Direct bank-based payment authorization
• Greater suitability for high-value purchases

Open banking is particularly significant because international card schemes still dominate much of Europe’s payment market.

Approximately two-thirds of euro-area card transactions are processed through non-European companies. Several euro-area countries remain entirely dependent on international card schemes.

The development of European account-to-account systems could therefore affect both payment costs and Europe’s financial independence.

Instant payments could accelerate e-commerce settlement

European instant-payment rules are intended to make euro transfers available within seconds, at any time of day.

For e-commerce businesses, instant payments could improve:

• Cash flow
• Payment confirmation
• Marketplace seller payouts
• Supplier payments
• Refund processing
• Treasury management

The opportunity is substantial because credit transfers already account for approximately 19.3% of euro-area non-cash transactions by volume, excluding e-money. Instant settlement could be particularly valuable for marketplaces that collect customer funds and distribute money to thousands of independent sellers.

Cards are unlikely to disappear. They remain widely accepted and provide established consumer protections, recurring-payment functionality and dispute mechanisms. However, instant bank payments could capture a larger share of e-commerce transactions where cost, speed or transaction value is particularly important.

E-money transactions reached €300 billion in six months

E-money has become another significant component of European digital commerce.

During the first half of 2025, the euro area recorded:

• Approximately 4.7 billion e-money payment transactions
• Transaction growth of 10.7% year over year
• A total transaction value of approximately €300 billion
• Value growth of 13.2%

E-money accounts represented approximately 98% of the number and 97% of the value of e-money transactions.

This infrastructure supports:

• Digital wallets
• Prepaid accounts
• Marketplace seller balances
• Merchant settlement accounts
• Multi-currency products
• Embedded financial accounts
• Business cards
• Platform payouts

For marketplaces, e-money infrastructure makes it possible to accept a consumer payment, deduct a commission, reserve funds for refunds, and distribute the remainder to one or several sellers.

These processes would be difficult to manage at scale using conventional bank transfers alone.

Fintech is turning marketplaces into financial-service providers

Marketplace and software platforms increasingly use fintech infrastructure to offer financial products directly to their merchants.

These services can include:

• Integrated payment processing
• Seller accounts
• Automated payouts
• Business cards
• Working-capital financing
• Foreign exchange
• Fraud prevention
• Identity verification
• Revenue reporting

This market is growing rapidly.

Adyen’s platform net revenue increased by 50% in the third quarter of 2025. In the first quarter of 2026, its platform revenue reached approximately €75 million, up 35% year over year, or 40% at constant currency.

Embedded finance allows platforms to generate revenue from payments while strengthening their relationship with merchants.

A business using the platform may no longer need to obtain separate services from a bank, payment processor, lender and card issuer. The platform can combine these capabilities through fintech APIs.

EU payment regulation has influenced global fraud prevention

The EU’s Strong Customer Authentication requirements changed how online payments are verified.

Many electronic transactions now require at least two independent authentication elements, such as:

• A password
• A registered mobile device
• A banking application
• A fingerprint
• Facial recognition

This encouraged global adoption of:

• 3-D Secure 2
• Biometric authentication
• Device recognition
• Risk-based authentication
• Transaction-risk analysis
• Banking-app approvals

The European Central Bank and European Banking Authority found that Strong Customer Authentication was effective against important forms of card fraud.

Nevertheless, fraud remains a major financial problem.

Across the EU and European Economic Area, losses reached:

• €2.2 billion from credit-transfer fraud in 2024
• €1.329 billion from card-payment fraud in 2024

Credit-transfer fraud losses increased by approximately 16% year over year, while card-fraud losses increased by around 29%.

Consumers bore approximately 85% of credit-transfer fraud losses, largely because many cases involved authorized payment scams. In these cases, customers were manipulated into approving the transaction themselves.

As a result, fintech fraud prevention is moving beyond stolen-card detection. Modern systems analyze device behavior, account history, customer location, payment values and behavioral patterns in real time.

The measurable impact on global e-commerce

EU fintech’s global e-commerce impact can be summarised through several major figures:

These numbers do not measure a single direct contribution to global e-commerce. No official statistical framework currently calculates exactly how much worldwide online revenue is generated by EU fintech.

However, the figures demonstrate the industry’s scale across payment processing, consumer finance, merchant acceptance, e-money and marketplace infrastructure.

The EU fintech industry has become a fundamental part of global e-commerce infrastructure.

Adyen processed approximately €1.394 trillion in 2025. Klarna facilitated $127.9 billion in annual merchandise volume and reached 119 million active consumers. Mollie serves more than 250,000 businesses, while euro-area e-money transactions reached approximately €300 billion in only six months.

These companies and payment systems help merchants:

• Enter new countries
• Accept local payment methods
• Manage several currencies
• Offer installment payments
• Prevent fraud
• Process marketplace payouts
• Embed financial services
• Access sales-based financing

The EU’s influence also extends beyond company performance. PSD2, open banking and Strong Customer Authentication have shaped payment regulation, security and financial innovation internationally.

Europe still faces challenges, including fragmented national payment habits, rising fraud losses and dependence on international card networks. Nevertheless, the numbers show that EU fintech has moved well beyond its regional market.

The post EU Fintech Industry Impact on Global E-commerce appeared first on Cross-Border Magazine.

Shein is approaching one of the most important moments in its history. After unsuccessful attempts to list in New York and London, the online fashion retailer is preparing for a potential initial public offering in Hong Kong as early as September or October 2026.

However, the company will enter the public markets under significantly different conditions from those that powered its rapid international expansion.

New European customs duties, slower growth, increasing regulatory scrutiny and rising fulfilment costs are placing pressure on Shein’s low-price cross-border e-commerce model. These challenges could force the company to accept a valuation far below the $100 billion figure it reportedly achieved during a private funding round in 2022.

Shein is now expected to seek a valuation of approximately $40 billion to $50 billion, although some investors reportedly believe a figure closer to $30 billion may be more realistic.

Shein moves closer to a Hong Kong listing

Shein received approval from the China Securities Regulatory Commission for its planned Hong Kong IPO in July 2026, clearing one of the most significant obstacles facing the listing.

The company could reportedly sell up to 8% of its shares through the transaction. Its proposed listing would be one of the most prominent retail IPOs in recent years, particularly at a time when weaker consumer spending has caused many brands to postpone their public-market plans.

A Hong Kong listing represents the latest chapter in a lengthy and complicated IPO process.

Shein confidentially filed for a US listing in 2023 but encountered resistance connected to its supply chain, labour practices and links to China. It subsequently turned to London, where its proposed flotation also became delayed amid regulatory and political scrutiny.

The company then redirected its efforts towards Hong Kong, where it has now secured approval from Chinese regulators.

Despite clearing this regulatory hurdle, Shein must still convince investors that its growth model can remain profitable as some of its most important markets introduce stricter rules for low-value e-commerce imports.

Europe represents a critical market for Shein

Europe is particularly important to Shein’s IPO story because the region reportedly accounts for approximately one-third of the company’s global revenue.

Shein generated more than $40 billion in revenue and around $2 billion in net profit in 2025, according to figures reported by Reuters. Nevertheless, slower growth and new trade costs are creating uncertainty around its future earnings.

Shein’s success has traditionally been based on offering an enormous selection of low-priced fashion products, adding new items rapidly and shipping many orders directly from suppliers in China to consumers.

This model enabled the company to respond quickly to changing demand while avoiding the costs associated with maintaining large inventories in local markets.

The same operating structure, however, leaves Shein highly exposed to changes affecting low-value imported parcels.

The EU’s €3 customs duty changes Shein’s cost structure

On 1 July 2026, the European Union introduced a temporary €3 customs duty on low-value imports worth up to €150 that are sent directly to consumers from outside the EU.

The duty applies per item category, identified through its customs classification, rather than simply as a single charge on every parcel. A shipment containing products covered by several customs codes could therefore face multiple €3 duties. The temporary arrangement is expected to remain in place until 1 July 2028, when the EU’s wider customs reform is scheduled to introduce a new system for low-value imports.

This distinction is especially relevant for marketplaces selling mixed baskets of inexpensive products.

For example, a parcel containing a dress, fashion accessory and pair of shoes could contain several different customs classifications. The total duty applied to the shipment may consequently exceed €3.

For premium retailers, an additional charge of a few euros may have a relatively limited effect on consumer demand. For Shein, where many individual products cost less than €10, the impact can be much more significant.

The duty could increase the final price of an order, reduce the attractiveness of small purchases or force Shein to absorb part of the additional cost. Each option creates pressure on either demand or profit margins.

Low prices are central to Shein’s competitive advantage

Shein’s European value proposition depends heavily on affordability. Its customers are often highly price-sensitive and attracted by the ability to purchase several fashion items at prices below those offered by conventional retailers.

A fixed customs charge therefore represents a disproportionately large percentage of the price of many Shein products.

A €3 duty applied to an item costing €6 is equivalent to 50% of the product’s original price. Even when several products are combined in one shipment, multiple customs classifications could materially increase the total landed cost.

This presents Shein with several difficult options:

• Increase prices and risk weakening consumer demand.
• Absorb the duty and accept lower margins.
• Encourage customers to place larger orders.
• Consolidate products into bulk shipments before distributing them within the EU.
• Move more inventory into European warehouses.
• Increase the share of products supplied by European sellers.

Each response would move Shein further away from the highly flexible direct-from-China model that initially supported its international expansion.

Shein expands its European logistics operations

Shein has already begun adapting its European supply chain.

The company has expanded its logistics operations in Poland, establishing a regional fulfilment centre capable of supporting deliveries across European markets. The facility can also be used by external sellers operating through Shein’s marketplace.

Local warehousing allows products to be imported into the EU in larger commercial shipments rather than sent individually to consumers. Once customs procedures are completed, orders can be fulfilled from within the single market.

This approach can provide several advantages:

• Faster deliveries to European customers.
• Greater control over returns.
• More predictable customs processing.
• Lower dependence on direct low-value parcel shipments.
• Improved fulfilment services for marketplace sellers.

However, maintaining local inventory also introduces new costs and operational risks.

Shein may need to forecast demand earlier, hold more stock, lease additional warehouse capacity and manage unsold products. These requirements could weaken one of the central advantages of its original model: producing relatively small quantities and rapidly replenishing only the products that sell well.

Europe could accelerate Shein’s marketplace transition

Shein has gradually expanded beyond its role as a first-party fashion retailer by allowing external merchants to sell products through its platform.

The EU customs changes could accelerate this transformation.

A marketplace with more European sellers would allow Shein to offer products already located inside the EU. These items would not face the same direct-import duty when delivered to European consumers.

Shein could also generate more revenue from seller commissions, advertising, payments and fulfilment services. This would make its business model more similar to established online marketplaces.

However, increasing the number of third-party sellers introduces additional regulatory responsibilities. Shein must ensure that products offered through its platform comply with European safety, consumer-protection and digital-platform rules.

A larger marketplace could therefore help Shein reduce its customs exposure while simultaneously increasing its compliance obligations.

Regulatory pressure extends beyond customs duties

The €3 duty is only one element of Shein’s increasingly difficult European environment.

The European Commission has been examining the company under the Digital Services Act, which places significant responsibilities on very large online platforms.

These obligations include assessing systemic risks, removing illegal products, improving seller traceability, protecting minors and providing greater transparency around recommendation systems and advertising.

Shein has also faced scrutiny over product safety, environmental claims, addictive platform design, labour conditions and the sale of potentially illegal goods by external merchants.

These issues matter to prospective investors because regulatory investigations can lead to fines, operational restrictions, additional compliance costs and reputational damage.

They also complicate Shein’s efforts to present itself as a mature global technology and retail company rather than simply a low-cost cross-border seller.

The end of duty-free imports is a global problem for Shein

Shein’s European challenges follow similar changes in the United States.

The company’s model benefited for years from the US de minimis exemption, which allowed qualifying low-value goods to enter the country without normal customs duties. Changes to that treatment placed additional pressure on Shein’s American operations and contributed to uncertainty around its valuation.

The EU has now moved in the same direction.

Together, these developments suggest that the regulatory environment that enabled the explosive growth of direct-from-China e-commerce is coming to an end.

Governments are increasingly concerned about the enormous volume of low-value parcels entering their markets, the cost of customs enforcement, unfair competition for domestic retailers and the difficulty of checking every product for safety and compliance.

For Shein, this means the challenge is not limited to one temporary European duty. The company must demonstrate that it can remain competitive under a permanently more demanding global trade environment.

Shein’s valuation has fallen sharply

The difference between Shein’s previous and expected valuations illustrates how investor sentiment has changed.

The company was reportedly valued at approximately $100 billion in 2022, placing it among the world’s most valuable privately held businesses. Its valuation subsequently fell to around $66 billion during a 2023 funding round.

Shein may now seek a Hong Kong IPO valuation of between $40 billion and $50 billion. Some shareholders and potential investors have reportedly argued that the company could be worth closer to $30 billion.

Even at the higher end of the expected range, Shein would be worth less than half its reported 2022 peak.

The reduction does not necessarily mean that Shein’s business is failing. The company remains one of the world’s largest online fashion retailers and continues to generate substantial revenue and profit.

Instead, the falling valuation reflects a reassessment of its future growth, regulatory exposure, logistics costs and long-term margins.

Leadership changes add another layer of uncertainty

Shein’s preparations for the IPO are also taking place alongside a significant leadership transition.

Executive chairman Donald Tang is expected to leave his position as the listing approaches completion, although he may remain involved as a senior adviser. Founder and CEO Sky Xu is expected to take over as chairman and lead the company’s investor presentations.

Tang had acted as one of Shein’s most visible representatives when dealing with Western regulators, politicians and investors. His departure places greater responsibility on Xu, who has traditionally maintained a lower public profile.

For potential shareholders, the transition raises questions about corporate governance and how Shein will manage its relationships with regulators outside China.

The company must not only explain its financial performance but also demonstrate that it has the leadership structure and compliance systems required of a major publicly listed business.

What investors will want to know

Shein’s IPO presentation will need to answer several important questions.

The first is whether the company can continue growing after customs exemptions are removed in major markets.

Investors will also want to understand how much of the new import cost Shein intends to absorb and how much will be passed on to customers.

Another key issue will be the profitability of European fulfilment. Local warehouses may improve delivery speeds and reduce dependence on individual imports, but they also require greater capital investment and more sophisticated inventory management.

Shein will additionally need to explain whether it intends to remain primarily a fashion retailer or develop into a broader marketplace and logistics platform.

Finally, investors will assess whether the company’s regulatory and reputational risks have been adequately reflected in its proposed valuation.

What the Shein IPO means for European e-commerce

The outcome of Shein’s listing will have implications beyond the company itself.

If Shein successfully adapts to the EU’s customs system, it could provide a blueprint for other Asian marketplaces seeking to maintain access to European consumers.

The likely model would involve a combination of:

• Greater use of European fulfilment centres.
• More consolidated freight shipments.
• Larger average order values.
• Increased participation by local sellers.
• Stronger product-compliance controls.
• Greater investment in returns infrastructure.
• Reduced reliance on direct low-value imports.

Temu, AliExpress and other cross-border platforms are confronting many of the same pressures. European retailers and logistics providers should therefore expect more competition for local warehouse capacity, fulfilment partnerships and last-mile delivery services.

The customs reforms could also create opportunities for European brands that previously struggled to compete with ultra-low-priced imports.

However, local warehousing alone will not eliminate the competitive advantages enjoyed by large global marketplaces. Their technology, scale, marketing reach and supplier networks will remain formidable.

A test of whether Shein’s model can evolve

Shein’s planned Hong Kong IPO is becoming a test of whether the company can successfully move beyond the regulatory conditions that supported its original growth.

The retailer has already shown that it can build a global brand, use data to identify consumer demand and coordinate an enormous network of suppliers.

Its next challenge is more complex.

Shein must prove that it can maintain affordable prices while paying higher import costs, investing in local logistics, meeting stricter European regulations and providing investors with more transparency.

The EU’s €3 customs duty will not determine Shein’s future on its own. Nevertheless, it represents a wider structural change in cross-border e-commerce.

The era in which millions of ultra-low-value parcels could move directly from China to European consumers with minimal customs duties is ending.

Shein’s valuation, IPO performance and European strategy will show whether one of the biggest beneficiaries of that system can also succeed in the market that replaces it.

The post Shein’s European challenges weigh on its planned Hong Kong IPO appeared first on Cross-Border Magazine.

By fulfilmentcrowd - Consumer expectations continue to rise as four-day sales events place unprecedented pressure on eCommerce fulfillment operations

Amazon's four-day Prime Day event has once again demonstrated that eCommerce success is no longer determined solely by pricing or promotions, but by the retailers that can deliver exceptional customer experiences at scale.

Industry data suggests Prime Day 2026 generated more than $26 billion in online sales, with revenue increasing significantly year-on-year as shoppers spread purchases across the extended four-day event rather than concentrating spending on day one.

According to fulfilmentcrowd, the changing dynamics of Prime Day reflect a broader shift across eCommerce, where a robust operational setup has become a key differentiator.

"Peak trading events have evolved dramatically," said Lee Thompson, CEO of fulfilmentcrowd. "Consumers still expect competitive pricing, but they now demand next-day delivery, real-time order visibility and an easy post-purchase and returns experience. That places enormous pressure on retailers whose fulfilment operations aren't designed to scale."

Prime Day has become one of the most significant stress tests of the eCommerce supply chain, with marketplaces, retailers and brands processing millions of additional orders within days. Research from Numerator found many shoppers pre-planned their purchasing behaviour, with consumers heading into Prime Day with wish lists already prepared, rather than making impulse purchases.

For retailers selling both on Amazon and through their own eCommerce channels, this presents a significant operational challenge.

"Consumers don't distinguish between sales channels; they simply expect every order to arrive quickly and accurately," Thompson added. "Businesses relying on fragmented systems or manual fulfilment processes risk disappointing customers precisely when demand is at its highest."

The continued growth of Prime Day is also increasing competitive pressure beyond Amazon itself. Major retailers are now launching parallel promotional campaigns, creating a sustained period of elevated order volumes across the wider eCommerce sector.

fulfilmentcrowd believes this trend reinforces the importance of flexible, technology-driven fulfilment networks capable of scaling rapidly during peak periods without compromising service levels.

Looking to grow your eCommerce brand internationally? fulfilmentcrowd helps ambitious retailers scale across the UK, Europe, the US and Australia with tech-enabled fulfilment solutions, seamless integrations and a worldwide warehouse network designed to support fast, reliable global growth. Learn more at fulfilmentcrowd.com, fulfilmentcrowd.de or fulfilmentcrowd.us

The post Prime Day 2026 proved speed and scalability make a competitive advantage - by fulfilmentcrowd appeared first on Cross-Border Magazine.

Amazon is introducing stricter delivery-performance requirements for merchants that fulfill customer orders through their own warehouses and logistics partners.

The changes affect sellers using Fulfilled by Merchant (FBM) across several major European Amazon marketplaces. New requirements cover on-time delivery performance, handling-time settings, deliveries to business customers, and customs documentation for cross-border shipments.

For independent merchants, brands, and fulfillment providers, the message is clear: seller-fulfilled operations will increasingly be judged against delivery standards more closely aligned with Amazon’s own logistics network.

What is Amazon Fulfilled by Merchant?

Under Fulfilled by Merchant, the seller remains responsible for storing inventory, processing orders, packaging products, selecting carriers and delivering parcels to customers.

This differs from Fulfillment by Amazon, or FBA, where inventory is stored in Amazon fulfillment centers, and Amazon manages most of the fulfillment process.

FBM gives merchants more direct control over inventory and logistics. It can be particularly useful for businesses selling bulky goods, specialized products, low-volume inventory, made-to-order products or merchandise already stored in their own European warehouses.

However, it also means that the seller is responsible for meeting the delivery promise displayed to the customer.

Amazon is now tightening the way it measures and enforces that responsibility.

A 90 percent On-Time Delivery Rate for European sellers

From 15 July 2026, Amazon expects FBM sellers in Germany to maintain an On-Time Delivery Rate of at least 90 percent.

The requirement measures the percentage of seller-fulfilled units delivered on or before the “Deliver by” date communicated to the customer.

From 1 September 2026, Amazon may deactivate affected listings if sellers fail to meet the policy requirements. Sellers could also lose the ability to create new FBM offers. Similar changes have been introduced in France, Italy and Spain.

The United Kingdom already has a minimum OTDR requirement of 90 percent for seller-fulfilled orders, which took effect in September 2025. Amazon is now adding further operational rules for handling times and Amazon Business deliveries in the UK.

Although a 90 percent threshold still allows one in ten orders to arrive late, sellers should not treat it as a comfortable operating target. Seasonal peaks, carrier disruptions, weather events or incorrect delivery scans could quickly pull a seller below the minimum.

Merchants will therefore need to consistently operate above the threshold rather than aim to meet it exactly.

What happens when a seller falls below 90 percent?

Amazon’s enforcement can affect individual seller-fulfilled listings rather than immediately disabling an entire FBM catalog.

Listings that contribute most to a seller’s OTDR decline may be temporarily deactivated. Repeated or significant performance failures could potentially result in broader restrictions on the seller’s ability to offer merchant-fulfilled products.

This listing-level approach may reduce the impact of an isolated logistics problem across an entire account. However, it also creates a direct connection between carrier performance and product availability.

A poorly performing delivery route, fulfillment location, carrier service or group of SKUs could cause specific offers to disappear from the marketplace.

For merchants, the consequences go beyond account health. Listing deactivation can interrupt sales momentum, reduce visibility, affect advertising campaigns and push customers towards competing offers.

Amazon is also tightening handling-time settings

Amazon is not only measuring whether orders arrive on time. The marketplace is also reviewing whether sellers are setting delivery promises that accurately reflect their real fulfillment performance.

In the United Kingdom, Amazon stated that 90 percent of FBM orders already dispatch within one day. From 15 July 2026, the account-level default handling time setting will therefore be limited to 0 or 1 day.

Accounts with a default handling time of 2 days will automatically be changed to 1 day. Sellers will still be able to configure longer handling times for individual SKUs where required.

A further change will take effect from 1 September 2026. When a SKU’s configured handling time remains at least one day longer than the seller’s actual performance for more than 30 days, Amazon may activate Automated Handling Time for that product.

The system will then use the seller’s historical fulfillment data to create a faster delivery promise.

Amazon argues that more accurate and competitive delivery dates can improve conversion. From the merchant’s perspective, however, the policy reduces the ability to add operational buffers to account for exceptional circumstances.

This could be particularly challenging for small businesses, handmade sellers, made-to-order brands and merchants whose order-processing capacity varies significantly during busy periods.

New requirements for Amazon Business deliveries

Amazon is also introducing a dedicated delivery-performance metric for orders placed by business customers.

From 30 September 2026, FBM sellers in Germany and the United Kingdom are expected to maintain a Business Hour Delivery Rate of at least 90 percent.

The metric measures the percentage of Amazon Business shipments delivered during the customer’s stated operating hours.

From 30 October 2026, non-compliant listings may be deactivated for business customers if the seller remains below the required level.

This requirement is intended to reduce unsuccessful delivery attempts and prevent parcels from arriving when commercial premises are closed.

However, sellers may face complications when business addresses are also residential properties, when opening-hour data is inaccurate or when carriers complete deliveries outside the expected time window despite successfully handing the parcel to the customer.

The change makes carrier selection especially important for B2B sellers. A service that performs well for residential delivery may not necessarily offer the scheduling precision required for offices, shops, warehouses and industrial premises.

Cross-border sellers face additional customs requirements

Amazon’s updated FBM rules also address shipments entering the European Union from outside the bloc.

For eligible consignments valued at no more than €150 and imported under the Import One-Stop Shop system, sellers are expected to use approved carriers that can provide the required customs documentation.

Merchants must provide the carrier with Amazon’s IOSS number and the relevant ASIN details for each product in the shipment.

This creates another layer of operational responsibility for UK and other non-EU sellers shipping directly to EU customers.

A parcel may be dispatched on time but still miss its customer delivery promise due to incorrect customs data, an unsupported carrier, incomplete product information, or a clearance delay.

Cross-border merchants must therefore manage customs compliance and delivery performance as part of the same process.

Why Amazon is tightening its FBM rules

Amazon says the changes are intended to provide more accurate delivery promises, improve conversion, ensure reliable deliveries to business customers and facilitate smoother customs clearance.

The broader strategic objective is consistency. Customers generally see Amazon as a single shopping environment, regardless of whether an order is fulfilled by Amazon or shipped by an independent seller. A delayed FBM delivery, therefore, affects the broader customer perception of the marketplace.

By tightening handling time and delivery requirements, Amazon is attempting to make the customer experience less dependent on the fulfillment method for each offer.

The policy also encourages sellers to adopt more of Amazon’s fulfillment and shipping technology.

Amazon recommends tools including Automated Handling Time, Shipping Settings Automation and Amazon Buy Shipping. In some cases, orders that use Amazon’s approved combination of tools may be excluded from certain delivery performance calculations.

This gives merchants a potential route to better delivery estimates and greater policy protection. At the same time, it increases their reliance on Amazon’s logistics ecosystem.

What the changes mean for cross-border e-commerce

The new rules could have a disproportionate impact on merchants that fulfill orders across borders from a central European warehouse.

Domestic deliveries are generally easier to predict. Cross-border parcels pass through more carrier hubs, may involve handovers between logistics companies and can be affected by different weekend schedules, public holidays and regional delivery practices.

A seller dispatching from Poland, the Netherlands or the Czech Republic to customers in Germany, France, Spain and Italy may therefore need different shipping templates and transit-time settings for each destination.

Using one general European delivery promise may no longer provide sufficient accuracy.

Merchants shipping from outside the EU face even greater risk because customs clearance becomes part of the delivery-performance calculation from the customer’s perspective.

The changes could encourage more sellers to:

• Store inventory closer to their main customer markets.
• Use local fulfillment centers or multi-country warehouse networks.
• Replace untracked postal services with fully tracked carriers.
• Introduce carrier selection by destination and product type.
• Move selected fast-selling products from FBM to FBA.
• Maintain separate delivery settings for domestic and cross-border orders.
• Build larger operational buffers around peak sales periods.

For fulfillment providers, the policy creates an opportunity to differentiate through accurate delivery data, carrier management and marketplace integration.

How sellers can prepare

The first step is to review the On-Time Delivery Rate in Amazon’s Account Health Dashboard and identify which products, shipping lanes or carriers are responsible for late deliveries.

Sellers should then compare their configured handling and transit times with actual operational performance.

Setting unrealistically fast delivery promises increases the risk of failing to meet the OTDR requirement. Setting them too conservatively may trigger Amazon’s automated handling-time adjustments.

The objective should be accuracy rather than simply speed.

Merchants should also verify that carrier tracking is uploaded correctly and that delivery scans are recognized by Amazon. A parcel that reaches the customer on time may still be recorded incorrectly when tracking information is incomplete, delayed or incompatible with Amazon’s systems.

Cross-border sellers should review every shipping route separately. Carrier performance from Germany to France may differ considerably from performance on shipments to Spain or Italy.

Amazon Business merchants should confirm whether their carriers can consistently deliver during commercial operating hours and provide reliable proof of delivery.

Finally, sellers importing low-value parcels into the EU should verify their IOSS processes, courier eligibility and product-level customs data before dispatch.

Will the changes push more sellers towards FBA?

The updated requirements may make FBA more attractive for products that require fast, predictable delivery.

Under FBA, Amazon manages storage, picking, packing and delivery. The merchant is therefore not directly responsible for the same seller-fulfilled OTDR requirement.

However, FBA is not automatically the right choice for every product.

Storage fees, inbound transport, inventory allocation, long-term storage costs and product restrictions can make merchant fulfillment more economical for certain categories.

Many brands may adopt a hybrid approach instead. Fast-moving products can be placed in Amazon’s fulfillment network, while slower, bulky or specialized items remain under FBM.

The decision will increasingly depend not only on fulfillment cost, but also on whether the seller’s own logistics network can reliably satisfy Amazon’s performance metrics.

Delivery performance becomes a marketplace-access requirement

Amazon’s latest FBM changes show that delivery performance is no longer merely a customer service indicator.

It is becoming a condition for maintaining visibility in the marketplace. For European merchants, particularly those operating across borders, accurate handling times, reliable carriers, valid tracking and correct customs documentation are now directly linked to whether products remain available for sale.

Sellers who can provide dependable and transparent fulfillment will continue to benefit from the control FBM offers.

Those relying on inconsistent carriers, broad delivery estimates or manual logistics processes face a growing risk of listing restrictions and lost sales.

The central challenge is therefore not necessarily delivering every order faster. It is delivering each order when the marketplace has promised it will arrive.

The post Amazon Tightens Fulfilled by Merchant Requirements Across Europe appeared first on Cross-Border Magazine.

Uber has reportedly paused most of its planned Uber Eats expansion across Europe, marking a significant change in direction only months after announcing its intention to enter seven additional markets.

According to a Financial Times report subsequently covered by Reuters, Uber no longer intends to proceed for now with food-delivery launches in five of the seven countries included in the expansion programme.

Austria, Norway and Greece were identified among the affected markets. The report did not name the other two countries.

Uber Eats will continue operating in Denmark and Finland, where the company says its recent launches have performed strongly. The strategic retreat comes as Uber continues pursuing a possible acquisition of Berlin-based Delivery Hero.

Reuters said it could not independently verify the Financial Times report. Uber did not respond to Reuters’ request for comment, while Delivery Hero declined to comment.

The development nevertheless suggests that Uber may be reconsidering the cost of building delivery networks country by country while simultaneously pursuing an acquisition that could give it immediate access to established restaurants, couriers, retailers and consumers across numerous international markets.

Uber originally targeted seven new European markets

Earlier in 2026, Uber announced plans to expand its food-delivery business into seven additional European countries:

• Austria
• Denmark
• Finland
• Norway
• The Czech Republic
• Greece
• Romania

Uber expected the expansion to generate approximately $1 billion in additional gross bookings over three years.

The company has since launched in Denmark and Finland. According to the latest report, Uber has paused plans for five of the remaining or originally targeted markets.

Austria, Norway and Greece were specifically identified. Because the report did not name the other two, it would be premature to state definitively that they are the Czech Republic and Romania, even though those are the two remaining countries from the original list.

Uber reportedly told the Financial Times that it had decided to concentrate on Denmark and Finland following the “huge success” of those launches. The company intends to focus resources on maintaining momentum in markets where Uber Eats is already operating.

There has been no public indication of when, or whether, the other planned launches could be reconsidered.

Uber continues to pursue Delivery Hero

The pause comes while Uber is pursuing a potential takeover of Delivery Hero, one of the world’s largest local-delivery groups.

Delivery Hero confirmed on 23 May 2026 that it had received an approach from Uber involving a potential takeover offer of €33 per share.

The offer did not represent a final agreement. Delivery Hero shareholders and investors subsequently indicated that the proposed price could undervalue the company, and Uber’s board reportedly discussed whether to increase the offer.

However, no higher formal bid or completed acquisition had been announced at the time of publication.

The initial €33-per-share proposal would value Delivery Hero at more than €11 billion, depending on the number of shares and the valuation method used.

Uber has built a major Delivery Hero position

Uber had already become Delivery Hero’s largest shareholder before the takeover approach became public.

On 18 May, Delivery Hero said Uber held approximately 19.5% of its issued share capital and options corresponding to another 5.6%.

Reuters later reported that Uber increased its overall Delivery Hero position from approximately 25% to nearly 37% after buying shares from Aspex Management.

The figures should be understood carefully. Delivery Hero’s official 19.5% disclosure referred to issued share capital at a particular point in time, while the larger percentages reported later reflected Uber’s expanded position and potentially included different forms of economic exposure.

What is clear is that Uber has accumulated a strategically significant interest in Delivery Hero while exploring a full acquisition.

Why Uber may prefer acquisition over organic expansion

Launching a delivery platform in a new country requires considerable investment.

A company must recruit restaurants and retail partners, establish a courier network, localise payment and technology systems, provide customer support and invest heavily in consumer marketing.

New entrants also frequently use discounts and promotions to attract customers from established competitors. This can make organic market expansion expensive, particularly in countries where consumers already have access to several mature platforms.

Acquiring Delivery Hero could give Uber immediate access to existing delivery infrastructure instead of requiring it to reproduce those networks independently.

Delivery Hero operates a wide portfolio of regional brands, including:

• Glovo
• foodora
• foodpanda
• talabat
• PedidosYa
• efood
• Yemeksepeti
• HungerStation
• Woowa Brothers

These businesses already have relationships with restaurants, grocery companies, retailers, couriers and consumers across Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America.

A successful takeover could therefore provide Uber with geographic scale that would be costly and time-consuming to achieve through individual country launches.

Avoiding competition with a potential acquisition target

Pausing the launches may also prevent Uber from investing in new operations that could overlap with businesses it hopes to acquire.

Entering markets already served by Delivery Hero brands could require Uber to spend money competing against the same restaurant, courier and customer networks that it may eventually own.

That could create duplicate operating structures and unnecessary promotional expenditure.

By concentrating on Denmark and Finland, Uber can continue expanding in markets where it has already launched while avoiding further commitments during the Delivery Hero negotiations.

Uber has not publicly said that the pause was caused by its takeover plans. The connection should therefore be treated as a strategic interpretation rather than a confirmed explanation.

Nevertheless, the timing makes the two developments difficult to examine separately.

Delivery Hero offers more than restaurant delivery

Delivery Hero has increasingly positioned itself as a broader local-commerce platform rather than a traditional takeaway business.

Its Everyday App strategy combines restaurant orders with groceries, convenience products, household goods, health and beauty items, pet products and other frequently purchased categories.

During the first quarter of 2026, Delivery Hero reported:

• Group gross merchandise value of approximately €12.5 billion
• Like-for-like GMV growth of 8.8%
• Total segment revenue of approximately €3.7 billion
• Like-for-like revenue growth of 17.8%

Quick commerce has become an increasingly important part of this strategy.

Delivery Hero reported quick-commerce GMV of approximately €7.5 billion in 2025. It also said customers who purchased both restaurant food and quick-commerce products accounted for slightly more than half of group GMV during the first quarter of 2026.

A takeover would consequently give Uber more than a larger meal-delivery network. It could strengthen the company’s position in grocery delivery, convenience commerce and the rapid delivery of everyday retail products.

The European delivery market is consolidating

Uber’s reported change in strategy reflects a broader consolidation trend in European delivery.

After years of rapid expansion, heavy promotional expenditure and competition for market share, delivery companies are increasingly prioritising profitability and operational efficiency.

Acquisitions provide one way to obtain new customers and delivery networks without starting from zero in every country.

Prosus completed its acquisition of Just Eat Takeaway in 2025 after receiving conditional approval from the European Commission. As part of the regulatory commitments, Prosus agreed to substantially reduce its significant holding in Delivery Hero.

Prosus subsequently sold Delivery Hero shares to Uber and other investors, helping Uber build its position in the German company.

Elsewhere in the market, DoorDash has also pursued international expansion through major acquisitions, including its agreement to acquire Deliveroo.

These transactions indicate that global delivery groups increasingly view acquisitions as a faster route to geographic scale.

A Delivery Hero takeover would face regulatory scrutiny

A full Uber acquisition of Delivery Hero would likely require extensive competition reviews across several jurisdictions.

Authorities would assess the companies’ positions in individual national markets rather than treating Europe or the global delivery sector as a single market.

Uber Eats competes directly with Delivery Hero-owned platforms in a number of countries. Regulators could investigate whether combining those operations would:

• Reduce consumer choice
• Increase restaurant commissions
• Weaken competition for couriers
• Increase delivery or service charges
• Give the combined company excessive market power

Uber has already encountered regulatory resistance to a Delivery Hero-related acquisition.

In December 2024, Taiwan’s Fair Trade Commission blocked Uber’s proposed $950 million acquisition of Delivery Hero’s Foodpanda business in Taiwan. The regulator concluded that Uber Eats and Foodpanda would control approximately 90% of the local food-delivery platform market after the transaction.

Uber decided not to appeal and terminated the acquisition in March 2025. It was required to pay an approximately $250 million termination fee.

The Taiwan case does not determine how European regulators would assess a Delivery Hero takeover. However, it demonstrates the challenges Uber could face in markets where the two companies are among the leading competitors.

European regulators could demand divestments or other remedies before allowing a transaction to proceed.

Delivery Hero is undergoing a leadership transition

The potential takeover is also taking place during a period of strategic change at Delivery Hero.

The company announced in May 2026 that co-founder and CEO Niklas Östberg would step down after a successor had been appointed, and no later than 31 March 2027.

Östberg will remain CEO during the transition and will continue leading Delivery Hero’s strategic review and associated merger and acquisition processes.

The leadership change followed pressure from shareholders seeking improvements in capital allocation, corporate strategy and Delivery Hero’s geographic portfolio.

This environment could make partnerships, asset sales or a broader transaction more likely. At the same time, Delivery Hero’s revenue growth and improving quick-commerce performance could strengthen shareholder arguments that Uber must offer a higher price.

Denmark and Finland remain important test markets

Uber has not stopped expanding its European food-delivery business completely.

Denmark and Finland remain central to the company’s current plans.

Uber says the strong early performance of those launches encouraged it to concentrate resources on building scale in the two countries instead of dividing its investment among seven simultaneous market entries.

This strategy could allow Uber to improve restaurant selection, courier coverage and customer retention before committing to another expansion phase.

The performance of Denmark and Finland could also demonstrate whether Uber remains capable of entering European delivery markets organically while pursuing acquisitions elsewhere.

From expansion to consolidation

Uber’s reported pause in five planned European markets represents more than a change to its launch calendar.

It may signal a broader shift in how the company intends to grow its delivery business.

Instead of building every local operation independently, Uber appears increasingly willing to use shareholdings and acquisitions to obtain international scale.

Delivery Hero offers an established network that would be difficult and expensive to recreate. It could also accelerate Uber’s expansion beyond restaurant delivery into groceries, convenience products and broader local e-commerce.

The transaction remains uncertain. There is no final takeover agreement, Delivery Hero shareholders may demand a higher price, and regulators could require significant remedies or block the acquisition in markets with substantial competitive overlap.

For now, Uber is concentrating on Denmark and Finland while reportedly placing five other European launches on hold.

Whether those markets have been permanently removed from Uber’s plans will depend on future strategic decisions and potentially on the outcome of the Delivery Hero takeover process.

What is already clear is that European delivery is entering a period in which consolidation may become more important than rapid organic expansion.

The post Uber Pauses Most of Its European Delivery Expansion as Delivery Hero Takeover Talks Continue appeared first on Cross-Border Magazine.