Insights
Insights: European Ecommerce Expansion News and Guides
Everything you need to plan and run a European expansion, organised the way you actually think about it — by topic and by category. Tax and trade, compliance, logistics and more on one side. Health and wellness, beauty, electronics and the rest of the brand segments on the other. Updated as the regulatory and market picture moves.
Start with the category closest to your immediate question, or browse the full set below.
In this section
01
By topic — the regulatory and operational ground every brand crosses regardless of what they sell: tax, compliance, EPR, logistics, marketplaces, market data.
02
By category — the brand segments we work with most: health and wellness, beauty, sports and active, electronics, apparel. Most articles are tagged on both axes, so the same piece can surface in more than one place.
By topic
Explore by topic
Market Data
- Sector sizing, growth trends and customer behaviour across Europe.
- Covers GMV figures, channel share and cross-border purchase trends.
Tax and Trade
-
VAT, IOSS, customs duty and the shifting US-EU
tariff position. - Covers the 2026 customs duty changes, fiscal representation and marketplace tax rules.
Compliance
- Product safety, labelling, claims and the EU AI Act.
- Covers CMR substance restrictions, Right to Repair, and the UK Product Safety Framework.
EPR
- Packaging, textile, WEEE & battery producer responsibility schemes.
- Covers PPWR, textile EPR rollouts, and the apparel destruction ban.
Logistics
- EU entry, warehousing, last-mile and returns.
- Covers DDP vs DDU, carrier mix strategy and customs operations.
Marketplaces
- Amazon Europe, Bol, Cdiscount, Zalando and channel strategy.
- Covers marketplace tax obligations and country-specific channel mix.
By category
Explore by category
Health and Wellness
- Supplements, ingredient compliance and novel food regulation.
- Covers EFSA dosage limits, CBD position and novel food catalogue updates.
Beauty
- Cosmetics compliance, CPNP and channel strategy.
- Covers Responsible Person setup, fragrance allergen labelling and CMR restrictions.
Sports and Active
- The €94.9B European sporting goods market and specialty retail strategy.
- Covers country-specific category strength and sports nutrition supply.
Electronics
- The Cyber Resilience Act, Right to Repair, USB-C and WEEE.
- Covers the six-regulation 2026 convergence timeline for consumer electronics.
Apparel
- Textile EPR, ESPR and substantiated sustainability claims.
- Covers the unsold apparel destruction ban and Digital Product Passport rollout.
Ecommerce Expansion
- The proposition itself — how to plan European expansion as one connected pathway rather than a stack of services.
- Covers the Global Expansion Pathway (GEP™), country sequencing, and cross-category strategy.
Global Expansion Pathway
How these categories map to the pathway
Every category on this page connects to a specific step (or steps) of the Global Expansion Pathway. If you know which stage of expansion you’re at, this shortcuts you to the right reading.
- Explore — Market Data, Sports and Active (category sizing)
- Compliance — Tax and Trade, Compliance, EPR, Health and Wellness, Beauty, Electronics, Apparel
- Logistics — Logistics
- Omni-Channel — Marketplaces, plus every brand segment page for channel-specific strategy
- Operate / Grow — Ecommerce Expansion (cross-cutting strategic content sits here)
Insights Blog
Latest across all categories
UK exporters are losing EU sales to a standards gap
A report covered by the Chartered Institute of Export and International Trade on 24 September
Direct-to-EU parcel shipping just got harder, and the volumes show it
EU customs authorities tightened their treatment of low-value ecommerce parcels arriving from third countries in
The EU’s customs overhaul is now in force. Check your setup.
The European Union’s overhauled customs reform package entered into force on 22 September 2026, per
Ocean freight faces a 2027 imbalance. Plan your stock now.
BIMCO projects global container fleet capacity to grow around 9 percent in 2027 while cargo
A haulier outsourced its compliance and lost its licence
A UK and EU road haulage operator had its operator’s licence revoked after regulators found
Shipping schedules are the least reliable they have been since 2022
Container shipping schedule reliability has fallen to its lowest level since 2022, according to DP
Using this hub
European expansion touches more regulatory and operational ground at once than almost any other market entry a brand will attempt. That’s why this hub is organised two ways instead of one.
A single flat list of articles works for a blog. It doesn’t work when a brand needs to cross-reference “what does PPWR mean for my apparel packaging” against “what does my apparel launch need generally.” The topic/category split, and the tagging that lets one article live on both, is what makes this navigable as the content library grows.
Three ways to use this page well:
- If you know your sector, start in “Explore by category.”
- If you know your operational question, start in “Explore by topic.”
- If neither, the Global Expansion Pathway map above sorts by stage instead.
Country guides
Looking for country-specific guidance?
Every category page above includes a country-by-country breakdown. If your question is fundamentally about a specific market rather than a topic or sector, the country opportunity guides are built for that.
Upcoming events
Events across all categories
Frequently asked questions
Common questions
How is this content organised?
Two ways at once: by topic (tax, compliance, EPR, logistics, marketplaces, market data) and by brand category (health and wellness, beauty, sports and active, electronics, apparel). Most articles are tagged on both, so the same piece can surface in more than one place.
What's the difference between the topic pages and the category pages?
Topic pages cover regulatory or operational ground that applies regardless of what you sell. Category pages cover the brand segments we work with most, including sector-specific compliance and market context. If you sell beauty products, both the Compliance hub and the Beauty hub will be relevant.
How often is this updated?
The landscape sections on individual category pages update monthly at minimum, with key takeaways and forward calendars reviewed quarterly. This index page reflects the current set of 12 live categories and refreshes as new ones launch.
I have a specific question about my brand. Where do I start?
Browsing is useful for context, but a direct conversation will get you a faster, more precise answer. Book a call or run the four-step lead form for recommendations tailored to your category, country priority and revenue stage.
Will more categories be added?
Yes. Home & Garden, Pet, and Baby & Kids are in the pipeline as deferred segments — their article URLs go live as content is published, with dedicated hub pages following once each has enough coverage.
Ready to talk?
If you’re planning European expansion and want to talk through what any of this means for your brand, book a call. For a personalized set of recommendations first, the four-step lead form will route you to a tailored guide.