Europe’s Online Marketplaces Reviewed: Amazon, Allegro, bol, Zalando, Otto, Cdiscount and the Cross-Border Challengers

A seller looking at Europe from outside sees a single market of roughly 450 million EU consumers plus the UK, Switzerland and Norway. A seller inside it sees two dozen languages, different favourite payment methods and a different "first place I look" in almost every country.

This review covers the marketplaces that matter, what each is good for and what they collectively require. It belongs to the Marketplaces by Country section of the Kurums E-Commerce pillar; the world table is in top online marketplaces by country.

Which marketplaces lead in Europe?

Amazon is by far the largest: ECDB estimates its 2025 European GMV at about US$232 billion, close to the rest of the top ten combined. Behind it, ECDB's ranking (which includes Russia) lists Ozon and Wildberries, then AliExpress (US$33.6 billion), eBay (US$32.9 billion), Temu (US$30.9 billion), Shein (US$21.9 billion), Allegro (US$16.7 billion) and Zalando (US$15.5 billion).

Country by country the picture fragments. In DHL's 2026 E-Commerce Trends Report, as published by Lengow, shoppers named these as their most-used marketplace:

Amazon in Europe: what does it offer and cost?

Amazon runs local sites in Germany, the UK, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden and Belgium, and lets a seller list across them from one account. It is the fastest route to volume in the five largest economies and the benchmark every other venue is compared with.

Good for: almost every category; sellers who can keep stock in the platform's fulfilment network; brands with trademarks, which unlock enhanced content and protection tools.

Know before you list:

• Fees follow the global pattern: a monthly professional subscription, a category referral fee (15% is the common rate) and per-unit fulfilment and storage fees if you use Amazon's warehouses. Rates are published per country; check Seller Central for your marketplace.
• Storing stock in a country creates a VAT registration obligation there. Pan-European fulfilment spreads stock across several countries for speed and multiplies registrations.
• Competition for the featured offer is intense. Private-label and branded products with their own listing fare better than resellers sharing a page.

The fee stack and its effect on margin are worked through in e-commerce unit economics.

Allegro: why is Poland different?

Allegro is the dominant marketplace in Poland, used by 89% of online shoppers in the DHL survey, and it has expanded into Czechia, Slovakia and Hungary. ECDB puts its 2025 GMV at about US$16.7 billion, making it the largest EU-born marketplace.

Good for: general merchandise, electronics, home and garden, automotive parts; sellers targeting Central and Eastern Europe.

Know before you list: Polish shoppers expect delivery to parcel lockers, which are a national habit, and Allegro's loyalty programme bundles free delivery much as Prime does. Listings need Polish-language content and customer service. Foreign EU companies can register as business sellers; many use an integrator or a local partner for translation and returns.

Poland is also where cross-border platforms have grown fastest, so price pressure on unbranded goods is strong.

bol: how do you sell in the Netherlands and Belgium?

bol is the leading marketplace in the Netherlands, named by 92% of Dutch shoppers in the DHL survey, and it serves Dutch-speaking Belgium. It combines its own retail with a large third-party seller base.

Good for: books, toys, home, electronics and everyday goods; sellers who can deliver next day in the Benelux.

Know before you list: bol sets tight service levels on delivery time, cancellations and response time, and the Dutch market is used to ordering late in the evening for next-day arrival. Fulfilment through bol's own logistics service is the practical way to meet that from abroad. Bank-transfer payment is the national default and is built in.

How bol and the electronics retailer Coolblue hold their ground against global entrants is the subject of our story bol and Coolblue.

Zalando: is it a marketplace or a retailer?

Both. Zalando is Europe's largest online fashion destination, with about US$15.5 billion in 2025 GMV per ECDB, and Lengow reports around 52.9 million active customers. It sells its own stock and runs a partner programme through which brands sell directly on the platform.

Good for: fashion, footwear, sportswear, beauty and lifestyle brands with recognised labels.

Know before you list: Zalando is curated. It works with brands and authorised retailers, not general resellers, and it expects professional imagery, size data and a returns process that copes with fashion's high return rates. Its fulfilment service lets partners place stock in Zalando's warehouses. For a brand, it functions as a pan-European department store; for a trader of unbranded goods, it is not an option.

Otto, Cdiscount, eBay and the specialists: who are they for?

A second tier of marketplaces offers less volume and less competition. Each is strong in one country or one category.

Two observations. The UK is outside the EU's VAT and customs area, so selling there from the continent, or the reverse, is an import with its own VAT registration. And Switzerland, small as it is, has high purchasing power and its own customs border, which is why a local leader has held it.

How should you treat Temu, Shein and AliExpress?

As competitors and, increasingly, as channels. ECDB ranks all three among Europe's ten largest online retailers by 2025 GMV, and Temu was the most-used marketplace among Portuguese shoppers in the DHL survey. Their original model shipped individual parcels from China under the €150 duty exemption.

That exemption ended on 1 July 2026. Parcels valued at €150 or less now pay a flat €3 customs duty per item category, an interim arrangement due to run until 1 July 2028 under Council Regulation (EU) 2026/382, on top of import VAT. Some member states had already added national parcel levies. The platforms have responded by building European warehouses and inviting European sellers to list local stock.

For a European seller this cuts two ways. Unbranded goods face a price floor set in Shenzhen. But a local seller with stock in the EU can now reach those platforms' large audiences with faster delivery than their cross-border listings. Background: Pinduoduo and Temu, Shein.

What compliance applies on every European marketplace?

Four regimes apply whatever venue you choose: VAT, product safety, extended producer responsibility and consumer rights. Marketplaces enforce them by asking for registration numbers and removing listings without them.

• VAT. Distance sales to consumers in other EU countries are taxed at the customer's national rate once you pass €10,000 a year across the EU, reported through the One-Stop Shop. Holding stock in a country requires a local VAT number. Marketplaces act as deemed supplier, collecting VAT themselves, for certain sales by non-EU sellers and for low-value imports.
• Product safety. Under the General Product Safety Regulation, in force since December 2024, most consumer products need an EU-based responsible economic operator whose details appear on the product or packaging. CE-marked categories have their own directives.
• Extended producer responsibility (EPR). Sellers must register and pay for the recycling of packaging, and of electronics and batteries where relevant, in each country they sell into. Germany and France are strictly enforced through the marketplaces.
• Consumer rights. A 14-day right of withdrawal for distance sales and a two-year legal guarantee of conformity apply across the EU.

Which European marketplace should you start with?

Start with the leader in the country where you already hold stock, add the marketplace that leads your category, then expand by neighbour.

Before each new country, check the numbers in market metrics to review before entering a country. For the market at Europe's south-eastern edge, continue to Türkiye's marketplaces.

Frequently asked questions

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