Which European Marketplace To Open First
Category
Market Entry
Published by
Tom Emmanuel
Read Time
6 Minutes
For UK brands moving into Europe the answer is usually Germany, but not always, and the reasoning matters more than the answer. Choosing on market size alone is how brands end up in the wrong place.
Tom Emmanuel
Founder, Furnace Commerce
How to choose the market
Category depth beats population
Germany is the default because both Amazon and the fashion platforms are mature there, not because it is large. If your category is thin on those platforms, size will not rescue you.
Check the competitive set, not the demand
Demand tells you the market exists. The competitive set tells you whether you can enter it profitably. A category with three entrenched players and heavy discounting is expensive regardless of size.
Returns behaviour varies enormously
German fashion returns rates are materially higher than UK. A margin model built on UK returns will be wrong, and it is usually wrong in the direction that matters.
Language is a cost, not a footnote
Every market you add multiplies listing translation, customer service and content maintenance. Two markets done properly beat four done partially, every time.
The honest test is whether you can commit to trading a market weekly for a year. If not, opening it will produce a long tail of half-managed listings and compliance obligations you still have to pay for.
Choosing the platform
Amazon EU is the lowest-friction start
Existing account structure, familiar mechanics, and traffic on day one. It is the fastest way to test whether the product travels before committing to platform-specific work.
Zalando for fashion, on their terms
Zalando delivers scale in fashion but comes with its own content standards, returns handling and commercial expectations. It is a partnership to be managed, not a channel to be switched on.
Otto and About You for reach
Both give access to German audiences that do not shop Amazon first. Onboarding is slower and integration requirements are stricter, so plan them as a second wave rather than a launch channel.
Judge each partner on contribution
Commission, funding, returns and deductions vary widely by platform. Assess every partner on contribution after all of it, not on headline revenue, and be prepared to close the ones that do not clear.
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