The global situation is tense: international trade conflicts and growing uncertainty regarding US tech giants are making trust an increasingly geopolitical issue—even in e-commerce. For European companies, this presents a historic opportunity. One German player currently seizing this opportunity with particular ambition is Kaufland. Comsysto Reply has been implementing complex e-commerce solutions for clients across all industries for over 15 years. At the same time, we track and analyze relevant trends in our E-Commerce Lab to ensure we are ready for tomorrow's challenges today. We share our insights here—every Tuesday!
This announcement from Kaufland strikes a chord right now
The geopolitical uncertainty surrounding Donald Trump's trade policy is unsettling not only governments but increasingly businesses and end customers as well. Many are asking: Do we need to become more independent of American platforms in Europe? And when people think of this—not just regarding cloud infrastructure, but also in e-commerce—they naturally think of Amazon. The discussion is gaining new momentum, and platforms from Europe and China are ready to fill exactly that gap.
Last Friday, Kaufland made a clear statement at its own e-commerce day in Cologne: it intends to expand the Kaufland marketplace into the largest European online platform—and is now expanding into France and Italy. (Kaufland press release) Kaufland is already one of the fastest-growing marketplaces in Europe, with a particularly strong product range in electronics and furniture.
From Europe, for Europe
“We are the alternative to global e-commerce giants, and we are doing it from Europe, for Europe. To that end, we are now taking the next two steps, which will certainly not be the last.”
With this strong statement, Gerald Schönbucher, CEO of Kaufland e-commerce, makes it clear where the journey is headed. Kaufland no longer sees itself merely as a retailer with a marketplace, but as a central platform with the ambition of being a primary entry point—much like Amazon. And with the geopolitical tailwind, this could actually work.
All of this is embedded in a larger strategy of the Schwarz Group, to which Kaufland belongs. STACKIT is hitting exactly the same note with its “Sovereign Cloud” initiative (STACKIT) and is present at numerous events, for example the HANNOVER MESSE and the DMEA - Connecting Digital Health - I was at both events at their respective booths - very present.
What else happened at the event in Cologne?
Due to scheduling conflicts, I unfortunately didn't make it to Cologne last Friday after all. As a result, I missed some familiar faces, for example Christina Skoeries or Valerie Dichtl - The Marketplace Queen, who were also seen on stage at the E-commerce Berlin Expo . And, of course, Philipp Lahm , one of the most prominent speakers - very fitting given the RheinEnergieSTADION venue!
Naturally, this event also provided plenty of insights into the impact artificial intelligence will have on e-commerce - you can find the relevant contacts in the official agenda.
That’s it for today – and here’s what’s next
Geopolitics and e-commerce can no longer be separated. For retailers, this means that platform strategy is now also risk management. And, of course, this doesn't just apply to Europe; new opportunities could also arise for Asian players in the coming months. We already covered the rapid growth of TikTok here a month ago on March 11th reported.
Next week we will be diving deeper into the topic of social commerce. And that's not all! I will be a guest on a webinar with Neocom.ai and will be discussing Dana Nedamaldeen 's topic, "AI in e-commerce." You can register here to join us live.
See you next week!
Christian & the Comsysto Reply e-Commerce Lab