Retail news roundup

UK retailers have reported the worst slump since 2008, so e-comm and cross-border are definitely helpful, but there are other alternatives — in the US, Kohl’s has decided to open up 81 of its stores for Amazon returns to leverage Amazon to drive foot traffic into its…

You probably know the deets: Prime membership will go $99 -> $110, 3P unit mix up to 52%, global sellers represent 25% of that. Amazon loves third party sellers — the revenue from 3p seller services accounted for 18% of total sales…

Amazon is pushing for more products to have the add-on status, Prime users are not impressed. It is also developing a drone that will understand what you say (scary).

eBay

Germany has been doing really well economically (their joblessness is hitting record low while everyone else in Europe is struggling). The economical ease seem to translate into online buying prowess too. Get everyone to sell in Germany!

- Facebook Messenger is becoming more marketplace-y. Instagram has just added in-app payments feature. Both mean that Facebook is more serious about making money as a marketplace than ever before.

• Joules CEO says he thinks more fashion companies will get into interior design
• Amazon Echo and Alexa now available in France
• Zalando is expanding…