The balance of power in European retail is shifting. For the first time, Amazon has become the largest retailer in Europe by sales volume, surpassing Germany’s Schwarz Group, the parent company of Lidl and Kaufland.
The milestone reflects the continued growth of e-commerce and marketplace-driven retail models across the continent. It also highlights how digital platforms are reshaping competition with traditional brick-and-mortar retail chains.
According to new figures from consultancy Retail Cities, Amazon generated around €179.7 billion in gross merchandise value (GMV) in Europe last year, narrowly surpassing Schwarz Group, which reached about €179.4 billion.
The difference between the two retailers is small, but the symbolic importance is significant. For decades, Europe’s largest retailers were supermarket groups built on physical store networks. Now, a digital platform that began as an online bookstore has taken the top position.
The gap with the next competitor is much larger. Aldi ranks third, with sales more than €80 billion lower than the two market leaders.
This shift illustrates how e-commerce has become a central force in the European retail landscape.
One of the key drivers behind Amazon’s growth is its marketplace structure. Unlike traditional retailers that rely mainly on selling their own inventory, Amazon operates a platform where millions of third-party sellers list products alongside Amazon’s own retail offerings.
This model allows Amazon to expand its assortment quickly without carrying all the inventory itself. It also enables cross-border commerce at scale, allowing merchants from different countries to reach customers across Europe.
Over the past decade, Amazon has steadily expanded its presence in major European markets, including Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Spain, and the Netherlands. The company has also invested heavily in logistics infrastructure and fulfillment centers across the region.
These investments have strengthened Amazon’s ability to deliver fast shipping, which remains one of the main factors influencing consumers’ online purchasing decisions.
While Amazon’s rise highlights the strength of e-commerce platforms, traditional retailers are also evolving.
Schwarz Group remains one of the most powerful retail companies in Europe. The German group operates thousands of Lidl and Kaufland stores across the continent and generates hundreds of billions of euros in annual revenue.
At the same time, the company has been investing in digital capabilities. Schwarz Group has expanded its e-commerce activities and launched marketplace initiatives through Kaufland Global Marketplace, while also building technology services through its Schwarz Digits division.
These moves reflect a broader trend: traditional retail companies are increasingly integrating digital commerce into their business models.
Amazon’s becoming Europe’s largest retailer is not only a corporate milestone. It also represents a broader transformation in how retail works.
Consumers are now comfortable buying everything from electronics to groceries online. Marketplaces have become major entry points for product discovery. At the same time, cross-border e-commerce allows shoppers to access products from sellers across the continent and beyond.
For retailers and brands, this environment creates new opportunities but also new operational challenges. Managing product catalogs, distributing accurate product information, and maintaining consistent content across marketplaces and webshops has become increasingly complex.
As e-commerce platforms grow larger and more interconnected, structured product data becomes a critical part of the digital retail infrastructure.
Online marketplaces depend on accurate product specifications, standardized attributes, and rich product content to ensure that products can be discovered, compared, and purchased efficiently. Without reliable product data, product listings become inconsistent, and customer trust can decline.
For brands selling through large platforms such as Amazon and other marketplaces, maintaining high-quality product information across multiple channels is therefore essential. Structured product data solutions help automate this process, allowing retailers and brands to distribute consistent content across e-commerce ecosystems.
Amazon’s new position at the top of the European retail rankings highlights how quickly the industry is evolving. E-commerce, marketplaces, and digital infrastructure are increasingly shaping the competitive landscape.
However, the story is far from over. Traditional retailers continue to invest in digital transformation, while e-commerce platforms face growing competition from emerging marketplaces and cross-border sellers.
In this environment, success will depend not only on logistics or pricing but also on how effectively retailers manage product data, digital catalogs, and omnichannel customer experiences.
For the European retail sector, Amazon’s rise is both a milestone and a signal of where commerce is heading next.
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