Germany

A remarkable alliance in these remarkable times: Aldi and McDonald's have agreed the discounter can take over staff from restaurants the fastfood chain had to close due to measures to stop the spread of the new coronavirus.

German wholesaler Metro has had a mixed first quarter of its financial year 2018/19. While turnover went up slightly (on a comparable basis), profit went down. Western Europe saw strong performances.

Ceconomy, the owner of electronics chains MediaMarkt and Saturn, has appointed a new CEO and a new CFO. After the exit of Pieter Haas, Jörn Werner and Karin Sonnenmoser will take over.

German fashion chain Bonprix (a subsidiary of Otto Group) is opening an innovative test store on 14 February. The store, located in Hamburg, will allow customers to shop through an app - showing how digital shopping works in practice.

Amazon's Dash buttons, which allow customers to order toilet paper or powder detergent at the push of a button, are illegal in Germany. This is the verdict of a German court, but Amazon refuses to leave it at that.

Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com needs to regain investor confidence and announced a major restructuring. In addition, the European expansion plans are also threatened: the future of a planned office in Germany has become very unsure.

Takeaway.com will be taking over all activities of its rival Delivery Hero in Germany. The two meal delivery services have been locked in conflict for years and now Delivery Hero has parted from its own country.