Consumer behavior

Almost 1.6 million Dutch people already shopped for groceries online at least once and expectations are the 2 million milestone will be reached next year. This means that one in six Dutch will buy their groceries online in 2017. The total revenue of online supermarkets in the Netherlands is expected to increase by 30 percent.

Consumers in Russia are buying more online. During the first half of this year, the total amount of online payments grew by 12 percent, while the number of transactions increased by 27 percent, compared to the second half of 2015.

Consumers in the UK are spending 5.77 billion euros less with their favorite high street retailers online than they would have if there were more delivery options. If same-day delivery was a possible option, 72 percent of consumers would shop more, spending an average of 198 euros extra each year.

Over half of online shoppers in the European Union bought clothes and sports goods online last year. Clothing is the most popular product category online in many European countries, such as the UK, Germany, France, Russia, Poland, Turkey and Finland.

Dutch consumers increasingly buy their products and services online. Last year, 71 percent of the Dutch shopped online, which makes the Netherlands the fifth country in the European Union when it comes to the share of consumers shopping online. But the Dutch rarely shop cross-border.

Older consumers in Spain, ages 50 and up, were always among the most hesitant to use the internet or to shop online, but this trend is slowly shifting. Now internet is a common destination for Spanish seniors when asked where they most often buy products and services.

Online consumer spending in the United Kingdom increased by 8.4 percent in April compared to the same month last year. This annual increase was the fastest seen in the UK ecommerce industry since December 2014. In Ireland, consumers even spent 18.7 percent more in April than they did one year ago.

Almost 8 out of 10 consumers in Europe abandoned their online shopping cart at least once within the last six months. Within the last month, the percentage is still 39 percent. And almost a third of people never returned to complete the purchase, new research shows.

Nearly two thirds of internet users in the European Union made online purchases in 2015. The share of online shoppers in internet users is growing, with the highest proportions (both 68%) being found in the group of 16 to 24 year olds and that of 25 to 54 year olds.

About one in four online shoppers in Germany have ordered foods or drinks online. This percentage is the same as it was last year, when 28% of online consumers shopped groceries online. A new study shows that about nine in ten shoppers are satisfied with shopping groceries online, only 7 percent is somewhat dissatisfied with the experience.

Are their differences between shoppers in let's say France or Spain? Yes, of course. The major steps of the customer journey may look similar across all countries, there are certainly a few differences in each country. DPD studied the behavior and expectations of 18-25 year olds in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain and Poland.

Consumers in the Nordic countries expect to conduct the majority of Christmas shopping offline. But Sweden is the notable exception, as a majority of consumers believe they will shop their gifts mostly online. In total, more than 80 percent of Nordic consumers will shop online this Christmas and almost a quarter of the Christmas shopping will be mobile.

Europe is a continent with many differences. Not just in terms of politics, culture and language, but also with regards to ecommerce. While the online retail industry in the UK has matured, it's still upcoming in countries in the Eastern part of the continent. Also, in terms of online spending there are many differences. A new infographic shows which country's consumers spend most online on average.

Consumers in twelve major European countries have spent a total of nearly 180 billion euros while shopping online last year. This is 10 billion euros more than in the previous year. Especially, ecommerce between countries – both within and outside Europe – is on the rise.

Shopping online is getting more and more important, even for occasions where it really comes in handy if you have your presents on time. In the United Kingdom, more than three quarters of consumers recently said they will buy at least half of their Christmas presents online this year.