Statistics

Dutch supermarket chain Albert Heijn has grown its market share to 35.9 percent in 2021. Its online channel, where customers order groceries, has helped achieve this growth. Up to 10 percent of the company's revenue come from this channel.

Ever since the outbreak of the coronavirus, ecommerce has grown significantly. An indicator of that growth is the number of online stores on platforms like Shopify. Between March 2020 and January 2022, the number of stores on Shopify grew with 201.53 percent.

The Nordic countries of Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden were very early adopters of the internet and have a highly developed digital infrastructure. Online shopping is very common in the Nordics, yet research reveals that there is still growth potential in this region.

Flash delivery startups have seen their turnover grow in the Netherlands. Research estimates that by the end of 2021, Dutch consumers were spending around 40 million euros per month on flash deliveries. This growth is expected to continue throughout this year, meaning that a total turnover of 1 billion euros can be achieved in 2022.

Online payment method PayPal is well-known within Europe, but the usage of PayPal in online stores varies between countries. In Italy, 93 percent of online stores offer PayPal as a payment method. On the other end of the spectrum, PayPal is only offered in 1 percent of Serbian online stores.

The top 10 of Austria's 250 biggest online stores had a successful year in 2020. Together, the top 10 made up almost half of the top 250's total online sales. Though there are new online retailers in the top 10, Amazon.de remains undefeated.

A large majority of small and medium-sized ecommerce businesses have seen their sales numbers rise in 2021. Up to 1 in 5 companies had a sales growth of at least 40 percent. However, these companies also faced several challenges.

With the strong growth in ecommerce across Europe, also comes a strong growth in marketplaces. European online marketplaces are estimated to value around 120 to 150 billion euros. But the markets for online marketplaces differ per country.

'Buy now, pay later' (BNPL) is becoming increasingly popular. One in five UK consumers are planning to use these services during Christmas, to spread out the costs. But the increasing popularity has also caused an increase in outstanding debt amongst UK shoppers.

The strongest ecommerce markets in Europe have remained on the top. However, consumers in Denmark have spent the most online in the past year. These findings are published in the newest report by Direct Link.

About You, the German fashion retailer, has released its second quarter results. The company shows a year-on-year growth of over 50 percent. This is mainly thanks to their B2B services, as their fashion branch suffers millions in loss.

Marketplaces are now a starting point in 44 percent of all product searches. This is more than twice the number of searches in search engines. Brand loyalty seems to be less important to consumers, as marketplaces are almost 5 times more likely to be a starting point to research products than a brand's own website.

Global online sales have grown with 11 percent in Q3 2021. This is a higher growth than in the previous quarter, when online sales grew 2 percent. However, compared to the same time last year, it's visible that ecommerce is slowing down. The European amount of sales seems to be returning to pre-pandemic levels.

Though Dutch consumers are still placing more cross-border orders within the EU, in Q2 2021 there was a growth of 17 percent when compared to last year. In total, they spent more than 800 million euros in online stores within the EU. This is a slower growth than in previous quarters.

In Germany, ecommerce is becoming more and more defined by marketplaces. Amazon, specifically, is the top player in German ecommerce. Its revenue is at least three times higher than Otto, who is the second largest player in the country.