Statistics

Dutch shoppers expect to buy more online in the next few years, in particular health, beauty and food products. For the first time, over half of consumers say they will buy more on their smartphone in 5 years.

At least four out of five Dutch elderly people regularly shop online. For most of them, convenience is the main reason to place online orders. However, the elderly often encounter obstacles. By making online stores more accessible, these obstacles are reduced.

Ecommerce turnover in Europe continued to grow in 2021. On the other hand, the number of online shoppers has dipped slightly last year. After a peak in ecommerce in 2020, growth is slowing down and stabilizing.

Wehkamp, the Dutch online department store, made 782,7 million euros in turnover in 2021. That is 7 percent more than the year before. The retailer maintained its revenue, even though online shopping is returning to pre-pandemic levels.

Over 40 percent of online stores close customer care after 5 pm, according to surveys in Germany and the Netherlands. Almost half of German shops are not reachable at night. However, the evenings are a peak time for online shoppers.

Fashion platform About You has increased revenue to 1.7 billion euros in 2021. At the same time, losses have more than doubled compared to the year before. The company says this is because of growth investments.

Over 90 percent of Polish B2B-companies plan to develop ecommerce channels. Around 40 percent of business providers already sell online. For one in four companies in Poland, ecommerce drives over 80 percent of revenue.

Since the war in Ukraine started, online fashion sales in Germany fell 9 percent. Online interior design purchases, which is known as a stable category, also slowed down. Overall, though, ecommerce sales grew 8 percent in the first quarter.

Globally, ecommerce revenues have dropped 3 percent in the first quarter of this year, when compared to that same period in 2021. That decline was seen in Europe as well (-13 percent). However, online sales in Spain reached a 6 percent year-on-year growth. It's the only country in Europe where digital revenues grew in this time frame.

The large amount of returns in ecommerce is a cause of worries for many online sellers. However, 71 percent of consumers say that online sellers don't offer any sizing tools, which could reduce returns.

Currently, only 10 percent of manufacturer revenue comes from digital sales. While a large majority knows the importance of digitalization, challenges to implement digital sales channels hold them back to implement a complete ecommerce strategy in their business.

Finnish consumers rate ecommerce the least eco-friendly industry compared to the rest of Northern Europe, while Danish customers are the most critical about sustainability. Moreover, Finn.no, Matsmart, Aarstiderne, Tori.fi and Bol.com are voted most sustainable online retailers.

Cross-border ecommerce in Europe was worth 171.2 billion euros in 2021. This is a growth of 17 percent when compared to the year before. European online businesses generated a cross-border revenue of 100 billion euros.

Just about 30 percent of European online retailers offer information on sustainability, human rights and animal welfare. German, French and Swedish shops offer the most insight into their activities. International sellers and marketplaces also score higher than national retailers.

Customer support was busier in 2021: ticket volumes increased for all channels compared to the year before. Consumers also have higher expectations of customer service.