Statistics

In the last 12 months, 99 percent of European consumers have changed the way they shop online. A large majority (98 percent) look for products on social media. At the same time, many consumers feel negatively about the economy in their country. But 47 percent expect economic improvements.

More and more individual businesses are selling on marketplaces or do dropshipping. This caused a massive growth of these platforms. Brands and retailers see it as a huge opportunity toreach new audiences or work together with other retailers.

Most European internet users shop online. Ecommerce is still growing, but slower than before. Last year, Europe's online B2C total sales volume increased by 6 percent to 899 billion euros. The growth is slower than in 2021.

The European online fashion and beauty market generated a turnover of 122 billion euros in 2022. And 45 billion euros of that turnover was cross-border. The market is projected to reach sales of 144 billion euros by 2026.

This year, the turnover of online stores in the Netherlands is expected to grow 4 percent, compared to last year. In 2022, a decrease of 2 percent in turnover was measured, says Dutch bank ING. At the same time, for the first time in a decade, the amount of sales in retail is expected to decline 2 percent.

In June and July, consumers in the United Kingdom spent a total of 21.5 billion euros (18.6 billion British pounds) online. This is a year-on-year growth of 1.6 percent when compared to the same period last year. It is the first growth in seventeen months.

Zalando reported an 87 percent surge in adjusted earnings before interest and tax (adjusted EBIT) in the second quarter. On the other hand, the value of the trading volume declined by two percent to 3,7 billion euros. Because of these results, the platform expects the adjusted EBIT in 2023 to be 300 million euros to 350 million euros.

In 2022, the six biggest ecommerce markets in Europe generated 72 percent of the total European ecommerce spend. The European ecommerce markets that are most developed by penetration rate, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, have returned to their pre-pandemic growth trends. Emerging markets, like Italy and Spain, are still growing above trend.

Consumers in the Netherlands expect to spend 37 percent of their total expenditures online by 2028. This is five percentage points higher than the actual percentage in 2022. Still, the expectation has declined: last year, consumers expected to spend 41 percent of their expenditures online in five years.

In 2022, Zalando generated a revenue of 1.79 billion euros in Switzerland. It is the biggest online store in the country. Two thirds of the country’s top 30 online stores have either shrunk or stagnated compared to 2021.

The courier, express, and parcel sector in Germany, known as KEP for short, faced turbulent times in 2022. There were 360 million fewer packages delivered than in the peak year of 2021. This translates to a 7.9 percent decline in package volume in Germany.

Nine out of ten Belgians between the ages of 18 and 70 bought something online at least once last year. At least 33 percent of Belgian consumers say that they have one online store they always use to purchase a certain product online. Another 40 percent return to the same three online stores.

Inflation and subdued consumer confidence are expected to dampen online spending in Germany, according to the latest announcement by Handelsverband Deutschland (HDE).

Most online companies in Germany are located in the Western regions North Rhine Westphalia (22 percent) and Bavaria (17 percent). Only 1.75 percent come from the Eastern regions Thuringia and 1 percent from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.

For years, purchasing on account was the most popular payment method in Germany for online shoppers. However, in 2022, PayPal took over that place. At least 29.6 percent of online purchases were paid for with this payment method.