Ecommerce in Belgium: €10.26 billion in 2020

Ecommerce in Belgium was worth 10.26 billion euros in 2020. That’s a decrease of 10 percent compared to the situation one year before. Of course, the decline has everything to do with the coronavirus outbreak. Belgians bought far fewer services online, but ordered more products.

The average Belgian online shopper has also shopped more online than previously. But at the same time, the average order amount has decreased. This is also due to the outbreak of the coronavirus and the accompanying measures by the government. The closure of physical stores has led to more online purchases, which resulted in smaller orders, because consumers now had to buy everyday products online.

This is shown in the latest BeCommerce Market Monitor, which gives more insight in ecommerce in Belgium. Last year, online shoppers in Belgium spent a total of 7.5 million euros on the purchase of products. That’s about a third more than in 2019. The most growth was noticeable in the product categories consumer electronics (+ 93 percent), household electronics (+ 92 percent), and computer accessories (+ 66 percent).

2020 was the year that the Belgian consumer got to know ecommerce for good.

200,000 new online shoppers in Belgium

“2020 was the year that the Belgian consumer got to know ecommerce for good”, BeCommerce director Sofie Geeroms says. She reflects on the 200,000 people who bought something online for the very first time last year, as a result of which the number of online shoppers in Belgium increased by 2 percent. “It’s mainly the convenience of home delivery, also for heavy household items, for example – that Belgians were able to discover through the corona crisis”, she adds.

But while the amount of products bought online increased, the online purchases of services decreased. In 2019, Belgian consumers spent 6.2 billion euros on services, but only 2.8 billion euros last year. “If you look at the travel sector, this is about a 1 billion euro decline in the past year. That’s huge”, said Geeroms. “At BeCommerce, we believe this sector will recover, provided we can return to normal as soon as possible.”

Average order amount decreased to 81 euros

The average Belgian shopper bought something online 15 times last year. In total, 126.8 million online purchases were made by consumers in Belgium. This is an increase of 12 percent compared to the situation one year before. The average order amount went from 102 to 81 euros.

Banctact most popular payment method

Bancontact is still the most popular payment method in Belgium. It was used in 45 percent of all online purchases during the fourth quarter last year. It’s followed by the credit card, which was used in a fourth of all purchases online.

Last year, one in three online purchases were made using a smartphone. Still, the laptop is the most popular device for online shopping as it was used for 45 percent of all ecommerce purchases. It’s also being used more for bigger orders than the smartphone.