Ecommerce in Austria

Austria is a Central-European country that is part of the so-called DACH region, which also consists of Germany and Switzerland. The country has as many as eight neighboring countries, which can be seen in the ecommerce industry in Austria. International online sellers dominate the market here.

Content:

• Ecommerce customers in Austria
• The ecommerce market in Austria
• Big online stores in Austria
• Ecommerce events in Austria
• Latest ecommerce news from or about Austria

COUNTRY	AUSTRIA
Population	9.04 million people
– % internet users	94 %
Online sales	10.6 billion euros (April 2024)
Large stores:	Universal.at, Eduscho, E-tec.at

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Ecommerce customers in Austria

According to research, 94 percent of Austrians had internet access in 2022. This means that there are about 8.5 million internet users in the country. Austrian retail association Handelsverband Österreich has published data on ecommerce in Austria in 2023. According to them, around 6.1 million Austrians shopped online in that year. Compared to 2022, this is an increase of 5 percent.

Around 12.5 percent of the total retail expenditure of households in the country is spent on online retail. The average annual spending per online shopper in the country is 1,760 euros.

CROSS-BORDER – The cross-border share of online spending has been decreasing steadily since 2021. That year, the share was still 55 percent. In 2022, it dropped to 54 percent and in 2023, the share came to 51 percent.

However, in 2024, 54 percent of all expenditures flowed to foreign online stores. The share of spending on cross-border orders is 58 percent in the younger generation, people between the ages 15 and 29. The share seems to decrease with age, as only 50 percent of those over 50 years old buy at foreign online stores.

RETURNS – Between 2022 and 2023, the return rate for online orders dropped from 44 to 38 percent. However, in one product category the return rate actually increased. The amount of clothing orders that were returned rose from 43 to 47 percent.

According to Handelsverband Österreich, this decline is caused by better product data and descriptions. At the same time, sustainability has become a more important issue for consumers. Faster delivery and transparancy on all business processes have also helped.

PAYMENT METHODS – When it comes to online payment methods, there is no absolute winner in Austria. The popularity of e-wallets, credit card and invoice payments are almost similar. But if your online store is targeting younger people, know that this age group prefers e-wallets such as PayPal. For seniors, it is the credit card.

The ecommerce market in Austria

The national retail association of Austria estimated that ecommerce in Austria was worth 10.6 billion euros in April 2024. Compared to a year earlier, this was an increase of 5 percent. By April 2024, more than 12,000 online stores were registered in the country.

As in other European countries, ecommerce in Austria increased rapidly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Between 2019 and 2023, online retail increased almost 23 percent. At the same time, brick-and-mortal retail decreased 6.2 percent.

However, in 2021 and 2022, the online retail market decreased rapidly. When adjusted for inflation, the ecommerce turnover of 2023 was still below the pre-pandemic level of 2019.

PRODUCT CATEGORIES – In 2024, the product groups that were sold online most often in Austria were clothing (2.4 billion euros), electrical appliances (1.3 billion euros) and furniture (0.9 billion euros).

When compared to the total retail sales, the online share was the highest in the category toys (35 percent). Sporting goods came in second place, with 34 percent. After that came clothing with a share of 30 percent, followed by electrical appliances (29 percent).

RETURN RATES – In 2023, 38 percent of online buyers returned at least some of the products they ordered, but in 2024 this figure rose to 42 percent. This means that out of the 6 million Austrians who shop online, around 2.5 million return ordered retail goods at least once a year.

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Big online stores in Austria

Some of the most popular and biggest online stores in Austria are online department store Universal.at, which sells mostly fashion, furniture and consumer electronics, Eduscho, which sells mostly coffee and travel, but also fashion and home & living items, and E-tec.at, which sells all kinds of consumer electronics.

These were the top 10 of ecommerce websites in Austria in 2023:

Ecommerce events in Austria

Every year there are several ecommerce events being organized in Austria. We have a handy ecommerce events calendar, where you can find all the major online retail events in Europe.

Read all our articles about ecommerce in Austria.