Ecommerce in The United Kingdom
Looking for ecommerce software for selling in Europe? Lightspeed and Shopify are both platforms that are well optimized for cross-border ecommerce.
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COUNTRY
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THE UNITED KINGDOM
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| Population | 66.8 million people |
| – % internet users | 96% |
| Online sales | €222 billion (2020) |
| Online stores worth mentioning: | Tesco, Asos, Argos |
Content:
- Ecommerce events in the United Kingdom
- Ecommerce customers in the United Kingdom
- The ecommerce market in the United Kingdom
- Big online stores in the United Kingdom
- Latest ecommerce news from or about the United Kingdom
Ecommerce events in the United Kingdom
Every year there are several ecommerce events being organized in the United Kingdom. We have a handy ecommerce events calendar, where you can find all the major online retail events in Europe. But you can also check out only the ecommerce events in the United Kingdom.
Ecommerce customers in the United Kingdom
A study from the Ecommerce Foundation in 2019 shows that PayPal is, by far, the most popular payment method in the UK. Over 40 percent of buyers have used PayPal at least once in 2018. Credit cards (23.7 percent) are also popular, followed by prepaid cards (17.2 percent).
Fashion and sporting goods are a very popular product category in the United Kingdom, followed by travel and household items. Other popular product categories are movies & music and books & magazines.
The ecommerce market in the United Kingdom
A report from the Ecommerce Foundation shows that 7.94 percent of the country’s gross domestic product is made up by ecommerce sales. An older study showed that ecommerce accounted for 10.7 percent of total retail sales in 2014. Ecommerce in the UK is expected to be worth slightly over 200 billion euros at the end of 2019.
Big online stores in the United Kingdom
The biggest players in the UK’s online retail market are Amazon, Tesco and eBay. Other big online retailers are Asos, Argos, Play.com, Next and John Lewis.
Latest news about The United Kingdom
AO’s revenue up 62% to €1.91 billion
Online electrical retailer AO has reported a strong year of growth. In the year to 31 March, the UK company saw its revenue increase by 62 percent to 1.66 billion pounds (1.91 billion euros). AO also attracted over 2 million new customers in the year.
Lightspeed Payments launched in Europe
Lightspeed has announced the launch of Lightspeed Payments in Europe. At first, this payment solution will only available for hospitality merchants in the United Kingdom. Soon it will be available for retailers. Other European markets will also follow soon.
InPost launches label-free returns service
Parcel locker provider InPost has launched a returns solution that wants to simplify the process of returning items that were bought online. Customers no longer need to use or print labels, instead they use a QR code on their smartphone.
Online-only players most popular among UK fashion shoppers
Ecommerce is, of course, very popular now the physical stores are closed in many countries across Europe. But online-only retailers seem to really reap the rewards of having a strong digital infrastructure. In the UK, online-only retailers are now the number-one purchasing channel for fashion shoppers.
German delivery service Gorillas launches in London
Gorillas, a delivery startup from Germany, has launched its services in London. The company offers a full range of groceries from its own distribution hubs within 10 minutes. The UK is the third market in Europe where Gorillas is active.
Read all our articles about ecommerce in the United Kingdom.
Last update: August 2020