Europeans shop online for 340 euros a month

Most Europeans shop online every week or more, spending an average of over 340 euros a month. They mostly buy fashion, pay for bills or order food. One in three purchases is made crossborder. Ireland, Germany and Israel buy internationally the most, while France is the least likely to buy outside of the country.

These are some of the results of the new PayPal e-Commerce Index. Over 15.000 consumers aged between 18 and 75 took part in the study. Additionally, more than 4.000 B2C-retailers participated in the survey, which covers 12 countries in Europe.

Dutch and Greeks shop online most often

The report shows that Europeans are habitual online shoppers: more than two thirds (65 percent) purchase something online every week or more. The average European checks out in online stores 3.7 times a week. The Netherlands has the most frequent shoppers: nearly 80 percent shop at least weekly with over 4 purchases per week. They are followed by the Greeks, with 76 percent purchasing every week with an average 4.8 purchases.

Most money spent in Sweden and the UK

On average, Europeans shop for 342 euros per month in ecommerce stores. Sweden and the United Kingdom are the highest monthly spenders, with respectively 486 and 420 euros spent on average.

The UK has the most food purchases in Europe.

When shopping online, clothing and accessories are by far the most popular category across Europe, taking up 60 percent of purchases. Paying bills online takes second place (54 percent), followed later by Food and Drink (42 percent), Groceries (38 percent) and Health and Beauty purchases (36 percent). The UK stands out with the most food and grocery purchases, while the Polish buy significantly more cosmetics than other European countries.

France shops least crossborder

For Europeans, one in three online purchases is done with an international retailer. This number is the highest in Ireland (44 percent), Germany and Israel (both 38 percent). Irish retailers also report the highest share of international turnover. In contrast, France shops the least outside of their country: one in five purchases is crossborder.

Ireland reports the highest share of international turnover.

Consumers that shop internationally do so because of better pricing (50 percent) or access to items not available in their home country (almost 40 percent).

Security issues and long checkout hinder shoppers

The report also looks at barriers to making a purchase. For half of Europeans, security or trust issues at checkout prevent them from ordering online. A long and confusing checkout hinders another 40 percent of consumers. Germany, Sweden and Greece care most about available payment options, while France and Israel are more concerned with a safe checkout.