The eighth edition of E-commerce in Europe for 2021 is now available. The report covers the state of e-commerce in 12 key European markets. The report is based on interviews with 12 749 consumers in Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

The number of European e-commerce consumers has grown steadily in recent years and they are now 297 million. One important reason for this growth, of course, is the coronavirus pandemic, which left its mark on all European countries.

When it comes to online shopping from abroad, 216 million European consumers made cross-border purchases, a marginal decrease compared to the previous year. This is also an effect of the pandemic, due to delivery problems and national lockdowns. Cross-border purchases are expected to increase gradually as pandemic-related disruptions diminish. For cross-border shopping, China was again the favorite country to buy from for Europeans, followed by the UK, United States and Germany.

It’s clear that the pandemic has aided growth in e-commerce in most European markets, but will this situation last? In this year’s survey, we asked consumers if they planned to increase or reduce their online shopping after the pandemic. A majority in Italy, Poland and Spain believe that they will increase their level of online shopping, while the opposite is the case in Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands.

To learn more about the exciting European e-commerce market, order your free copy of the ”E-commerce in Europe 2021” report.

Olof Källgren, Market Information Manager, Direct Link