E-commerce is growing quite rapidly in virtually all European countries. In 2020, growth was up to 40 percent in some markets, among them Sweden and Poland. This unprecedented growth was, of course, to a large extent driven by the covid pandemic. According to our new report “E-commerce in Europe 2021”, consumers in all of the twelve markets studied state that they have been making more online purchases during the pandemic. Online shoppers in Spain, the UK and Italy have increased their purchases the most.

However, online purchases from foreign websites declined somewhat compared to last year’s report, due to delivery problems and countries being shut down. Cross-border purchases are now expected to rise gradually as pandemic-related obstacles diminish in scope.

In this year’s survey we also asked respondents if they thought that they would increase or reduce their online shopping after the pandemic, compared to the current situation. There are some differences between the countries in this respect. A majority in the quite mature online markets Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands make the assessment that they will reduce their online shopping, while the opposite is the case in the growing markets of Italy, Poland and Spain.

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