The Nordics: a highly digitalized region

The Nordics: a highly digitalized region

Nordic countries - Key e-commerce indicators: Internet penetration 98%, E-commerce consumers: 94%, E-commerce consumers abroad: 81%, Average yearly purchase: EUR 817, Consumer growth since 2014: 11%
(Click for larger image)

The Nordic countries have a strong tradition of entrepreneurship and a well-developed digital infrastructure. This can be clearly seen in the ranking of the Nordic EU members in DESI, the EU Commission’s digitization index. Here Finland is first, Sweden second and Denmark comes in at fourth.

Nordic consumers have many things in common, but there are also distinctive national features. Denmark and Sweden have many strong domestic e-commerce players, while consumers in Norway – and even more so in Finland – shop online from foreign sites.

Consumers in the Nordics are partial to buying fashion, home electronics and cosmetics & healthcare online. So far, groceries online work best in Denmark, a densely populated country with short delivery distances. Nordic inhabitants buy products from other countries considerably more than other Europeans. Often hunting for lower prices, consumers also want to find a larger selection or niche products. In addition to Zalando, eBay and Wish are popular foreign shopping sites. Amazon recently officially announced that they will launch a Swedish site in the near future. It remains to be seen how that will affect the Swedish e-commerce landscape.

Retail sales have now come to an important crossroads in some of the Nordic countries. E-commerce has reached such levels that traditional chains must quickly digitize the business model to avoid losing market shares. Sweden and Denmark are most advanced in this process, followed by Norway and finally Finland, which is somewhat less mature regarding e-commerce. At the same time, quite a number of former dedicated e-retailers are now opening physical concept stores in urban areas.

Olof Källgren, Market Information Manager, Direct Link

Image and information above taken from the latest ”E-commerce in Europe” report.