European e-commerce dominated by online marketplaces
Everyone knows about the giant Amazon. Today Amazon already owns a quarter of the e-commerce market in Europe. It is therefore not surprising that marketplace platforms dominate the market. In fact, by 2025, marketplaces will account for 65% of online cross-border sales in Europe.
60% of marketplaces
Excluding travel, the total cross-border e-commerce market in Europe was worth €250 billion last year (2020). However, one type of online seller seems to be becoming increasingly important: no less than €136 billion, or 59%, comes from e-marketplaces.
E-commerce in Europe is worth 717 billion euros at the end of 2020. That means an increase of 12.7 percent compared to the situation last year. This growth is somewhat lower than the 14.2 percent increase of European e-commerce in 2019.
Excluding travel, the total cross-border e-commerce market in Europe was worth €143 billion last year. However, one type of online seller seems to be becoming increasingly important: no less than €84 billion, or 59%, comes from e-marketplaces.
And this is thanks to Amazon, admittedly: the American giant has a turnover of 32 billion euros in Europe. And holds almost a quarter of the market. That’s represents an increase of 18.5% compared to 2018.
In July and August 2020, the company’s share price reached record highs, allowing its CEO, Jeff Bezos, to become the richest man in the world. According to Bloomberg, his fortune is now estimated at $202 billion (about €170 billion).
The second place is occupied by the American eBay with a turnover of 17 billion euros. While the bronze medal goes to the Chinese Alibaba.
The market share of online platforms will even rise to 65% by 2025. Amazon remains the leader in the sector with an expected European turnover of €50 billion. The growth of consumer-to-consumer sales is also noteworthy: this type of transaction will account for half of all sales. According to a study by the research and information platform CBCommerce.
Second hand will overtake fast fashion
The share of second-hand goods continues to grow strongly: today, 41% of the largest marketplaces sell this type of product, with Vinted leading the way. However, CBCommerce estimates that by 2025, second-hand sales will be 1.5 times greater than fast fashion sales. And will account for 13% of an average wardrobe. Millennials and Generation Z are driving this growth. As 18-37-year-olds buy 2.5 times more second-hand clothing than other age groups.
How much of European e-commerce is still truly European? European marketplaces accounted for 11% of the market last year, 17% more than a year earlier. The main players are Vinted, G2A, Farfetch, and Zalando.
The ten largest cross-border platforms in Europe are
- Amazon (US)
- eBay (US)
- AliExpress (China)
- Etsy (US)
- Discogs (US)
- Wish (United States)
- Vinted (Lithuania)
- G2A (Poland)
- Farfetch (Great Britain)
- Bandcamp (US)
Finally
To become a European e-commerce player you need to become familiar with marketplaces. You need to know them to be able to use them to the best of your ability. You will find all our articles on this subject in this category.
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