Online sales continued to grow in Europe in 2021
The annual review by Ecommerce Europe and EuroCommerce, the sector’s representative organizations, highlights a 13% increase in online commerce. With a turnover of €718 billion in 2021. The reopening of shops after Covid has not broken the growth momentum.
Has Covid changed the way Europeans consume for good?
What is certain is that their taste for online shopping, considerably increased by the confinements and other health restrictions, was confirmed in 2021. Internet sales in Europe grew by 13%, according to a report by Ecommerce Europe and EuroCommerce. Two organizations representing the sector, published on Tuesday.
“E-commerce continues to grow, despite the lifting of confinements and the possibility for consumers to return to shops,” the two trade federations said. The sector’s turnover in 2021 reached 718 billion euros, according to the report drawn up with the market analysis center of the University of Applied Sciences in Amsterdam.
Growth was driven by Covid
In the midst of the pandemic, online sales of goods exploded in 2020, as Europeans were unable to leave their homes to consume. In total, online sales had reached 633 billion euros on a like-for-like basis. This kept online retail growth at 10%, despite the fall in sales in the leisure and tourism sector.
With the lifting of health restrictions, however, the share of Europeans shopping online fell slightly from 74% in 2020 to 73% in 2021. These figures include sales in the 27 EU countries and 10 non-EU countries including the UK, Switzerland, and Ukraine. Russia, which was originally included in the 2020 balance sheet, has been excluded.
Towards stabilization in 2022
Western Europe, which includes France, the UK, and Germany, is the most important region for European e-commerce. In 2021, it will account for 63% of online sales with a turnover of 450 billion euros. It is followed by Southern Europe, with Italy, Greece, and Spain. Which accounted for 16% of total sales last year, at 118 billion.
For 2022, EuroCommerce and Ecommerce Europe expect the sector’s growth to stabilize at around the 2021 level. Despite the war in Ukraine and inflation likely to weigh on spending. “The fact that online sales have only recorded a small decline so far shows that e-commerce has become indispensable and very resilient,” the two organizations say.
Finally
The fact that online sales have only recorded a small decline so far shows that e-commerce has become indispensable and very resilient. This is proof enough for all those companies that are hesitant about e-commerce to take the plunge.
To keep the momentum going we suggest you read these articles:
- E-commerce: a sector with a promising future
- Top 9 of the impact of e-commerce in Europe and worldwide
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