Within the European Union online shopping is becoming increasingly more popular. According to Eurostat, 63% of people in the EU, aged 16-74, shopped online during 2019. In 2008 only 32% of this age group shopped online.
While looking at the figures of 2019, United Kingdom (87%), Denmark (84%), Sweden (82%), the Netherlands (81%) and Germany (79%) contained the highest proportion of people who shopped online. Greece, Portugal, Cyprus (39%), Italy (38%), Romania (23%) and Bulgaria (22%) contained the lowest proportion of people who shopped online. The United Kingdom left the EU on 31 January 2020 but has the highest figure at 87%.
Advantages of online shopping
EU-consumers appreciate the advantages of online shopping. These advantages are being able to shop anytime, anywhere, having access to a wider range of products and being able to compare prices easily. Black Friday and Cyber Monday are especially popular days for online shoppers.
Men shop more online than women
Over the last 10 years the share of online shoppers among men has increased from 35% in 2009 to 61% in 2019. The share of online shoppers among women has increased from 29% in 2009 to 59% in 2019.
Online shopping continues to grow
The increasing use of the internet and improving security standards consumers start to appreciate the advantages of online shopping more. Among all age groups the share of online shoppers has increased substantially over the last 10 years. Especially for the age groups between 16-54 years old. The highest increase was among internet users aged 25-34 years from 46% (2009) to 79% (2019). Followed by the age group 16-24 years, which went from 41% (2009) to 73% (2019).
E-commerce can be expected to grow even further during the current COVID-19 crisis, with high streets in lockdown and consumers under social distancing restrictions.