Belgium: E-commerce spendings 2019: €11,46 billion

According to the new BeCommerce Market Monitor, Belgian online trade broke all records in 2019. In the last year, the Belgian consumer spent a total of €11,46 billion euro online. This is an increase of €0,9 billion euro compared to 2018. On average, Belgian e-commerce consumers spend €1363 per year, concludes the research.

Sofie Geeroms, Managing Director of BeCommerce, comments: "E-commerce is more than ever a motor for retail growth in Belgium. The online consumer shops more frequently online." In 2019, local consumers made 13,4 online purchases on average. This totals for a number of 112,9 million online purchases.

Growth

When looking at growth numbers, a set of new records was noted. In 2019, total online spendings reached €11,46 billion. This is a growth of 8% compared to 2018. For the first time, one in five purchases happened online. On top of that, nine out of ten Belgian consumers (age >15) made an online purchase. These are all numbers from the most recent published BeCommerce Market Monitor, which is performed by GfK for BeCommmerce.

Travel

Belgian e-commerce consumers have certain categories that can be named their favourites for online purchases. 'Flying tickets and travel accommodations' is the most popular category. 87% of consumers have made an online purchase in this category in 2019. Other popular categories are 'tickets and events' (79%) and 'package travel deals (65%). 'Health and Beauty' is an upcoming category. Compared to 2018, this online market grew by 25%.

Dividing the country

In Flanders, e-commerce continues to grow rapidly. It can be noted that the amount of online purchases in this part of the country is much higher than in the French-speaking Walloon part. In the final quarter of 2019, a growth percentage of 11% was noted for Flanders. In the French-speaking part of Belgium, online purchases slightly declined (-2%).

M-commerce

As in many e-commerce markets over the world, the share of m-commerce is growing. The smartphone is more frequently to buy online, even though the laptop still accounts for half of all online purchases. Compared to 2018, the Belgian m-commerce market grew 54%. In total, 12% of all online purchases are made on a mobile phone. Notable is the lower average order value of mobile orders. The mobile average basket value is only €68,- euro, compared to €102,- euro for other online purchases.