European e-commerce grew two- to threefold during COVID

The COVID-19 pandemic has obviously had a huge impact on online consumer behaviour, in ways unimagined a year ago. The digitization of both consumers and retailers has accelerated by two to three years, in some countries even by five years. The COVID-19 outbreak and the accompanying measures have led to an increase of online shopping in Europe. With stores closed, consumers needed to find a way to still buy the products and services they want. E-commerce in Europe has without a doubt grown significantly in 2020.

The shift from the physical store to the online store is likely to continue. Retailers are continuing to accelerate their investments in e-commerce, as part of an omnichannel solution for their customers. "The E-commerce Report 2020" by Nets shows the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on e-commerce in Europe. This report is based on over 11,000 consumer interviews across eight European countries, Austria, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Norway, Poland, Sweden and Switzerland.

Consumers shop online more since COVID

The share of consumers shopping online more often nowadays than before COVID-19 is significant. 42% of Polish consumers are shopping online more often than before the pandemic. This is followed by Austria (38%), Germany (33%), Switzerland (30%) and Finland (24%). In both Norway and Sweden this percentage increased with 22%, and in Denmark with 19%.

Clothes and food most purchased items online

The most purchased items in all of the surveyed countries were clothes and food. This was probably due to the local lockdowns where physical stores were closed and consumers were unable or less able to shop in person. “When forced to stay at home, consumers most likely discovered the convenience of buying food online and having it delivered to their doors.” In addition, electronics, such as computers and smartphones, beauty products, and pharmacy items were also very popular last year.

Physical goods

Physical goods accounted for 68% of all money spent online in Austria. Clothes were purchased the most, followed by pharmacy items. In Denmark, 58% of online shopping was spent on physical goods. Consumers in Denmark are particularly keen on clothes, food and alcohol, and takeaway food. In Germany, almost three-quarters of online spending went to physical goods. Last year, they spent an estimated value of €26 billion on clothes.