After an increase in turnover by 11.87 per cent to €547 billion in 2018, the European e-commerce sector is forecasted to grow 14 per cent to €621 billion in 2019.

This is according to Ecommerce Europe and EuroCommerce’s latest market analysis, which explained that Western Europe is the largest e-commerce market in Europe, accounting for approximately two thirds (€363 billion) of total European online retail turnover.

Southern Europe follows with 14 per cent (€78 billion) and Northern Europe with nine per cent (€49 billion). However, Northern Europeans have the highest spending per e-shopper, at €2,046.

The country with the highest country online shopping rate (88 per cent) in 2018 is Switzerland, followed by the UK (87 per cent) and Denmark (86 per cent), while the lowest data for online shopping were registered in 2018 was Bulgaria (31 per cent), Romania (26 per cent) and Ukraine (22 per cent).

In terms of why consumers don’t shop online or what they don’t like when they do, speed of delivery, trust about receiving and returning goods, complaints and redress concerns, and payment security problems were most commonly reported.

Christian Verschueren, director-general of EuroCommerce, commented: “What is clear is that Europe as a whole needs to catch up with the massive progress being made in digital tech and in online commerce in other regions in the world, most notably China and the US.

“This is a message for business, but also for regulators and policymakers – we will continue to press for the right conditions for growth in all channels of sales, so that they help European retail to innovate and compete globally.”

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