[E-commerce Barometer 2023] In most European countries, e-commerce returned to 2020 levels

Has the growth in e-commerce linked to Covid-19 been nothing more than a smokescreen? Where is the glass ceiling in the major Western European countries (France, Germany, UK, Netherlands, Switzerland, Italy and Spain) and by product category (food, fashion, household appliances and furniture)? The 3rd edition of the Mind Retail barometer, based on data from 7 national federations, explores these questions.

Since the end of Covid, e-commerce growth has been slowing in Europe. In 2022, online sales in Europe slowed, growing by 6% to €899 billion, according to Ecommerce Europe and EuroCommerce Europe. This was less than expected. The two organisations suggested 11%.

With this in mind, mind Retail contacted the e-commerce federations of 7 Western European countries (ONS, Fevad, HDE, the Swiss Commerce and Distribution Federation, Thuiswinkel, Osservatorio, Netcomm, Istituto nazionale di statistica and CNMC) to update our annual barometer. We place this within a context of sustained inflation during 2022 in the Eurozone (up by 9.2% in 2022), a crisis in purchasing power with the start of the Ukraine war and an unstable political climate. This deceleration is common to all seven countries but with variations.

E-commerce drops everywhere in value except Italy and Switzerland

In absolute terms, the biggest e-commerce markets in Western Europe at the end of December 2022 were the United Kingdom (€136 billion), Germany (€84.5 billion) and France (€62.3 billion). Of course,…

Morgane Monteiro, Sara Chaouki, Sophie Baqué