Infographic: E-commerce in Europe

In 2015, the population of the European Union 28 member states reached 508.3 million. The leaders of Europe in e-commerce remained the “experienced” European countries of the Netherlands, Great Britain and Germany in all of which the on-line buyers accounted for 87% to 88% of their respective populations.

The average UK resident spent 1,028 EUR on the internet in 2015, while the German resident spent 672 EUR, and the typical Dutch resident spent 558 EUR.

The UK was the leader in trade carried out using mobile applications (31.1%) followed by Germany and Spain. The Netherlands remained in fourth place.

According to the statistical data, the largest internet group purchasing items on-line was the 25 to 34 age bracket with a university degree. In addition, males had slightly more activity on-line than females did. The other more active groups using the internet included the employed, self-employed and students.

Most consumers or 81% spent sums of up to 500 EUR on-line in 2015 while the rest or 19% spent more than 500 EUR.

On-line, Europeans most frequently bought apparel, sporting goods, airline tickets, and travel packages. Household goods and tickets to different events were also actively sold on the Internet.

The unequivocal leader in European e-commerce remained the American company Amazon, which in one year increased its sales volume by 20%. The German company Otto Group took second place increasing its sales volume by only 8.3% comparatively.

Today, on-line retail accounts for only 9% of total sales. In 2016, the main challenges for on-line retailers will be how to attract new customers, how to enhance profitability, competition and increasing their own brand awareness on-line.