European e-Commerce Milestone: Over 500 Million Shoppers in 2021

TradingPlatforms projects that the number of shoppers in European e-commerce will reach 500 million for the first time this year. Last year, in total 480.9 million users made an online purchase. For years now, there has been a growing trend and it is expected to continue further. The projected total number of digital commerce users in Europe in 2021 is 506.9 million. Digital commerce here means consumer transactions made online and relating to the purchase of products or services. The numbers exclude B2B transactions, as well as transactions between private individuals.

TradingPlarforms goes even further and predicts also the numbers of users for the coming four years. Also in this period, they foresee stable growth, reaching a total of 569.8 million in 2025. The penetration rate stands at 59.7% in 2021, a three percentage points growth as compared to last year. Over the coming four years, TradingPlatforms expects to see a further 7.5 percentage points growth to 67.1%.

European e-commerce transaction value

Another analyzed statistic is the overall transaction value. Interestingly, the growth of this metric did not continue in 2020, when the total value experienced a drop of about 12% compared to the year before. This is likely in connection to the COVID-19 pandemic, which brought a lot of uncertainty and prompted a lot of people to focus on their savings. However, according to the projections, the growth should be restored this year with a 22% growth year-on-year, landing on almost 700 billion €. This metric will also keep growing over the coming four years.

“Technological advancements in the past couple of decades have given digital commerce a much bigger influence than ever before. Its importance was further highlighted during the lockdowns of 2020 when it allowed companies, big and small, to survive despite the hardships imposed by the pandemic. The strength of the segment and its still bright future is clear to see with projections for 2021 already showing a promising rebound.”

Rex Pascual, editor at Trading Platforms