European Online Cross-border Market Grows to € 171 billion

In 2021 (excluding travel), the overall European online cross-border market has a turnover of € 171.2 billion, up 17% from 2020. The fourth edition of the TOP 500 Cross Border Retail Europe demonstrates this.

The total online B2C products revenue increased by 11.5% to € 639 billion. The overall online sales were exceeded by cross-border internet sales. The major reason for this is the pandemic, which has led to a shift in consumer behavior toward internet shopping. In 2021, cross-border B2C online sales via European (including the UK) merchants hit a new high of € 100 billion. This increased by 14.6% to € 87.2 billion in 2020.

Brexit was a negative factor. Cross-border sales in the UK have dropped to an all-time low of 29 billion pounds, down from 33 billion pounds in 2020. VAT laws, import tariffs, logistics, and refunds are the reasons. Germany has surpassed the United Kingdom as the leading European country for cross-border sales.

Top 10 retailers

As we stated in a previous post, Germany is becoming one of the biggest e-commerce markets in Europe in terms of revenue. While retailers IKEA, H&M, and LEGO group form the top 3 European cross-border retailers.

With a share of 41%, fashion, jewelry, and baby remain the most popular categories, followed by home, garden, and DIY, which have increased by 15% as a result of the epidemic. The personal care sector saw a 100% growth.