European cross-border trends: a general overview and key figures

Cross-border e-commercein Europe

European cross-border trends: a generaloverview and key figures

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E-commerce around the world

Global e-commerce turnover in 2014 was worth $1,700 billion.

Predictions state that by 2018, it will be worth $2,300 billion.

The countries that export the most are :

E-commerce is now a global phenomenon.

Why is selling cross-border such an attractive feature for retailersand brands?

It lets you boost sales & become more visible abroad.

24% of all online consumers buy from foreignwebsites.

Therefore, cross-border holds great potential for online retailers.

Cross-border

Europe is the 3rd largestecommerce region in the

world, behind China and USA.

The average yearly spend for cross-border

consumers in 2014 was €363.

Cross-border sales in Europe totalled €29

billion in 2015.

Cross-border sales represent 16% of all

online sales in Western Europe.

170,000 online retailers sell cross-border

in the 17 Western Europe countries.

Soon, 28% of European online retailerswill sell products internationally.

What is the situation in Europe?

European cross-border forecast

3 predictions show that the European cross-border e-commerce marketis booming:

By 2018, 83% of European cross-border online shoppers will buy items from

another European country.

In 2018, cross-border customers will spend €428 per year on average.

The value of cross-border e-commerce turnover is estimated to be worth

between €250B and €350B in 2015, and Europe will account for 25% of this

figure.

3.

2.

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Germany & UK: cross-border leaders

The most attractive western European countries for online

shoppers around the world are Germany and UK.

A quarter of British online retailers’ orders come

from abroad.

More than a half of German online retailers sell

to more than one foreign country.

What about the rest of Europe?

Cyprus, Malta, Austria, Belgium, Switzerland and Luxembourg had the highest rate of cross-border penetation in Europe in 2014.

Their domestic markets are limitedand often lack certain items. Therefore, they look abroad to buy said products.

Why? Beyond the main European countries, smaller countries are also partial to

cross-border e-commerce.

Retailers on the marketplace in France,

Germany, Italy, Spain, The Netherlands

and UK generated $3.08B in 2014.

Amazon’s cross-border strategy:

• Built a logistics and distribution network

• Local approach for each country: legislation,

consumer habits, etc.

• Technological choices in line with the above

points

Amazon: an example of a successful cross-border strategy

Zalando: an example of a successful cross-border strategy

Zalando’s cross-border strategy:

• Dedicated web development, marketing

and procurement teams for each country

• Scalable business

Zalando’s biggest growth did not

happen in its home markets (Germany,

Austria and Switzerland).

Sales generated in these countries

increased by 31% in 2014.

The strongest growth was achieved

in the 15 other European countries

the company has expanded into.

Europe is still a group of national markets, despite the desire to create a unique

market at a politic level for European e-commerce.

Each country works in its own way and has national preferences, characteristics and

trends.

For an effective cross-border strategy in Europe, the key is to take eachcountry’s local features (payment methods, delivery methods, consumer habits, legislation) into account, and adapt your strategy accordingly.

Which strategy to adopt? Why?

For the now, Europeans prefer to buy from European websites, rather than from sites

in other countries around the world.

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Discover our white paper

To find out more about the

features and challenges of

selling cross-border in

Europe, download our

white paper!

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