The European ecommerce markets that are most developed by penetration rate.

In 2022, the six biggest ecommerce markets in Europe generated 72 percent of the total European ecommerce spend. They are the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands.

There are large differences between these six markets. The United Kingdom and Germany are the largest markets, both having a share of 28 percent on the total European ecommerce spend in 2022. The other four markets account for a quarter of spending.

The United Kingdom and the Netherlands have returned to their pre-pandemic growth trends, and emerging markets, like Italy and Spain, are still growing above trend.

These data come from the E-commerce in the Post-Pandemic Era report by CBRE. This research looked at the state of ecommerce in Europe before and after the coronavirus pandemic.

When looking at the markets and the impact of the pandemic, it seems that developed markets have seen small increases.

Ecommerce penetration means the percentage of total retail sales via online channels as opposed to in-store ones. As for The UK, if the growth trend from 2015 to 2019 had continued, the UK’s ecommerce penetration would now stand at 25 percent at the end of 2022. However, the actual figure is 27 percent.

According to the pre-pandemic trend, the German ecommerce market would have a penetration rate of 15 percent by the end of 2022. The actual figure came to 17 percent.

The market in the Netherlands is back to its pre-pandemic trend. It saw no additional growth as a result of the pandemic.

Meanwhile, countries with emerging ecommerce markets saw the largest relative increases. Spanish ecommerce would have a penetration rate of 9 percent, according to the pre-pandemic trend. The actual figure was 12 percent. For Italy, those figures were 8 and 10 percent respectively. Together, these markets make up 11 percent of the total European ecommerce spend.

The European Commission is planning to impose import duties on goods up to 150 euros, which are currently exempted.

The proposed amendment to the import rules is evident from documents reviewed by Süddeutsche Zeitung. The newspaper said:

“Anyone importing a product from outside the European Union, for example, through a purchase from an American or Chinese online seller, is required to pay import duties. However, orders up to 150 euros have been exempted from this obligation so far. In practice, many orders from international online shops enter the Union without import duties. Brussels intends to change this situation. Plans for this change are highly concrete, according to German media, and could be officially announced at any moment.”

This is not the first time Brussels is abolishing exemptions. Two years ago, the VAT exemption for products up to 22 euros was abolished. This measure particularly affected Chinese online shops. AliExpress, the business-to-consumer subsidiary of Alibaba Group, attributed declining sales to this measure.

The removal of the exemption on import duties adversely affects all online providers from outside the European Union, at least for the sale of products up to 150 euros. Online sellers within the Union benefit from the alleged policy change.

According to the European Commission, the customs reform would generate 750 million euros per year in import duties for the Union. The Commission has also made plans for a new EU Customs Authority, which should be organised and start working within five years. This authority is expected to establish and maintain a new ‘data hub’ to improve information flows between member states and simplify customs procedures.

A recent research by Amazon Business with marketing agency Walker Sands in March 20-27, 2023 showed that one of the top priorities for buyers at small and mid-sized businesses is finding ways to reduce purchasing costs and stay within budget over the next 12 months amid inflation and the threat of a recession.

500 small business decision-makers in the United States in March were polled about their online purchasing patterns, the challenges and opportunities impacting purchasing processes, and the broader landscape for small businesses. All respondents were 18 years or older. All work in purchasing at a business making $25 million or less in annual revenue. 61% of respondents worked full-time, 7% part-time, and 32% were self-employed. Respondents could list more than one concern.

61% of respondents will look for ways to reduce the costs associated with B2B purchases over the coming year.

Staying within budget is a priority for 61% of respondents.

Top challenges (small business)

• High inflation (63%)
• Possible recession (39%)
• Supply chain disruptions (30%)

Key factor in growing businesses long-term

• Ability to easily find items (88%)
• Ability to find items within their price range (91%)

Buyers at small businesses are seeking ways to make the purchasing process more efficient, helping them find and purchase what they need faster and more easily to spur their companies’ long-term growth, according to the survey.

Todd Heimes, director and general manager of Amazon Business Worldwide points to the company’s use of artificial intelligence and machine learning technology as two ways the marketplace is helping small businesses purchase more efficiently and quickly find products within their price range.

Amazon Business is increasing the number of products with business-specific pricing and quantity discounts. It also offers subscriptions to help small and mid-sized businesses to receive discounts and grants to help small businesses grow.

Grants

This month, Amazon Business gives more than $250,000 in grants to eligible small businesses that purchase through its marketplace and have less than $1 million in annual revenue.

Amazon Business will select one grand-prize winner and a group of finalists and semifinalists to receive the grants and other benefits such as Business Prime memberships and Amazon devices. Applications are due by May 21; winners will be announced July 17.

The total ecommerce turnover in Italy is estimated to have been worth 75.89 billion euros in 2022. This is a growth of 18.6 percent, when compared to a year earlier.

However, most of that growth was caused by price increases.

These data come from the Ecommerce in Italy 2023 report from Casaleggio Associati, a digital strategy consulting business in Italy.

In 2021, the ecommerce market in Italy reached a turnover of 64 billion euros, which was a growth of 33 percent compared to a year earlier. With a growth of 18.6 percent, it seems that the development of online sales is slowing down in the country.

2022 was the year of the “reality check for exhibitors and producers who had to return to playing according to market rules without the boost, and in some cases the obstacle, of the lockdown,” according to the president of Casaleggio Associati, Davide Casaleggio. The real news was the record level of inflation in Italian. It affected purchases due to higher prices, uncertainty due to the energy crisis, the ongoing war and the soaring costs of transport from Asia.

Leisure

Leisure was the biggest online sector, generating 50 percent of the total online turnover (38 billion euros) in Italy. According to the research, this is partly due to the growth of online gaming, as well as purchases related to hobbies and sport.

Online shopping

Online shopping centers follow in second place and generated 19 percent of the total revenue (14.2 billion euros).

Tourism

The tourism sector showed the strongest growth last year (47 percent), which was mostly due to price increases. It generated 13.3 percent of the total ecommerce turnover.

According to the research, the overall sales decreased in most sectors, but there was still an increase in turnover through higher prices. This was particularly true for physical product sectors, such as Food, Home and Furniture, Consumer Electronics and Online Shopping Centers.

Online sales channels

Italian online businesses generated most of their turnover on their own website (40 percent), marketplaces (28 percent), mobile apps(8 percent)

According to the report, ecommerce websites in Italy are expected to grow 17.3 percent in terms of turnover this year.

The Leisure Time, Food and Fashion and Health and Beauty sectors are especially expected to grow in online turnover. (respectively 23, 20 and 19 percent).

According to a recent European Commission research, nearly 40 percent of online shops in Europe uses the so-called ‘dark patterns’. This means ways of encouraging or manipulating customers into making a purchase under false pretenses, such as hiding costs and false countdowns.

The study included 399 online stores in 23 countries in the European Union (EU).

It turned out that 148 of them make use of at least one misleading technique.

The European Commission also looked at the apps of online shops. Out of 102 apps, 27 employ at least one dark pattern.

The most frequent pattern is hiding important information: 70 shops use this tactic. This can be hiding delivery costs, the composition of a product or cheaper alternatives. In case of 23 online retailers, information was kept from customers to lure them into a subscription.

In addition to withholding information, 54 websites used visual tricks or misleading language to refer to more expensive subscriptions, products and delivery options. 42 online shops use countdown timers with false deadlines for buying a product.

Following the report, national authorities will contact the companies in question and take further action if necessary. Furthermore, the Commission will evaluate if current consumer protection laws are equipped for dark patterns.

Google will provide more transparency for consumers buying products through the company’s ecommerce platforms, such as the Google Store. The tech giant is doing so to comply with the rules set by the European Union. However, the company still breaches EU laws on geo-blocking.

In recent years, Google was investigated by European consumer authorities led by the Dutch watchdog ACM and the Belgian Economic Inspection. The company was made to comply in order to avoid further investigations and fines.

As a result, Google has agreed to make changes to its ecommerce products and services. For example, it should become easier for shoppers in Google Store and Google Play Store to find out information about the seller. Google’s one-sided cancelling orders or changing prices in Google Store will be limited. Prices on Google Hotels and Google Flights also have to be more transparent.

Aside from these changes in consumer transparency, Google also breaches EU laws on geo-blocking. European consumers cannot purchase certain goods when they are temporarily in another EU member state.

According to Google, users can change their country of residence once a year to get access to local apps and games. However, the European Commision writes, this may result in losing previously acquired content and outstanding credit.

Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders from the European Commission says that EU consumers are entitled to clear, complete information so that they can make informed choices. The commitments made by Google are a step forward in this direction. The commission calls on Google to comply fully with the Geo-blocking Regulation, ensuring that consumers can enjoy the same rights and access the same content, wherever they are in the EU.

European consumer authorities are said to monitor changes made by Google and ‘enforce compliance where concerns remain’.

May your Holidays be filled with joy and good cheer and the New Year bring you peace and happiness.

ChannelEngine, a Dutch marketplace integration platform, has partnered with TikTok Shop.

TikTok’s social commerce feature has faced problems in Europe. Partnering with multiple ecommerce companies, including ChannelEngine, is hoped to help.

ChannelEngine is a Dutch marketplace integration service. The company has 8,100 brands selling on over 250 platforms. In March of this year, the platform raised over 45 million euros in growth capital.

TikTok has partnered with multiple ecommerce companies in hopes of attracting more users and merchants to TikTok Shop, their social commerce feature for purchasing items in-app.

TikTok Shop launched in the United Kingdom and South-East Asia last year, followed by the United States only this month.

In Europe, TikTok is partnering with marketplace integration platform ChannelEngine to sync retailer’s catalogs. The app also partnered with live shopping startup TalkShopLive from Los Angeles and YunExpress, a crossborder logistics provider from China.

Social commerce has proven lucrative for TikTok. The Chinese version of TikTok, Douyin, saw sales more than double between spring 2021 and 2022. However, a rollout in Europe has faced multiple problems.

A TikTok shopping feature was supposed to launch in Europe late 2021, but was pulled after disappointing results. Last year TikTok Shop finally launched in the UK, but was flooded with customer complaints due to shipping issues, the Financial Times reports. Multiple retailers have also stopped selling on the platform.

The tech and ecommerce sector as a whole have been in a financial slump. As a result, TikTok’s mother company lowered its global revenue targets for 2022 by 20 percent. By teaming up with ecommerce players, the company hopes to give TikTok Shop a much needed push in Europe.

Alibaba Group announced its financial results in Q3 this week.

International marketplace AliExpress has continued its decrease in turnover in Q3 this year.

According to the company, this stems from a decrease in orders after the new EU VAT rules came into effect.

Overall, the Alibaba group reports a loss of 2,8 billion euros.

AliExpress is the business-to-consumer subsidiary of Alibaba Group. It is well-known for its low prices and long delivery times. Last year, it launched a logistics solution in Europe to offer a 10-day delivery guarantee.

The Chinese ecommerce company Alibaba invested in an expansion in Europe through its Southeast Asian offshoot, Lazada. But while Alibaba has been in the region for over a decade with AliExpress, its overall track record has been underwhelming.

Last year, the site had just a 4 percent market share in Western Europe, far behind Amazon’s 20 percent, Euromonitor International data show. In Eastern Europe, its 5 percent share also trails Russia’s Wildberries and Poland’s Allegro.

In total, the revenue of Alibaba Group was 29.1 billion dollars in Q3. This is a growth of 3 percent, when compared to the same period a year earlier.

Internationally, the group seems to be slowing down. During the September quarter, the combined number of orders of Lazada, AliExpress, Trendyol and Daraz declined by 3 percent year-over-year, primarily driven by declining orders of Lazada and AliExpress, partly offset by strong order growth of Trendyol, as it said in a press release.

The company expects that the marketplace will continue to face challenges in cross-border ecommerce demand in Europe, because of the depreciating euro and increasing logistics costs.

Shopify is expanding its Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) program to Europe. The program, which offers Shopify integrations for merchants, was first launched last year. The company is working with local ERP software companies from the Netherlands, Germany and Spain for the European launch.

Shopify merchants in the United Kingdom and France have more than doubled in the last two years. Europe continues to be an important growth market for ecommerce platform Shopify, aside from its majority user base in the United States.

With the ERP program, merchants can access apps that are integrated with Shopfiy. This is meant to connect their store with other parts of their business, such as financials and inventory management.

The Europe ERP program is available as of this month.

Several European ERP companies are already part of the program, such as German players Actindo, Afterbuy, JTL, Pickware, plentymarkets and Xentral. EV4 and Holdled from Spain have also joined, as well as Itsperfect from the Netherlands. More European partners are to follow, according to Shopify.

Compared to other parts of the world, merchants across Europe have different commerce needs and requirements to serve their customers in the most effective way, Director of EMEA expansion Deann Evans says.  Businesses must take into consideration that retail is more than just a transaction. It’s about understanding what consumers want and building a connection with them. With solutions now being specifically tailored to local market nuances, merchants can achieve this even more.