Eurostat releases 2015 eCommerce trends report
More and more EU citizens are using eCommerce services, according to a recent report commissioned by the statistical office of the European Union, Eurostat, which suggested that an average of 65% of internet users on the continent shopped online.
The report, which focused on all member states, evaluated the responses of 151,685 EU households and a total of 202,185 individuals, between the ages of 16-74, and analysed eCommerce consumer trends over a 12 month period.
More than 87% of UK internet users, as well as in Germany and Denmark (both 82%) had either purchased or ordered goods on the internet. Furthermore, less than 40% of individuals used online shopping in Italy (39%), Cyprus (32%), Bulgaria (31%), Italy (39%) and Romania (18%). The largest increases between results recorded in 2012 and 2015 were recorded in Lithuania, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Spain and Latvia, where all countries experienced an increase of more than 10%.
Sports equipment and clothing proved to be the most popular purchased items in 2015, with 60% of respondents purchasing at least one article of either category. This was closely followed by travel and holiday accommodation (52%), event tickets (39%), electronic appliances (27%) and groceries (20%), among other popular goods.
According to Eurostat, 70% respondents claimed not to have had any issues when purchasing goods online. Recorded issues most often encountered were related to either; a slower delivery time than previously indicated at the time of purchase (16 %), technical failure of a website while ordering goods (12%), receiving incorrect or damaged goods (8%), difficulty in finding information on product guarantees (5%) and issues when making a complaint and not receiving a satisfactory response to a complaint (4%).
In addition, 30% of eCommerce users purchased from other EU member states, compared with 25% in 2012.