European Analysis: E-Commerce is Back to Its Pre-Pandemic Course

The COVID-19 pandemic, which began in Q1 of 2020, helped e-commerce achieve unprecedented growth. As lockdowns were put in place in many European countries, customers turned to e-commerce and deliveries since they could no longer physically visit brick-and-mortar stores. The latest Eurostat data, however, shows that e-commerce has already returned to its pre-COVID state. While in 2020, it grew by more than 25%, in 2021, it grew by only 13.9%, which is at the level of the average growth of the past 6 years. Looking at 2022 and the numbers recorded in individual months, we can see a decrease in sales in the e-commerce sector and a return of customers to brick-and-mortar stores. In January 2022, sales decreased by 3% year-on-year since March, which is a yearly decrease of approximately 10% each month.

In this report, we will take a closer look at e-commerce in 2021 in 27 countries of the European Union, the United Kingdom, Norway, and Switzerland. We will look at countries with the highest number of e-commerce enterprises and TOP e-commerce companies, their legal form and sales.

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The E-commerce market in EU27 and UK, Norway, and Switzerland

In total, 636,688 entities operate in e-commerce in the EU27, Switzerland, Norway, and the United Kingdom. Of these, 27,468 are branches of foreign entities, and 277,887 are proprietorships. Excluding branches, the highest number of e-commerce companies operate in the United Kingdom (116,299), France (91,914) and the Netherlands (90,487). The TOP 10 countries with the highest number of companies operating in e-commerce have 86.6% of all e-commerce entities operating in 30 countries reviewed for this report.

Of the TOP 10 countries with the highest number of e-commerce companies, almost half have more proprietorships than legal persons. In France, proprietorships make up more than 74% of the total number of entities doing business in e-commerce. In the Netherlands, proprietorships have a 75% share; in Poland, more than 64%; in Italy, more than 63%. The United Kingdom is an exception - less than 2% of e-commerce businesses are proprietorships. (Note do footnote: We do not have a complete database of proprietorships in the United Kingdom)

Regarding median annual sales, Switzerland is leading with EUR 198,470 (half of the companies have sales above the median and half below). Poland is second with EUR 132,662. Belgium is third with median annual sales of EUR 112,913.

When we looked for companies with annual sales of more than EUR 1M, we identified 8,665 in all the countries reviewed for this report combined. The United Kingdom is leading with 2,074 e-commerce businesses with annual sales of more than EUR 1M. Italy is second (1,147), and France is third (973).

There are only 18 companies with annual sales of more than EUR 1B. Most of them are registered in Germany (7), the United Kingdom (5), and France (3). The largest company is AMAZON EU S.A RL, based in Luxembourg, with annual sales of more than EUR 51B.

TOP e-commerce businesses in the largest economies

United Kingdom

There are 116,299 e-commerce companies in the United Kingdom, of which 1,902 are proprietorships. The median annual sales of these companies are EUR 45,782. Among the largest is ARGOS LIMITED, with annual sales of EUR 5.4B. ASOS.COM LIMITED is second with sales of around EUR 4.5B, and third is NEXT RETAIL LIMITED with sales of EUR 3.9B.

Germany

There are 23,910 e-commerce companies in Germany, of which 14,548 are proprietorships. The median annual sales of these companies are EUR 100,000. The top three companies are Otto (GmbH & Co KG) with annual sales of more than EUR 15.6B, Zalando SE (EUR 10.3B) and Primondo GmbH (EUR 4.3B).

France

In France, more than 91,000 companies are operating in e-commerce, and more than 68,000 are proprietorships. These companies' median sales are EUR 67,285. CDISCOUNT is number one with annual sales of EUR 23.3B, VENTE PRIVEE.COM is second with EUR 17.8B, and FNAC DIRECT is third with EUR 9.7B.

Italy

A total of 39,443 companies operate in Italian e-commerce, of which 24,864 are proprietorships. The median annual sales of these companies are EUR 71,000. The largest companies are UNICOMM SRL, with annual sales of EUR 1.45B. YOOX NET-A-PORTER GROUP SPA is second (EUR 944M), and POLTRONESOFA' HOLDING SRL is third (EUR 512M).

Spain

In Spain, 41,234 companies operate in e-commerce. Of these, 4,920 are proprietorships. Median e-commerce annual sales are EUR 45,725. The largest company is WIVAI SELECTPLACE S.A., with annual sales of EUR 201.3M. PROMOFARMA ECOM SL. is second (EUR 74.7M), and BECHTLE DIRECT SLU is third (EUR 71.6M).

Summary

In terms of the total number of e-commerce businesses, the United Kingdom (116,299) is the strongest country out of the 30 countries reviewed for this report. The highest number of e-commerce proprietorships is in France (68,402) and the Netherlands (68,239). In terms of median annual sales, companies in Switzerland earn the most (198,470). The highest number of companies with annual sales of EUR 1M+ is in the United Kingdom (2,074). Germany has the highest number of companies with annual sales of EUR 1B+ (7).

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