The e-commerce market in Central Europe is estimated to have grown 23% to €93.3 billion in 2013surpassing the previous year’s growth rate, according to new figures from Ecommerce Europe.
In 2012, the Central European e-commerce market grew on average by 19% with revenues reaching€75.9 billion which was well about the European average growth of 19.9%.
The region comprises Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia andSwitzerland. Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Poland and Switzerland are considered thelargest e-commerce markets in Central Europe.
Central Europe accounted for 24.4% of total European online sales worth €311.5 billion in 2012,with 58 million of the region’s 165 million inhabitants already using the internet for shopping,the e-commerce umbrella association for online retailers pointed out.
Germany is by far the largest market in the Central European region with revenues of €50 billionmaking up 65.7% of the region’s total e-commerce turnover. The country’s internet penetration isvery high with 85%. As a result, Germany has the largest online population in Europe with 69.6million people.
“With a younger, internet-savvy generation hungry for foreign trends and embracing the digitallifestyle, Germany is moving away from its long-standing retail and mail-order traditions towardsbeing a true e-commerce growth hub,” Ecommerce Europe said, highlighting the country’s growth rateof 22% in the segment. While international e-commerce players such as Amazon are already very wellestablished in the German market, Germany is the birthplace of very successful internationale-commerce companies, such as the former mail order giant Otto or the fashion pure playerZalando.
In 2012, Central European consumers spent on average €2,617 online which is far above the EU28and European average of €1,234 and €1,402 respectively. The ‘biggest spenders’ last year wereAustrians with an average amount of €2,085, followed by Switzerland with average spending of€1,750. Germany ranks third with €1,351, followed by Czech Republic with an average spending of€581, Poland with €422 and Hungary with €422.
The fastest growing e-commerce market in Central Europe is Poland, with an average increase of24% over 2012. Hungary, Slovakia and Slovenia were estimated to have generated revenues worth €880million, €330 million and €180 million respectively, with a combined average growth of 23%. TheCzech Republic is expected to reach €2.1 billion this year, a growth of over 19% over 2012. Theweakest growth was recorded in Austria and Switzerland with 12% for both countries.
Over the past weeks, Ecommerce Europe has published several regional reports on B2C e-commercein Eastern Europe, Southern Europe, Northern Europe and Western Europe. The Ecommerce Europefigures are based on the European Measurement Standard for Ecommerce (EMSEC).
