E-commerce sales in the Nordic region increased strongly by 23% in the second quarter of this year, with clear delivery information now a major customer need, according to a new PostNord survey.
During the April – June quarter, Nordic residents made online purchases worth SEK 40.5 billion (€4.3 billion), a 23% rise compared to Q2 last year, according to PostNord’s report ‘E-commerce in the Nordic region’.
All Nordic e-commerce markets continued to grow significantly during the second quarter. Domestic e-commerce in each respective country saw particularly sharp growth of 29%.
“Nordic e-commerce is continuing to expand substantially, and consumers are become increasingly mature and open to e-commerce. This means that they’re demanding more and more from the purchasing experience. Consumer driven logistics becomes more and more important, for example Nordic residents think that it’s almost as important to receive clear information on how and when an item will be delivered as it is to receive clear information on the actual product,” says Annemarie Gardshol, Head of E-commerce at PostNord.
A growing number of consumers are making online purchases on a regular basis. Both the proportion and number of Nordic residents who shopped online in the second quarter increased compared to last year. This trend was particularly noticeable in Finland, where the share grew by 10 percentage points. Norwegians purchased the most during the period, making them the biggest e-shoppers in the Nordic region.
Mobile e-commerce grew substantially, and the number of Nordic residents who made purchases from a mobile device increased from 9% (Q2 2014) to 16% (Q2 2015). Sweden and Norway have by far the largest percentages of people making online purchases in this way.
Nordic residents prefer to search for information prior to a possible online purchase by conducting online research, the survey showed. They often use Google or other search engines, but comparison websites, other online stores and customer reviews are additional common sources of information.
Over 90% of Nordic consumers think it is important to receive clear information on how an item purchased online will be delivered. An almost equal share think it is important to have clear information on procedures for returns, PostNord pointed out.
An e-commerce company wishing to attract Nordic consumers should primarily communicate by e-mail. According to Nordic residents, this is by far the most superior channel in terms of getting them to visit an online store. Otherwise, preferences differ from country to country. In Sweden and Finland, hard copy information sent to their mail box is particularly effective. The second-best means of communication according to Danes and Norwegians is other online channels such as banners or pop-ups.
The ‘E-commerce in the Nordic region’ report, published once a quarter, is based on a consumer survey conducted in Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland and involving almost 5,000 respondents. The latest consumer survey was conducted in July 2015 with a representative national selection of the population aged 18-79 years in each country.
