Swedish e-retail sales grew by a strong 19% to reach SEK 50.1 billion (€5.3 billion) in 2015, which represents the strongest growth since 2007, according to the “E-Barometer” from e-commerce association Svensk Digital Handel and HUI Research, conducted in cooperation with PostNord.
The survey revealed that e-commerce now represents 6.9% of total retail sales in Sweden. Excluding the food retail sector, the share is even higher at around 12%.
The driving force for e-commerce growth in Sweden is rapid digitalisation of the retail sector, boosted by “constantly connected consumers and more advanced and attractive digital concepts” that make shopping more convenient, PostNord said. “The physical and digital channels interact more and more, and all purchases now contain digital elements.”
“Today's consumers want a seamless purchase experience,” Carin Blom, retail analyst at PostNord Sweden, commented.
Last year, electronics strengthened its position as the largest sector in Swedish e-commerce, with online sales of customer electronics increasing by 16% to reach over SEK 11 billion (€1.2 billion) in 2015. This means that 23% of all consumer electronics in the Swedish retail sector are now sold online, the E-Barometer showed.
Other strong product categories in the Swedish e-retail sector last year were clothing and footwear generating SEK 8.4 billion (€896.9 million) and books/media with sales worth SEK 3.6 billion (€384.4 million).
The sectors showing strongest online sales growth in 2015 included construction trade (+38%), furniture/interior (+34%) and children’s items/toys (+34%). “It is clear that not only the younger sectors have strong online sales, but large and established industries such as electronics also show strong growth,” Blom said.
The survey further revealed that 40% of Swedish consumers aged between 18 and 79 ordered goods on the internet at least once a month last year, a 5% increase compared to 2014.
The E-Barometer also showed that 19% of the country’s consumers purchased goods from foreign e-shops in 2015, with the most popular countries in Q4 2015 being the UK, Germany, USA and China.
In terms of Swedish e-commerce exports, Norway and Finland were at the forefront last year, followed by Denmark, Germany and the UK.
When it comes to delivery, 75% of Swedish online shoppers consider it important to be able to choose how they want their goods to be delivered while 29% want their online orders to be delivered on the next working day.
According to the E-Barometer, 31% of the consumers shopping from high-street retailers did some research on the internet before making their purchases while 17% of those shoppers making their purchase online visited a physical store to see the product beforehand. Seven out of ten Swedes also used their mobile phone at any stage of the purchasing process during the last quarter of 2015.
The E-Barometer is published on a quarterly basis.
