Online sales in the Nordics recorded strong growth of around 15% reaching SEK 161.6 billion (€17.4 billion) in 2015, with purchases from international websites accounting for nearly 25% of the revenues, according to the PostNord report ‘E-commerce in the Nordics 2016’.
In 2015, 40% of all Nordic residents bought goods online from international websites generating sales worth SEK 40 billion (€4.3 billion). Norway recorded the highest percentage in this category (50%), followed closely by Finland (49%).
The most popular countries from where Nordic online shoppers purchased products were the UK (36%), Germany (25%), the USA (23%), and China (23%) while Sweden (13%) was also popular.
“The domestic market’s relative maturity is what drives international commerce. The Swedish range has been good. Finland’s, Norway’s, and Denmark’s domestic alternatives haven’t been as good, which has made local consumers more eager to buy online from foreign retailers,” Arne Andersson, Nordic E-commerce Specialist at PostNord, said.
According to PostNord’s annual survey, published for the eighth time, the main reasons for Nordic consumers to shop online are that they feel that the range is better than in physical stores, that goods are often cheaper, and that they can shop at a time that is convenient for them.
“Today’s consumers place the same expectations on physical and digital commerce alike. Ultimately, this means we will need to integrate these channels to a greater extent than we do currently,” Kristin Anfindsen, E-commerce Development Manager at PostNord Norway, explained.
“More and more e-retailers are also establishing physical stores, often to satisfy shoppers’ demand for accessibility. In the future, the interplay between the physical and digital channels will develop and become even more sophisticated. It is a matter of getting the interface to feel the same across all channels, for example – in the physical store, on the computer, and on the cell phone,” she added.
While the survey revealed many similarities between online shoppers in the Nordic region, it also highlighted national differences.
For example, Danes have high expectations in terms of fast deliveries and value the option to have goods delivered to their workplace, to a parcel terminal, or to their home during daytime hours. Swedes and Norwegians prefer to have parcels delivered to their home mailboxes or to pick them up from partner outlets. Finnish consumers are the most patient among Nordic residents when it comes to delivery times and prefer to pick their mail items up from partner outlets.
When it comes to returning their goods ordered online, Nordic consumers want clear returns procedures. Nearly 90% of Norwegians and Finns and over 90% of Danes and Swedes say that when choosing an online store, they consider clear procedures for returns to be either very important or quite important. 15% of Nordic consumers said they have returned an item during the last quarter, the survey showed. Norway has the lowest percentage of returns, with 12% of the Norwegians having returned an item during the last quarter, ahead of Denmark (14%) and Sweden and Finland (17%).
“Smooth, flexible deliveries make more people want to buy online more of the time. Recipients want to know when, where, and how their goods will be delivered. It’s also becoming more common for recipients to want the option to change the delivery address and time while the goods are in transit. Customised deliveries are becoming an increasingly important competitive advantage,” Andersson explained.
Across all the Nordic countries, the most popular product categories are clothing and footwear, and media (including books, films, and video games). Home electronics is another category of products that Nordic consumers tend to buy online, as well as health and beauty products. For Swedes, health and beauty products are the third most popular category of goods purchased, in contrast to the other Nordic countries, where home electronics is the third most popular category after clothing and footwear, and media.
The most popular devices via which Nordic consumers shop online also differ from country to country. In Denmark and Norway, one in four consumers uses tablets to make purchases. In Sweden, one in five consumers uses mobile phones to shop online, whereas in Finland, using mobile devices for online shopping is significantly less common with only 15% of the Finnish consumers using tablets and 12% – mobile phones.
PostNord CEO Håkan Ericsson commented: “PostNord is constantly developing its offering. For example, in 2015 we upgraded our mobile solutions and increased transparency to provide consumers with better information about deliveries and their mail items. We are the obvious choice as logistics partner for e-commerce shipments to, from, and within the Nordic region.”
