European e-commerce sales continued to grow in 2022, according to a new report from trade associations Ecommerce Europe and Eurocommerce. Thanks to growth of six percent, the share of business-to-consumer sales reached 899 billion euros. However, growth is slowing.
In fact, the growth rate in 2021 was 12 percent, as the platforms announced. Several factors are responsible for the differences between 2021 and 2022. For example, inflation and the impact of the war in Ukraine affected consumers’ purchasing power. In some of the countries studied, higher product prices were the biggest driver of higher e-commerce sales.
To provide a better picture of the situation for 2022, the two companies included an inflation adjustment in the report. Excluding higher prices, e-commerce sales in Europe fell 2 percent. This decline is unprecedented. The only regions that did not see a decline were Eastern Europe and Southern Europe.
This translated article previously appeared on FashionUnited.nl