E-commerce continues to be even more successful in Belgium

09/10/2018

According to the latest study published by the BeCommerce sectoral association, online retailing (or e-commerce) has just smashed another record in Belgium with €5.29 billion spent in the first half of 2018, namely 8% growth compared to the first half of 2017. Alongside the spending trend, the number of purchases made online also increased by 5%, namely 44.2 million over the same period.

According to the Belgian association, e-commerce currently represents 18% of transactions in Flanders (+9%), Wallonia (+7%) and Brussels (+7%). In terms of purchases, it is the toys, sports items and recreation sectors that show the highest growth. The most popular online products remain unchanged: airline tickets and accommodation are ahead of tickets for events and attractions and all-inclusive travel deals. Also, for their purchases, Belgians normally use their laptop computer, with desktop computers coming second ahead of smartphones which are becoming increasingly popular.

This study is in addition to the one published at the end of August by Cross-Border Commerce Europe* which specifies that, out of the €10.1 billion turnover for e-commerce registered last year in Belgium, €2.9 billion, i.e. about 30%, came from overseas. This places Belgium in 9th position in Europe for countries with the most online sales. The top 5 includes the United Kingdom (€197.4 billion), followed by Germany (85.6), France (81.7), Spain (28) and the Netherlands (24.2). According to the platform, e-commerce sales in Western Europe should reach €550 billion in Europe by 2020, i.e. 25% growth, and the turnover for cross-border e-commerce should double within the next five years.