E-commerce in Belgium: state of play in 2021
Since the corona crisis, the revolution from offline to online has definitely begun. Just as working from home remains the norm in many businesses, online purchasing will only increase. More than ever, your company must have a strong website and a well-run web shop if you want to stand up to the competition. We outline the current state of e-commerce in Belgium based on some of the figures we collected in the second quarter of 2021.
How many web shops are there in Belgium?
A total of 45,116 Web stores exist that are linked to a Belgian company.
We count only those online stores that meet the definition of the European data body Eurostat.
It covers all websites where online orders happen and thus is not based on payments.
A third of those online stores were established in the past five years.
Where are most online stores located?
The majority of those online stores, 71% in fact, are in Flanders.
One-fifth of the total e-commerce landscape is located in the province of Antwerp.
E-commerce is more established in Flanders than in Wallonia or Brussels.
Belgian consumer purchase figures have long shown that Flemings are buying much more online.
Now it also appears that more Flemish entrepreneurs have the reflex to sell online than their Walloon and Brussels counterparts.
So in Francophone Belgium, there is certainly still room for catching up with Flanders.
Which companies have an online store?
Most Belgian Web shops are small start-ups or even sole proprietorships.
On average, a Belgian webshop has one to five employees.
Most Belgian Web shops have less than a million estimated sales.
One-fifth of all Belgian web shops are operated by self-employed people.
Almost half of Belgian web shops operate in retail and wholesale.
How much do Belgian consumers spend on online shopping?
Belgian consumers spent more online in the first half of 2021 than last year.
In the first half of 2021, Belgians spent €5.56 billion on e-commerce.
This is more than in the same period in 2020, when it reached 5.10 billion euros.
We have noticed for several years that more and more consumers are finding their way to online shopping.
The corona pandemic and accompanying closure of physical stores provided an additional boost.
Even as normal life resumes, this trend continues.
Why do Belgian consumers (not) buy online?
The convenience of ordering from home is the main reason for shopping online, according to respondents.
Shipping costs are the main barrier to not shopping online for half of consumers.
What do Belgian consumers (not) buy online?
In the second quarter of 2021, 37% of all online spending went to services, such as travel and events.
In the same period last year, only 1 in 10 purchases went to services due to the heavy blows of the corona crisis, but the service sector seems to be quietly rebounding.
The strongest riser in online share in 2021 is the food/near-food category (food products, household products, pet food ...) with a 51% increase.
Despite this growth, the share still remains limited: 2% of all spending occurred online in 2020 compared to 4% of all spending in 2021.
Thus, Belgians are already finding their way to the webshop for food products as well, but there is still a lot of growth potential in that category.
In the second quarter of 2021, large household goods in particular were purchased in stores again.
With which device is the Belgian consumer buying online?
The laptop remains the most popular platform to make online purchases with, accounting for 38% of all online purchases.
Laptop and desktops are mainly used for more expensive purchases.
The smartphone continues to gain popularity: one-fourth of all online purchases were made via phone.
The smartphone is mostly used for cheaper purchases and impulse purchases.
How do Belgian consumers pay online?
Bancontact remains the most popular payment method with more than half of online shoppers. That corresponds to 4 in 10 online spenders.
The credit card remains number two, accounting for nearly a third of all online spending and the consumer's first choice for more expensive purchases.
At number three we find PayPal, accounting for a tenth of online spending. 1 in 3 used PayPal at least once in the past quarter.
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