E-commerce in Belgium: trends, behavior, and figures
Since the coronavirus crisis, the shift from offline to online has become definitive. Just as remote work remains the norm in many companies, online shopping will only continue to increase. More than ever, your company needs a strong website and a well-functioning online store if you want to stay ahead of the competition. We outline the current state of e-commerce in Belgium using a number of figures we collected in the second quarter of 2021.
How many online stores are there in Belgium?
There are a total of 45,116 online stores linked to a Belgian company.
We only count online stores that meet the definition of the European data institution Eurostat.
This includes all websites where online orders are placed, and is therefore not based on payments.
A third of these online stores were established in the last five years.
Where are most online stores located?
The majority of these online stores, 71% in fact, are located in Flanders.
One-fifth of the entire e-commerce landscape is based in the province of Antwerp.
E-commerce is more established in Flanders than in Wallonia or Brussels.
Purchase figures from Belgian consumers have long indicated that Flemish people buy much more online.
It now appears that more Flemish entrepreneurs are inclined to sell online compared to their Walloon and Brussels counterparts.
In French-speaking Belgium, there is definitely room for catching up with Flanders.
Which companies have an online store?
Most Belgian online stores are small start-ups or even sole proprietorships.
A Belgian online store has an average of one to five employees.
Most Belgian online stores have an estimated turnover of less than one million.
One-fifth of all Belgian online stores are managed by self-employed individuals.
Almost half of Belgian online stores operate in the retail and wholesale sectors.
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.
That's more than in the same period in 2020, when that amount was €5.10 billion.
We have noticed for several years that more and more consumers are finding their way to online shopping.
The COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent closure of physical stores provided an extra boost.
Even as normal life resumes, this trend continues to grow.
Why does the Belgian consumer (not) buy online?
The convenience of ordering from home is the main reason people shop online, according to respondents.
Shipping costs are the main barrier to online shopping for half of all consumers.
What does the Belgian consumer (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 were for services due to the severe impact of the corona crisis, but the service sector seems to be slowly recovering.
The category with the largest increase in online market share in 2021 is food/nearfood (food products, household products, pet food...), with an increase of 51%.
Despite this growth, the share remains limited: 2% of all expenses occurred online in 2020 compared to 4% of all expenses in 2021.
Belgians are increasingly buying food products online, but there is still significant growth potential in this category.
In the second quarter of 2021, large household appliances were primarily purchased in physical stores again.
What device do Belgian consumers use for online shopping?
The laptop remains the most popular platform for making online purchases, accounting for 38% of all online transactions.
Laptops and desktops are primarily used for higher-value purchases.
The smartphone continues to gain popularity: a quarter of all online purchases are made via mobile phone.
Smartphones are primarily used for smaller and impulse purchases.
How does the Belgian consumer pay online?
Bancontact remains the most popular payment method, used by more than half of online shoppers, accounting for 4 out of 10 online transactions.
Credit cards remain the second most popular payment method, accounting for nearly a third of all online spending and being the consumer's first choice for more expensive purchases.
PayPal ranks third, accounting for a tenth of online spending. 1 in 3 people used PayPal at least once in the past quarter.
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