Most European consumers reportedly spend an average of more than 340 euros a month online. They buy the most clothes, pay the bills or order takeout. A third of that consumption is cross-border. The Irish, Germans and Israelis spend the most abroad, while the French have the lowest proportion.
PayPal surveyed more than 15,000 consumers between the ages of 18 and 75 for the study. In addition, over 4,000 B2C retailers participated in the survey, covering 12 countries/regions in Europe.
According to the report, online spending is common among European consumers: more than two-thirds (65%) shop online every week. The average European consumer makes 3.7 online purchases per week. Dutch shoppers are the most frequent: nearly 80 per cent shop at least once a week and more than four times a week. They were closely followed by Greeks, with 76 percent making weekly purchases and an average of 4.8 weekly purchases.
European consumers spend an average of 342 euros per month on e-commerce stores. Sweden and the UK are the highest monthly spenders, spending an average of 486 and 420 euros respectively.
When shopping online, clothing and accessories were by far the most popular category in Europe, accounting for 60 per cent of purchases. Paying household bills online came second (54 per cent), followed by food and drink (42 per cent), groceries (38 per cent) and health and beauty (36 per cent). British shoppers stand out when it comes to buying food and groceries, while Polish shoppers buy significantly more cosmetics than any other European country.
For European consumers, one-third of all online purchases are made through cross-border sellers. This figure was highest in Ireland (44 per cent), Germany and Israel (both 38 per cent). Irish retailers also have the highest share of cross-border sales. French consumers, by contrast, shop the least across borders: only a fifth of their purchases are cross-border.
Consumers who shop across borders do so because of better prices (50 percent cheaper) or access to goods not available in their home countries (nearly 40 percent).
The report also analyzes the main barriers to spending: for 50 percent of European consumers, security or trust issues at the checkout make them wary of spending online. Lengthy and confusing checkout processes deter the other 40%. German, Swedish and Greek consumers were most concerned about available payment options, while French and Israeli consumers were more concerned about security at the checkout.