Black Friday: will you be shopping online today?

Online shopping is becoming increasingly popular in the European Union (EU). Consumers appreciate its advantages, such as being able to shop anytime, anywhere, having access to a wider range of products and being able to compare prices easily.

Today, Black Friday, as well as the upcoming Cyber Monday, are especially popular days for shoppers on the lookout for some great online bargains.

According to the statistical office of the European Union (Eurostat), 60% of people in the EU aged 16 to 74 shopped online during the year prior to the 2018 survey, compared with 32% in 2008. This means the percentage of Europeans who buy online has doubled in the last 10 years.

Although men tend to shop online slightly more than women, the share of online shoppers has increased more among women over the last 10 years (from 30% in 2008 to 59% in 2018) than among men (from 35% in 2008 to 61% in 2018).

Over the last 10 years, the share of online shoppers in the EU has increased among all age groups, but most notably for younger internet users aged 16 to 24 years (from 40% in 2008 to 72% in 2018) and those aged 25 to 34 years (from 46% in 2008 to 78% in 2018).

Looking at the 2018 figures for individual EU Member States, the highest proportion of people who shopped online during the previous year were in Denmark (84%), the United Kingdom (83%), the Netherlands (80%), Sweden (78%) and Germany (77%).

Finland (70%) ranks seventh. Ten years before, in 2008, the proportion of Finns who shopped online was 51%.