In 2023, the European online cross-border market witnessed a turnover of 237 billion euros, marking a notable 32 percent surge compared to the previous year.
European-based online retailers contributed significantly to this growth, generating 107 billion euros in cross-border turnover.
The preceding year, 2022, saw European cross-border ecommerce valued at 179 billion euros, with online retailers accounting for 105.5 billion euros in cross-border turnover—a record high at the time.
Despite a modest 1.4 percent increase, the cross-border turnover escalated to 107 billion euros in the subsequent year.
These insights originate from the 6th edition of the ‘TOP 500 B2C Cross-Border Retail Europe’ report by Cross-Border Commerce Europe, an annual ranking featuring the largest 500 European cross-border online retailers, excluding travel-related transactions.
Notably, cross-border sales constituted a significant portion of total European online sales, representing 32 percent, as highlighted in the report.
Furthermore, the report underscores the robust performance of the European online B2C market, with a total turnover for goods reaching 741 billion euros—an increase of 13 percent from the previous year. Among this total, cross-border sales accounted for 32 percent.
Analyzing individual markets, German online retailers emerged as prominent players, generating 43 billion euros in cross-border turnover—a notable 28 percent increase.
Conversely, the United Kingdom experienced a slight downturn of 1.8 percent, with online stores generating 27.5 billion euros in cross-border turnover, down from 28 billion euros in 2022.
Meanwhile, several other European markets witnessed significant growth in cross-border turnover.
French online stores achieved 32 billion euros (a 30 percent increase), Spanish online retailers reached 18 billion euros (a 50 percent increase), and Dutch online stores generated 7 billion euros (a 45 percent increase).
However, despite the growth in the European cross-border market, the top 500 online cross-border sellers faced challenges.
Due to economic instability and heightened competition from US and Chinese brands, their Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) decreased by 18 percent to 50 billion euros in 2023.
A noteworthy player in this area is Ikea, ranking as the top European cross-border seller with 5.2 billion euros in turnover. Collectively, the top 10 entities represent 19 percent of the total sales among the top 500 online cross-border retailers.
