Cross-Border Commerce Europe (CBC), a Brussels-based platform promoting cross-border online commerce in Europe, publishes a yearly study that examines and ranks the 16 strongest European countries in terms of both consumer behavior and business performance in cross-border online commerce. In the 2021 ranking of the most eager EU consumers, Luxembourg is once again at the top, while Germany maintains its position as the EU country with the most successful cross-border online stores and -marketplaces. In the U.K., cross-border online sales fell by 12 percent to the historically low level of €29 billion, letting the country drop by 10 places to rank 14 of the list. Rising shipping costs, delivery delays, new regulations and increased paperwork are creating unprecedented challenges for EU merchants selling to customers in the UK and UK merchants shipping to the EU.
Total cross-border online commerce in the EU (excluding the travel segment) generated sales of €171 billion in 2021, up 17 percent year-on-year.
The “Top 16 Countries Cross-Border Europe” consumer ranking results from the data including cross-border online purchases, the percentage of cross-border site visits, market shares and the cross-border consumer confidence in Europe (16 countries in Western Europe and Scandinavia plus the UK). The following consumer ranking was determined for the Top 16 countries 2021:
Top 1: Luxembourg
Top 2: Ireland
Top 3: Austria
Top 4: Denmark
Top 5: Belgium
Top 6: Switzerland
Top 7: Sweden
Top 8: Norway
Top 9: Germany
Top 10: Italy
Top 11: Spain
Top 12: France
Top 13: Portugal
Top 14: UK
Top 15: Finland
TOP 16: Netherlands
The second ranking list created by CBC is sorting the countries by its top-performing online retail companies, derived from the recently published “Top 500 cross-border retail Europe” ranking. Again led by Germany which hosts successful online stores like Adidas and Zalando, the list has France on rank five, with Decathlon and the big second-hand platform Vestiaire Collective as industry-leading enterprises in the country.
Top 1: Germany with 1. Zalando (Kinnevik), 2. Lidl (Schwarz Group) and 3. About You (Otto Group)
Top 2: Sweden with 1. Ikea, 2. H&M and 3. Cos (H&M Group)
Top 3: The Netherlands with 1. Euronics, 2. Vistaprint (Cimpress) and 3. Philips (Signify)
Top 4: Denmark with 1. Lego, 2. Jysk and 3. Vivino (Balderton)
Top 5: France with 1. Decathlon (Mulliez), 2. Vestiare Collective and 3. Moncler (Richemont)
Top 6: U.K. with 1. JD Sports (Pentland), 2. MyProtein and 3. Bookdepository
Top 7: Switzerland with 1. Nespresso (Nestlé), 2. Expert and 3. Dolce Gusto (Nestlé)
Top 8: Spain with 1. Zara (Inditex), 2. Mango and 3. Bershka (Inditex).
Top 9: Ireland with 1. Smartbox/Bongo (Smartbox Group), 2. Qwertee and 3. Smyths Toys.
Top10: Italy with 1. Gucci (Kering), 2. Diesel (OTB Group) and 3. Napapijri (VF Corp)
