Global e-commerce growth slows

According to foreign media reports, global online sales increased by 11% in the third quarter of 2021. This figure has increased compared with the previous quarter , when online sales only increased by 2%.

However, compared to the same period last year, the growth of e-commerce is slowing down , and online sales in Europe are returning to pre-pandemic levels. Globally, sales in online stores seem to have reached pre -pandemic growth levels. Year-on-year growth in the third quarter was 11%, compared to 63% in the same period last year.

Eastern Europe’s e-commerce growth rate is higher than the global average, increasing by 40% this quarter compared to the same period last year, with growth rates in the UK at 20%, the Netherlands at 18%, and Italy at 15%.

The report also looked at conversion rates, which measure the percentage of website visits to orders placed . The global conversion rate for the third quarter was 2.4%. Online sellers in the UK and the Netherlands had higher conversion rates than the global average , with the Netherlands having a conversion rate of 3.2% and the UK having a conversion rate of 2.8%.

Image source: Ecommerce News

Germany and Belgium achieved conversion rates that matched the global average, while Eastern Europe scored slightly lower at 2.2 % . France had a conversion rate of 1.4%, while Spain and Italy both had a conversion rate of 1.2% , which in part reflects the relatively small number of consumers who place orders in these countries.

It is worth mentioning that Belgium 's online conversion rate not only reaches the global average, but their shopping cart abandonment rate is also lower than the global average. On the computer side , Belgium's online store shopping cart abandonment rate is 66%, while the global rate is 77%. On the tablet side , this rate of 74% is also lower than the global average of 81%. In addition, on the mobile device side, Belgium 's online shopping abandonment rate is 83%, which is also lower than the global average of 86%.

Meanwhile, the Netherlands performed relatively well with abandonment rates of 69% , 78% and 80% on the above devices . The online shopping abandonment rates of sellers in the UK were 74% , 76% and 83% respectively.

Cross-border e-commerce market