E-commerce turnover in Sweden surged to SEK 13 billion (€1.13 billion) in September 2024, a 28% rise on the same month the previous year, according to trade representative group Svensk Handel.
Both the number of online shoppers and the average spend per customer have risen year-on-year, the group noted, with September 2024 seeing the highest turnover in e-commerce sine the indicator began tracking data in 2020.
E-commerce turnover in Sweden
During the third quarter as a whole, e-commerce turnover in Sweden was 8% higher than the corresponding period in 2023, while in the nine months from January to September, turnover rose by 11%.
Most product categories experienced positive growth, although children’s items, toys, clothing, footwear, and alcohol saw a decrease during the third quarter.
Embracing ‘a new normal’
Some 70% of Swedish consumers utilise e-commerce services each month, signalling that e-commerce is fast becoming a ‘new normal’, according to Svensk Handel.
“More and more consumers are turning to e-commerce again,” commented Per Ljungberg, head of innovation at Svensk Handel. “Developments so far this year indicate that levels of over 70% of e-commerce consumers per month may be the new normal. It is with a positive feeling that we now enter e-commerce’s most important quarter.”
Additionally, international e-commerce is growing among Swedish consumers. In September, a fifth (20%) of Swedes purchased goods from sellers located in foreign countries, an increase from 16% in September 2023.
Ljungberg added, however, that the fact that much of the increase comes from websites such as Temu and Shein is “worrying”, adding that said sites have been accused of violating EU regulations.
“Our measurements show that half a million Swedes shopped there in September,” he said. “Politics must do more to put an end to unhealthy competition. It damages trading companies as well as consumers.” Read more here.
