2.2 Online businesses & e-sales
Over the last few years, the share of people ordering goods or services online increased steadily. Businesses selling their goods or services via the internet can potentially reach a large number of online customers and complement their traditional sales channels.
20 % of EU businesses sell online; this makes up 18 % of turnover
In 2017, 20 % of EU businesses reported that they conducted e-commerce sales (e-sales) to consumers, other businesses and/or public authorities; this is a moderate increase compared with 15 % in 2010. Among the EU Member States, conducting e-sales was most common for businesses in Ireland (33 %), Sweden (31 %) and Denmark (30 %).
In the EU, the share of large businesses making e-sales (44 %) was more than twice as high as for SMEs (20 %). Belgium and Ireland (both 59 %) had the highest shares of large businesses conducting e-sales, while the highest shares for SMEs were observed in Ireland (32 %) and Sweden (30 %).
Looking at the turnover generated by e-sales, this amounted to 18 % of total turnover in the EU; a small increase compared with 14 % in 2010.
Among the EU Member States, e-sales turnover was highest for businesses in Ireland (33 % of total turnover), followed by Belgium and Czechia (both 31 %).
The share of turnover from e-sales for large EU businesses (26 %) was more than twice as high as for SMEs (10 %). Large businesses in Czechia (43 %) and Ireland (42 %) generated the highest e-sales shares among all Member States. The same two Member States also reported the highest share of e-sales turnover for SMEs (Ireland 23 % and Czechia 16 %).
16 % of EU businesses sell via websites; this makes up 7 % of turnover
Placing orders with businesses that sell online can be done via websites or apps (web sales) or in an automated way via EDI-type messages; businesses may offer one or both options to their clients.
When ordering online via a business' website, customers such as other businesses or internet users may use online order forms or apps to choose the goods or services they want to purchase. Web sales to other businesses are called B2B (business-to-business) sales and those to consumers are called B2C (business-to-consumer) sales.
EDI-type sales, on the other hand, are sales where orders are automatically placed and processed using computer-to-computer communication, based on a standard data exchange format. This means that no human intervention is needed in this process. Big supermarket chains, for example, use this method to order products in larger quantities from suppliers (see also our animation).
In 2017, 16 % of EU businesses reported having received online orders via a website or apps and 7 % via EDI-type messages. Looking at the turnover, the opposite situation can be observed: the share generated by EDI-type sales (12 % of total turnover) was more almost twice as high as that from web sales (7 %).
Among the EU Member States, Ireland reported the highest shares of businesses with web sales (26 %) as well as with sales via EDI-type messages (16 %). Ireland also recorded the highest share of turnover generated from web sales (16 %), while Czechia registered the highest share of turnover from EDI type sales (22 %).
13 % of EU businesses make B2C sales; this makes up 3 % of turnover
In the EU in 2017, 13 % of businesses reported having conducted web sales to consumers (B2C) and 11 % to other businesses (B2B). Of the 7 % of total turnover generated by web sales, 3 % came from B2C sales and 4 % from B2B sales.
Among the EU Member States, the highest share of businesses making B2C sales was found in Ireland (23 %), while the highest share of businesses making B2B sales was registered in Sweden (18 %). The share of turnover generated from B2C sales was also highest in Ireland (9 %), while that from B2B sales was highest in Belgium (10 %).
