Austria’s 2018 e-commerce turnover outflow of 4 billion Euros

According to media reports, Austrian Institute for SME Research data show that Austria’s e-commerce turnover in 2018 reached 7.3 billion Euros. Although 3.3 billion Euros still go to domestic e-commerce companies, Austrian consumers spend most of their money online to online retailers abroad.

Austrian e-commerce is developing rapidly, and consumers are keen on online shopping. Last year, Austria spent 885 Euros per capita online, ranking fourth among the 19 countries surveyed. The top three countries are the UK, Switzerland and Norway, with per capita online spending of 1,118 Euros, 1,033 Euros and 920 Euros, respectively. The countries behind Austria are Denmark, Germany and Turkey.

Another survey conducted this year by the Austrian institute of small and medium enterprises found that 88％ of austrians aged 16 to 74 now use the Internet and 60％ buy products and services online.

It is reported that in 2008 Austrian consumers spent a total of 2.4 billion Euros online, when only 34% of Austrians shopped online, compared with 11% in 2003. But today 60% of Austrians can call themselves online shoppers, and total spending on shopping online has more than tripled in a decade. According to the study, the number of online shoppers in Austria has doubled in the past decade. 62％ of consumers aged 16-74 shop online, especially among young people and high-income families.



With the rapid development of online retail stores in Austria, the growth rate of online sales in recent years is much faster than that of physical stores. Last year, Austria’s online retail sales amounted to 3.2 billion Euros, equivalent to 4.3% of total retail sales. Peter Buchmuller, of Austria’s federal economic chamber, said that while the Numbers were growing, there had been a “significant decline”. He said about 4billion Euros were going to foreign online retailers, accounting for 55％ of online spending, in terms of sales and purchasing power, foreign online retailers need to take some action.

It is reported that Austria’s current most popular product category is still clothing and sporting goods, 41% of Austrians buy these products online every year. Although the number of online buyers of books and magazines is down from a previous 2013 study, it still ranks second.

Austrian consumers are particularly interested in online clothing, according to Research RegioData. According to another study, 70 percent of the 1,000 consumers surveyed and 50 percent of men don’t usually go to a brick-and-mortar store to buy clothes. Overall, 59% of Austrians buy clothing online.