Spain is a Southwestern European country. It’s an interesting market to watch, with several strong e-commerce companies. What’s more, Spanish consumers are increasingly inclined to shop online. Here’s what you need to know about e-commerce in Spain.
Country Statistics
Spain
Population: 47.4 million Internet users (percentage of population): 93% Online sales: 84 billion euros (2023) Notable online stores: Zara, El Corte Inglés, Mango
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Spanish E-commerce Event
Each year several e-commerce events take place in Spain, and we have a handy e-commerce events calendar where you can find all the major online retail events in Europe.
Spanish e-commerce customers
According to RetailX, 93% of the Spanish population uses the internet. And in 2022, 68% of them will shop online. By the end of 2021, that figure was just 63%, indicating that more Spanish consumers are turning to online shopping.
Spanish consumers are buying more online overall, as can be seen from the percentage of people who said they bought more groceries, household appliances, clothing and gifts online in 2021 than they did before the pandemic.
A similar proportion have started buying clothes online or are doing so more frequently. Grocery retailers have seen the biggest influx of new customers: at least 11.8% of online shoppers in Spain say they did not buy groceries online before the pandemic but will do so in 2022.
While only about a third of online shoppers buy groceries online, Spanish consumers do so more than the European average. Fashion is the most purchased category online in Spain, with household goods a close second. And while fashion is the category women buy most online, men are more likely to buy appliances online; at least 43 percent of men buy goods from this category online.
Looking at payment preferences, debit and credit cards remained the most popular payment methods in Spain in 2021. E-wallets are becoming increasingly popular, with PayPal being the most popular choice, accounting for 87% of such transactions. The use of e-wallets is expected to grow significantly in the coming years, as the number of people who choose to pay by card will decrease from 54% in 2021 to 48% by 2025.
Looking for e-commerce software to start selling in Europe? Webador and Shopify are platforms optimized for cross-border e-commerce.
Spanish e-commerce market
In 2021, the Spanish e-commerce market was worth €57.7 billion. Moreover, the online share of the overall retail market has been increasing in recent years. In 2014, online had a market share of just 3%. This only grew to 5% in 2018. Online really took off in 2019, growing to account for 8% of total retail spending. By 2021, online accounted for 11% of total consumer retail spending.
Want to sell cross-border in Europe? It’s not easy, but with the right ecommerce software, online marketing channels and European fulfillment companies, market leadership is definitely within reach.
Spain’s leading online store
Popular online stores in Spain are El Corte Inglés, eBay, Amazon, Mil Anunacios, Segunda Mano, Lets Bonus, Groupon, Bing, eBay and Groupalia.
Top e-commerce websites in Spain. (Source: digital1to1)
Read all our articles about e-commerce in Spain.