Winners & Losers in E-Commerce 2021

**In Net's recently released report Swedish E-commerce 2021 You can read that Swedes' online shopping increased by 10.1 percent last year, after decreasing for the first time ever in 2020.**

E-commerce, which has historically grown strongly every year, experienced a dramatic change due to the pandemic in 2020. The total spending of Swedes then decreased for the first time, despite more people than ever shopping online. This is because the traditionally largest category, travel, decreased dramatically. At the same time, products increased strongly because most people stayed at home. Despite the fact that the pandemic and restrictions continued to characterize 2021, the total e-commerce market turned around by just over 10 percent: from SEK 215.2 billion in 2020 to SEK 237 billion in 2021.

– The corona pandemic has affected e-commerce and consumer behavior in a unique way. Convenience is now more crucial, whereas before the pandemic it was lower prices. Now we are also seeing many more silver surfers shopping online, says Patrik Muller, e-commerce expert at Nets.

Products remain the largest

Products remained by far the largest category with SEK 143.3 billion last year, although the category overall decreased by five percent.

– The record increase of 30 percent for products in 2020 due to the pandemic was difficult to match last year. We had more opportunities to visit physical stores again, which many longed for. Consumers had also already invested a lot in their homes in 2020, for example with newly built verandas and home electronics. However, the impact of the pandemic on shopping habits should not be underestimated – even though consumers want to continue shopping in stores, a record number of Swedes have adopted the behavior of buying a lot of their products online, continues Patrik Müller.

Within the product category, there were both winners and losers in 2021. Clothing was the biggest winner with an increase of SEK 2.6 billion (+15%) while one of the largest subcategories, consumer electronics, fell SEK 7 billion (-36%). White goods increased by +3%.

Anyone who wants to read more about how Swedes shop and pay online in Net's new report Swedish E-commerce 2021 can download the full report here.

Ola Larsson

Image: Nets

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