Online purchases grew 10 %

Belgian consumers spent 4.9 billion euro online in the first half of the year, a 10 % increase compared to the same timeframe last year. The second quarter was particularly impressive.

10 billion euro annual turnover in sight

BeCommerce Market Monitor’s study, in collaboration with market research firm GfK, shows that the strong growth is thanks to a growing number of Belgian consumers that buys online more often. In the past six months, the number of online purchases grew 2 % to 42.3 million. The number of Belgian online consumers also grew 2 % to 7.9 million. Overall, 17 % of purchases in the first half of the year were online purchases, another 1 % increase compared to last year.

The “computer and accessories” division grew the most in the first half of 2017: 23 % of all purchases in this division are online, up 31 %. Consumer electronics also performed well, with 15 % of every purchase online, up 26 %.

118 euro spend per online purchase

The strong growth is mostly thanks to an “impressive second quarter with record growth”, according to the report. Online expenses grew 13 % compared to last year’s second quarter: 2.46 billion euro in April-June 2017. In total, there were 20.9 million euro orders in those three months, up 5 % compared to last year’s second quarter.

On average, Belgian consumers spent 348 euro in the second quarter, up 8 %. An average online order is usually worth 118 euro, which is also an 8 % increase over last year.

The Netherlands perform even better

Regardless of the Belgian performance, the Netherlands are still miles ahead. Dutch online expenses grew 15 % in the second quarter and the Dutch already get 22 % of their purchases online. Looking at the entire semester, Dutch online expenses grew 13 % to 10.66 billion euro, more than twice as much as in Belgium.