E-commerce blooming

In just over a decade, the Internet has changed our shopping patterns. E-commerce has arrived, and it is here to stay. Today, virtually every other person in Sweden makes purchases over the Internet. Approximately just as many use cards for their purchases.

The share represented by Internet shoppers continues to grow. Home electronics, books, music and films top the list of things that we buy. Many people look on the Web for product and price information before making a purchase. That’s understandable. Everything is available 24 hours a day.

Surveys have also shown that the most common time for Internet purchases is just before 10 o’clock in the evening. A webshop can therefore be the best advertisement for a physical shop, and vice versa.

According to Forrester Research, Swedish e-commerce will continue to grow rapidly over the next four years. Sales in 2011 are expected to be EUR 9.0 billion, which represents an annual growth rate of no less than 26.3 percent.

According to Forrester, Sweden, together with Norway and the UK, are the countries that spend most money on e-commerce in Europe. Denmark is predicted to be the Scandinavian country where growth in e-commerce will be highest, at over 30 percent a year.