Double-digit growth in Austrian and Swiss online retail

Study: Statista and EHI examine the e-commerce market in Austria and Switzerland

Hamburg/Cologne November 18, 2015 – An analysis of the 250 online shops with the highest revenues in Austria and Switzerland revealed considerable differences with regard to dominant industry branches, delivery options and payment methods. However, there are similarities, too. The most important common factor: e-commerce is growing in both Austria and Switzerland. The 250 most successful online shops even saw revenue growth rates in the double digits.

Increase in growth and concentration

In 2014, the Top 250 online shops in Austria generated revenues of 2.1 billion euros from physical goods. In Switzerland, revenues amounted to 4.9 billion euros. This makes for a growth rate of more than 11 percent in both countries, 11.6 percent in Austria and 11.4 percent in Switzerland. In comparison: the growth rate in Germany was 9 percent. At the same time, revenue concentration increased as well. In Austria, the Top 10 online shops make up for nearly half of all Top 250 revenues (46.3 percent). Amazon, as the biggest player in online retail, certainly had a part in that. For the moment, the situation in Switzerland – still without a national Amazon website – is different. Here, the Top 10 percent in the ranking only make up for 38.5 percent of the total market volume.  However, Amazon is preparing to enter the Swiss market shortly. Patrick Kessler at the Swiss Association for Mail Order Retail says “For the big Swiss market launch, Amazon is offering customers free shipping on orders over 49 euros.”

Dynamic Alpine countries

The market is highly dynamic in each of the two countries, with 44 new online shops making it into the Top 250 ranking in both Austria and Switzerland. Nevertheless, the market leaders remained the same. In Switzerland, one in every ten online shops within the Top 150 is a newcomer. In Austria, it is one in 12. Generalist retailers continue to hold the leading positions and generate close to half of all revenues in Austria (46.6 percent) and close to a third in Switzerland (31.5 percent). In Austria, Amazon.at (477.1 million euros), Universal.at (112.4 million euros) and Zalando.at (95 million euros) are the biggest players. In Switzerland, Digitec.ch (424.2 million euros), Amazon.de (288.5 million euros) and Nespresso.com/ch (287.9 million euros) had the highest e-commerce revenues.

Extra services

Certain trends are particularly noticeable because they stand out in both countries. Among the most prominent are the increasing numbers of online shops optimized for mobile use and a growing movement towards Click & Collect offers, a service that allows consumers to pick up their online orders in store. Roughly a quarter of online retailers in both countries are already offering this service, twice as many as before in Austria, and three times as many as before in Switzerland. Yet, the national postal services still hold the highest share in online order deliveries, with the Austrian Post accounting for 42 percent and the Swiss Post for 63.6 percent of shipments.