In 2017, online shopping in Portugal reached 4.6 million euros and this growth is expected to be more pronounced in 2018.
Among the reasons that contributed to 2017 being a year of growth in Ecommerce in Portugal are the diversity and quality of the offer and the greater familiarity of users with technologies.
These data were taken from the latest edition of the Study of the Digital Economy in Portugal, developed by Acepi in partnership with IDC which concludes that 36% of Portuguese made purchases online in 2017, a number that has been growing significantly since the 13% recorded in 2009. It is expected to grow to 59% by 2025 with a sales volume rising to 8.9 billion euros.
As for the Portuguese who use the Internet, they are already 73%, and may rise to 91% by 2025. However, the study concludes that there is still a considerable delay in companies because 50% of online purchases were still made outside of Portugal, showing that there is still plenty of room for Portuguese companies to increase their presence on the Internet and in ecommerce.
Ecommerce 4.0 Trends
Ecommerce has undergone many changes in the last decades, both in terms of supply and demand. Access via smartphone has been a great help and the number of users has grown exponentially, thus also increasing the buying habits. The customer experience is different, so is the way consumers communicate with each other, and the interaction between customer and brand as well as commercial transactions have undergone very significant changes.
More and more consumers are doing Showrooming (going to the physical store and then buying online) or Webrooming (researching online and buying in-store) and this imminent trend will allow stores, in the future, to capture more users and ensure their loyalty.