Swiss Online Consumption Grows by 27.2 Percent in 2020

The online retail sector in Switzerland has benefited disproportionately from the Corona measures, growing by 27.2 percent in 2020. The Handelsverband.swiss and GfK, in collaboration with Swiss Post, conducted a comprehensive market survey. The growth last year corresponds to a three-year leap.

(Rotkreuz) The HANDELSVERBAND.swiss, together with GfK and in collaboration with Swiss Post, conducted the comprehensive market survey for online retail in Switzerland. The online retail sector in Switzerland is experiencing extraordinary growth due to Corona, achieving a three-year leap in 2020.

Key Findings:

• In 2020, Swiss consumers purchased goods online for 13.1 billion CHF, an increase of 2.8 billion CHF or 2% compared to the previous year.
• Online purchases have doubled within 6 years.
• Categories such as furniture, sports, and food are growing disproportionately.
• Domestic online consumption grows by 32% in 2020, while online purchases from abroad only increase by 5%.

© HANDELSVERBAND.swiss

Where Are Purchases Made?

In 2020, goods worth 13.1 billion CHF were ordered online by private individuals in Switzerland, of which

• 11 billion CHF directly from companies in Switzerland (purchases in CHF including VAT, usually with a .ch domain)
• 1 billion CHF directly from abroad

The online retail sector is experiencing extraordinary growth due to Corona and temporary shutdowns. The share of online food retail jumps from 2.8% to 3.5% in 2020 thanks to extraordinary factors. The non-food share online now stands at 18.9%.

What Is Ordered in Switzerland?

Once again, more home electronics were ordered online. A sales volume of over 3 billion CHF makes this category the most popular online retail segment by revenue. In 2020, 48% of home electronics were purchased online. In second place on the popularity scale is the fashion/shoes category with 2.5 billion CHF in online retail sales, although this segment has only grown by 15%. The food segment has also seen significant growth in 2020, reaching 1.5 billion CHF in online retail sales. The categories of furniture, sports, and DIY have recorded the largest percentage jumps.

© GfK

Which Formats Have Grown?

The already large online pure players have still been able to achieve growth rates of up to 50% at a high level. Even higher percentage growth rates have been achieved by omni-channel retailers in the online sector: growth jumps of 100% and more were not uncommon, although these developments usually started from a much lower baseline. This shows the potential that broadly supported retail formats still have in online retail.

Stagnating Foreign Purchases / Direct Imports

After we observed below-average growth in online foreign purchases last year, this trend continued in 2020. While around 30 million small shipments from abroad still reached Switzerland in 2020, the growth trend of the years 2015 to 2018 seems to have finally broken.

Preferred Purchase Channels

Stationary shopping still predominates as the preferred shopping channel. However, it is evident how preferences are shifting more and more towards “online” each year – a trend that is likely to continue even after Corona.
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