Dynamics of cross-border marketplaces in Europe

In the last year, sales across the entire cross-border e-commerce market in Europe including the United Kingdom, Switzerland and Norway amounted to 265 bn euros (not including the travel segment). Of this figure, marketplaces accounted for 167 bn euros or 63 per cent.

Topping the list were sector giants Amazon and Ebay, which are responsible for nearly half of marketplace trade with expected sales of 55 bn euros and 23.2 bn euros respectively. This emerges from the results of a study, “Top 100 Cross-Border Marketplaces Europe”, by Cross-Border Commerce Europe, a platform for the promotion of cross-border online retail in Europe.

The 100 biggest cross-border online marketplaces generate sales of 140 bn euros across Europe, according to the study. After the pandemic, the marketplaces grew by a further 9.3 per cent, supported by hybrid B2C and pure C2C marketplaces. This growth is expected to continue through 2023 and increase to 65 per cent of cross-border online sales in Europe up to 2025, reports the study.

Ali-Express is in first place with continuous growth, while Zalando has dropped out of the top 10. A new entrant at number 9 is Temu (PDD Holding).

The average monthly number of cross-border visitors has risen from 2.8 to 3.12 bn (+11 per cent). In the last year, the proportion of cross-border visitors has risen from 83.6 to 90.7 per cent. At the same time, the marketplaces have expanded their range and now sell in over 29 export countries.