The European E-commerce markets are currently unstoppable and there are large opportunities and
market shares to take for Nordics E-commerce companies.

Robust growth over the past decade accelerated with the Covid 19 pandemic with many more
consumers going online for the first time: 71% of the EU population bought online in 2020, up from 66% in 2019, and 64% in 2018. This trend is expected to continue to grow as consumers having gained
experience, saw the advantages of online sales and expect a seamless experience including a
combination of online and offline interactions for their shopping. Prior to the pandemic, 70% of retailers,
especially micro-businesses, had no e-commerce offering. This has changed, and a digital presence
showed itself as a vital lifeline and a matter of survival for many companies facing repeated waves of
restrictions and are today very short of liquidity. When examining the pace of growth online versus offline, the numbers speak for themselves. The e-commerce value growth rate in France is, at its lowest, 7 times higher than the offline growth rate—and up to 16 times higher in Italy.

E-commerce was always destined to transform retail, but without question, COVID-19 accelerated this
trajectory. While in past years digital access was expanded and business models tested, 2020 proved both
the necessity and viability of e-commerce. But this is just the tip of the iceberg. According to Jens Ohlig, NielsenIQ’s Managing Director for Western Europe, e-commerce accounted for more than €30 billion in the big five European countries alone in 2020. “The growth in online channels for retailers who get the formula right is more than making up for lower in-store growth rates,” says Ohlig. “As we’ve seen in other regions around the world, while online sales are skyrocketing, there’s still room for growth. Things that used to be barriers to entry aren’t as strong anymore, and we’re seeing that in our e-commerce measurement.”