Many categories continue to sell well, and Europe's consumption power is strong this Christmas!

The peak season is coming to an end. Regardless of the seller’s previous sales performance, they should keep a steady mind and make the final sprint.

Hot sales in various categories during Christmas season

Tomorrow is the much-anticipated Christmas, with cold weather, classic red and green decorations, twinkling holiday lights, window stickers of Santa Claus and elk ...European countries are filled with a festive atmosphere. Every Christmas, people in European countries will prepare holiday decorations, food and Christmas gifts early.

Due to the impact of the epidemic this year, people have fewer opportunities for offline socializing and shopping, and will spend more time online. Surveys and studies show that in the past year, the average total online shopping expenditure of European consumers was 2,336 euros, an increase of 11% from 2020.

The categories most commonly purchased online by European consumers include fashion and casual apparel , shoes, bags and accessories, sports and health products, beauty and skin care products, and technology products such as smartphones , which will also continue to be popular categories during Christmas.

In addition, sales of categories such as mattresses, gaming and e-sports also showed a clear growth trend. In 2021, the number of consumers purchasing auto parts online in Europe increased by 6% , which was the category with the largest growth .

The recurrence of the epidemic this year has greatly affected people's offline shopping. In order to prevent the spread of the epidemic, governments in some European countries, such as Germany, have strengthened epidemic control efforts and notified the closure of some offline Christmas markets. This situation will also promote an increase in online consumption in Europe.

In addition to conventional online shopping platforms, social e-commerce platforms have gradually become an online shopping channel for European consumers. It is understood that in 2021, 13% of consumers said they had shopped on social media. Among many social media, Facebook is still the first choice for consumers , but compared with 2020 , the online purchase rate this year has declined;

Relatively speaking, Instagram is the fastest growing social e-commerce platform , increasing from 35% last year to 44% this year. Consumers said that the main reason they don’t shop on social media is lack of trust . However, according to relevant surveys, eight out of ten social e-commerce buyers said that their shopping experience on social platforms is very good.

This year, people's holiday shopping plans have been deeply affected by sea transportation and supply chain issues. Many European online consumers said that in order to avoid not being able to get the goods they need during the holidays, they plan to shop in advance and strive to receive holiday packages during Christmas.

Although the relevant governments have called on the public to shop normally during the holiday season, consumers' enthusiasm for shopping before the holiday is still unstoppable. However, just before the holiday, many European countries broke out the infection of Omicron virus. With the continuous increase of new crown cases in European countries, it is expected that a new round of epidemic will also become an important factor affecting this year's Christmas shopping season.

How will Europe celebrate Christmas under the impact of Omicron ?

Recently, the number of cases in Europe has been surging. Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of cases in the UK alone has soared to a record 106,122, creating a new historical increase, which is undoubtedly a huge impact on the European people and their economy.

It is understood that due to the ongoing epidemic, the number of trips by people in Europe and other places has continued to decrease, and the number of orders for delayed gift giving has also surged, and these consumers who have reduced their travel for shopping have turned into online buyers . According to the previous two sets of passenger flow data, fewer shoppers went shopping on the last weekend before Christmas than the previous week.

Springboard data shows that in the UK alone, foot traffic in central London was 8.5% lower than last weekend, and in other cities it was 6.4% lower. In retail locations, foot traffic on Saturdays and Sundays rose by 0.8% and fell by 1.4% respectively, with physical stores experiencing a downturn.

Some institutions have predicted sales data for the week before Christmas , saying that although prevention and control measures have been continuously strengthened since the emergence of the Omicron variant , many consumers are still eager to receive orders and receive goods on time. Therefore, British people’s online consumption expenditure on Monday will reach 420 million pounds , and consumer spending in 2021 will increase by 6.9% compared to 2020 .

In addition, in the last few days before Christmas, many European consumers will continue shopping as retailers will carry out a series of promotions. It is expected that the number of shoppers and retail sales will be higher than in 2020, which is good news for European sellers.

As supply chains and the epidemic intensify, the European economy faces greater uncertainty. But overall, the trend of online consumption will continue and has become a local consumption habit. For sellers, although the sales of some buyers have not been optimistic since the peak season, Christmas, as the final "battle", is still the highlight that sellers look forward to.

Amazon, Wish, eBay and other platforms have started preparing for Christmas early, from solving supply chain problems, renting ships and chartering planes to issuing new platform regulations recently, all in preparation for the end of the year. However, sellers are still worried whether this time will pass by silently like Black Friday.

In fact, consumers have already started shopping in advance before Christmas, but the timely arrival of goods has become a headache for both sellers and buyers.

Package delays may occur during peak season

Among them, the United Kingdom is a country where this problem is more prominent.

Under the influence of the epidemic, online consumption has been stimulated to a certain extent. Coupled with the Christmas stockpiling season, the English Post expects that Christmas week will be the busiest week in 2021, with the number of parcels increasing by 5 million. In particular, the recent intensification of the epidemic and the isolation of some express delivery employees at home have increased the pressure on logistics. The Royal Mail warned that there will be serious postal delays this week, of which 43 regions will be affected.

At the same time, logistics companies are facing more and more complaints. It is reported that in the first two weeks of December, consumer rights website Resolver has received 3,173 complaints, more than double the same period in November. The main issues involved include delayed or lost packages and damaged goods.

Almost two-thirds of customers have experienced delivery problems in the past three months, according to regulator Ofcom, and a quarter found it difficult to complain or contact parcel companies, with those involved saying almost 600 people deal with lost or stolen parcels every hour .

In addition to the UK, Greece is also affected by delays. Due to the impact of epidemic prevention and control measures such as blockades and offline business closures, online orders in Greece have surged, but there are fewer delivery staff, and buyers usually have to wait a long time to receive express delivery. During the blockade, many local consumers expressed their dissatisfaction through social platforms, saying that the delivery time during the epidemic is twice as long as usual. For some well-known brands, consumers even have to wait for more than two weeks to receive them.

However, overall, China-Europe logistics is in good condition. In terms of railway freight, as of the first 10 months of this year , the freight volume of China-Europe trains has exceeded the total freight volume of last year. On the other hand, border congestion has decreased and timeliness has returned to normal.

Europe is one of the important markets for cross-border e-commerce. Although it is now affected by the epidemic, European consumers' enthusiasm for online consumption remains unabated. Sellers can pay more attention to the European market.

Europe

Christmas

Consumption