The turnover of Swedish e-commerce decreased sharply in May, down 12 percent compared to the same period last year. Including foreign trade, the decline is 14 percent.
The numbers are the most negative since January. So far this year, e-commerce is faring significantly worse than retail in general, which also shows historically weak volume sales.
“May was an incredibly tough month for e-commerce in Sweden. The decline is one of the sharpest we’ve seen for e-commerce in a single month since it took off in earnest just over 15 years ago,” says Per Ljungberg, head of innovation at Svensk Handel , in a press release.
In contrast, the proportion of consumers who shop e-shop has only decreased marginally, but the average amount for which they shop has fallen significantly. The decline mainly applies to the product categories home furnishings and furniture, electronics, sports, toys and books.
The same number of consumers shop online as in May last year, but in fewer categories and for a lower amount.
“The decline in e-commerce is mainly due to the fact that the general average order value decreases when consumers have less money to spend,” says Per Ljungberg.