The state of e-commerce in Belgium

Since 2011, Comeos and InSites Consulting have monitored the Belgian e-commerce landscape. This study has been the reference in its domain, providing 360° insights in the online buyers’ profile as well as an exhaustive overview per sector and trends in the market. Last Friday, the full research results were presented at the Comeos Summer Happening, but we’ve gathered the highlights of the study in a 2018 commerce infographic…
2018 e-commerce in Belgium
Eager for more? Download the full infographic, get your copy of the report via comeos.be (in Dutch or French) or read on for the key take-aways from their press release.

60% increase in purchases via mobile

The number of purchases via smartphone or tablet has increased with no less than 60% in the past year, as shows trade federation Comeos’ yearly large-scale survey (in collaboration with InSites Consulting). It also shows that the traditional credit cards are on the way out and that consumers do not worry all that much about their privacy.
2,014 Belgians were interviewed about their online purchases, as part of the survey. After years of stabilizing, we now notice a first slight increase. 76% of the online surfers has made an online purchase this year, vs. 74% in 2017. Our top 3 of reasons for online shopping continues to consist of time-saving, home delivery and low prices.
Bye bye credit card?
Mobile is definitely getting there. Whereas in 2017, more than 50% of the participants only made purchases via computer or laptop, 1 in 3 Belgians these days does so via smartphone or tablet; this implies a 60% increase compared to last year. As for payments, we have hugely turned to apps; the traditional credit cards account for a quarter of the online purchases, which is 20% less than during the first 2011 survey.
Consumers do not worry about their privacy
Whereas in the past, many people declared that security was a barrier to perform online purchases, this no longer is the case today. A mere 1 in 7 feels deterred by this. And despite all GDPR legislations, only 15% hesitates to fill out personal information on the internet.
Similarly, half the online shoppers does not see any issue in being assisted by bots or virtual assistants.

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