A quarter of all money spent by Belgians was spent online during the 3rd quarter of 2021, according to figures released by BeCommerce Market Monitor.
40.8 million online orders were processed during the last quarter totalling an amount of €3.2 billion, an increase of 46% compared to last year's third quarter, Belga news agency reports.
From January to September 2021, €8.8 billion was spent online by people living in Belgium. “The health crisis has really boosted e-commerce in Belgium,” Sofie Geeroms, Managing Director of BeCommerce said, commenting on the figures to Belga. “With the closure of all non-essential stores in March 2020, consumers started to look for solutions shopping online. Today, our research shows that these solutions have also appealed to consumers, because even when stores are open, we are all buying more and more online.”
As before the crisis, the most popular online transactions online relate to the travel, entertainment and events sectors. The three main categories are “air tickets and accommodation”, “attraction tickets” and “package holidays”.
The spending in these categories has however not reached its pre-pandemic level yet, “which is explained by the fact that most people chose a ‘safe’ trip in Europe over the summer,” according to Geeroms.
