European Analysis: E-Commerce is Back to Its Pre-Pandemic Course

When we looked for companies with annual sales of more than EUR 1M, we identified 8,665 in all the countries reviewed for this report combined. The United Kingdom is leading with 2,074 e-commerce businesses with annual sales of more than EUR 1M. Italy is second (1,147), and France is third (973).

There are only 18 companies with annual sales of more than EUR 1B. Most of them are registered in Germany (7), the United Kingdom (5), and France (3). The largest company is AMAZON EU S.A RL, based in Luxembourg, with annual sales of more than EUR 51B.

TOP e-commerce businesses in the largest economies

United Kingdom

There are 116,299 e-commerce companies in the United Kingdom, of which 1,902 are proprietorships. The median annual sales of these companies are EUR 45,782. Among the largest is ARGOS LIMITED, with annual sales of EUR 5.4B. ASOS.COM LIMITED is second with sales of around EUR 4.5B, and third is NEXT RETAIL LIMITED with sales of EUR 3.9B.

Germany

There are 23,910 e-commerce companies in Germany, of which 14,548 are proprietorships. The median annual sales of these companies are EUR 100,000. The top three companies are Otto (GmbH & Co KG) with annual sales of more than EUR 15.6B, Zalando SE (EUR 10.3B) and Primondo GmbH (EUR 4.3B).

France

In France, more than 91,000 companies are operating in e-commerce, and more than 68,000 are proprietorships. These companies' median sales are EUR 67,285. CDISCOUNT is number one with annual sales of EUR 23.3B, VENTE PRIVEE.COM is second with EUR 17.8B, and FNAC DIRECT is third with EUR 9.7B.

Italy

A total of 39,443 companies operate in Italian e-commerce, of which 24,864 are proprietorships. The median annual sales of these companies are EUR 71,000. The largest companies are UNICOMM SRL, with annual sales of EUR 1.45B. YOOX NET-A-PORTER GROUP SPA is second (EUR 944M), and POLTRONESOFA' HOLDING SRL is third (EUR 512M).

Spain

In Spain, 41,234 companies operate in e-commerce. Of these, 4,920 are proprietorships. Median e-commerce annual sales are EUR 45,725. The largest company is WIVAI SELECTPLACE S.A., with annual sales of EUR 201.3M. PROMOFARMA ECOM SL. is second (EUR 74.7M), and BECHTLE DIRECT SLU is third (EUR 71.6M).

Summary

In terms of the total number of e-commerce businesses, the United Kingdom (116,299) is the strongest country out of the 30 countries reviewed for this report. The highest number of e-commerce proprietorships is in France (68,402) and the Netherlands (68,239). In terms of median annual sales, companies in Switzerland earn the most (198,470). The highest number of companies with annual sales of EUR 1M+ is in the United Kingdom (2,074). Germany has the highest number of companies with annual sales of EUR 1B+ (7).

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HitHorizons aggregates data on 80M+ businesses from 60 countries, including the whole of Europe. Data contains basic information about individual companies such as name, registered address, identification number, contact details, industry, SIC Code, sales performance, and number of employees.