Digital offers destination RetailMeNot has released stats detailing the forecasted online spend of European consumers.

The online marketplace, which owns VoucherCodes.co.uk, reported that Brits alone are set to spend £52.25 billion online this year.
 
The research, conducted in conjunction with the Centre for Retail Research, also found that Brits are the most frequent online shoppers in Europe, and online is expected to account for 15.2% of all consumer retail sales in Britain in 2015.

“In the UK, consumers are now shopping online more frequently and spending more overall, helping to increase online retailers’ market share,” said Giulio Montemagno, senior vice president of international at RetailMeNot, Inc.

“Investment by retailers in improving the online shopping experience and in more sophisticated consumer targeting is clearly paying dividends.”

Strong growth

German e-commerce is expected to generate £44.61 billion in retailer revenue over 2015 – marking the fastest increase in sales across Europe.

However, the report predicts that online spending in Poland will grow by 22.5% in 2016, leaping ahead of Germany to become the fastest-growing market in Europe.

Germany, despite seeing online sales increase by 25% in 2014, is only set to see a rise by 22.4% in 2016.

Sweden’s e-commerce market may one of be the slowest growing in Europe, but it is the most mature, with 69.8% of Swedes shopping on the web compared to 65.5% of Brits.

Consumers in Sweden are also expected to spend the highest amount per transaction, £56.43, with a nationwide average of 10.4 online purchases per year. Compared to Britain’s 21.2 average online purchases a year, with an average spend of £55.36, Sweden still lags behind in terms of purchase frequency.

This strong online growth has compensated for a drop in in-store sales across all markets surveyed in the report, with store-based sales across the continent set to fall a further 1.4% this year.

The influx in online sales, however, means that total retail sales across Europe will grow by an average of 2% in 2015.