Swiss online retail with record volume in 2024
A new study by the University of St.Gallen provides new data on user and purchasing behavior on the Internet. And it shows: Online sales continue to grow and more and more competition is coming from China.
The latest edition of the "Internet Usage and E-Commerce Switzerland 2024" study by the University of St.Gallen sheds light on significant changes in consumer behavior and this year places a special focus on Chinese e-commerce providers, who are making a significant contribution to growing shopping tourism in online retail.
According to the study, Swiss online retail reached a record volume of CHF 18 billion in 2024, which corresponds to a market share of 17.3% of the retail trade. Online sales have grown by 20.8% since 2021, despite a slight increase in preference for brick-and-mortar stores after the pandemic. Particularly noteworthy: 52.4 percent of all online purchases are made via smartphone.
Chinese suppliers on the rise
Chinese online platforms such as Temu are rapidly gaining in importance and pushing back Swiss providers. Amazon remains at the top of the ranking of the most popular online retailers, followed by Galaxus, Zalando, Temu and Digitec. Temu, founded in 2022, already achieved a market share of 4.6%, while Zalando suffered the biggest loss with a decline of -4.7%. Three of the top 10 online retailers in Switzerland are now Chinese providers.
Expansion of shopping tourism
Online shopping tourism has increased as more and more Swiss consumers shop online abroad. The proportion of online spending abroad increased in all product categories, with airline tickets and vacation trips in particular frequently being booked abroad.
The entire study is available here download.
