Maltese most likely to buy online from EU sellers

Maltese consumers are more likely to shop online, especially in the EU market, as 89% made online purchases from other EU countries in 2018, the highest figure amongst all EU member states.

According to London-based minutehack.com, ecommerce revenues in the EU are growing by 14% each year, casting shadow on local stores.

The burgeoning online marketplace, OnBuy, citing the 2019 European Ecommerce Report, said that Malta is most likely to purchase online from other EU countries, followed by Cyprus (83%), Luxembourg (82%) and Austria (81%).

Malta is followed by Cyprus and Luxembourg in terms of online shopping's popularity, according to OnBuy.com

Distance and tariffs that come with outside EU markets don’t deter the Maltese from making purchases either as 62% of Maltese shoppers made online purchases from rest-of-the-world sellers in 2018.

Strikingly, just 18% of Austrians made online purchases from rest-of-the-world sellers in 2018.

In Montenegro, 77% of Montenegrins made online purchases from rest-of-the-world sellers in 2018 but just 28% made purchases from EU online stores, presenting a big disparity in how consumers in this region shop online.

Other EU countries not likely to shop online in EU markets are Greece (35%), the UK (34%), Germany (24%), Czech Republic (19%), Macedonia (18%), Romania (13%), Poland (12%), Serbia (8%), and Turkey (7%).

OnBuy’s managing director Cas Paton said that Europe is a vast market that should aim to keep business inclusive.

“By keeping our borders open, we welcome consumers and traders to make the most of the potential the European market holds and we encourage the rest of the world to do the same,” he said.