Spain Country Commercial Guide
Learn about the market conditions, opportunities, regulations, and business conditions in spain, prepared by at U.S. Embassies worldwide by Commerce Department, State Department and other U.S. agencies’ professionals
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eCommerce
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General Overview

During 2022, eCommerce users reached nearly 32 million in Spain, representing a market penetration rate of 68%. Growth is expected to continue, as eCommerce users increase by another 25% to 40 million by 2025.

In 2022, approximately 22% of Spanish companies made sales online through websites and applications, an increase of more than 6% of previous year.

According to a press release by Spanish National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC), eCommerce turnover in 2022 in Spain reached a total of $72 billion (€67 billion), up 25% from last year and totaling 5.7% of GDP.

In terms of geographical segmentation, 41.9% of revenue was originated in Spain (31.5% within Spain and 10.4% from abroad to Spain) and 58.1% from Spain to abroad.

Consumer-to-consumer online transactions has extended in Spain. There are currently numerous examples of applications like Wallapop, Vinted, Milanuncios, Vibbo. More than 30% of internet users are currently buying or selling through these channels.

Top Products

During the last quarter of 2022, the eCommerce sectors with the highest percentage of revenue were:

  • travel agencies (7%)
  • clothing (6.9%)
  • air transportation (5%)

The activity sectors with the highest number of total eCommerce transactions were:

  • gambling (7.4%)
  • food/restaurants (6.6%)
  • land transport of passengers (6%)

Other leading segments include telecommunications, home appliances, sports, toys, and health and beauty.

Legal & Regulatory

Please visit this website (https://digitalpolicyalert.org/countries/spain) concerning digital regulation in Spain.

Consumer Behavior

The gender split of online shoppers in Spain is 50% male and 50% female. In terms of age breakdown, the following groups of users were most heavily engaged in online transactions in 2022:

  • 35 to 44 (5.5 million)
  • 45 to 54 (5.4 million)
  • 25 to 34 (4.5 million)

The frequency of online purchases are as follows:

  • once a month (30%)
  • once every two weeks (25%)
  • once a week (19%)

Average expenditure for each purchase in online marketplace in Spain in 2022 was between $30 (€27.90) and $55 (€51.15) (39%) and $55 (€51.15) to $110 (€102.31) (34%). Usual payment method offered are debit cards, digital wallets (mainly Paypal), and credit cards.

2022 statistics on the most visited online marketplaces place three websites as controlling most customer hits:

  • Amazon.es (54%),
  • Aliexpress (18%), and
  • El Corte Inglés (6%).

In terms of revenue, Amazon is also the leader of online marketplace sales in Spain, with the following statistics:

  • Amazon - $5.3 billion (€4.9 billion),
  • El Corte Inglés - $1.4 billion (€1.3 billion), and
  • Shein - $858 million (€798 million).

Leading shopping apps in Spain in 2022 by number of downloads provide a slight different picture:

  • Shein (6.3 million),
  • Amazon (4.3 million),
  • Wallapop (3 million),
  • Vinted (2.4 million),
  • Milanuncios (2.3 million), and
  • Aliexpress (2.2 million).

Stated reasons by customers for purchasing through online marketplaces include diversity of products and brands, better prices, opinions of other buyers, convenience, and management of orders.