Logistics company PostNord recently released a report about e-commerce in the Nordic countries in 2016. One of the key findings was that Finns used 3.2 billion euros ordering online and 38% of these purchases came abroad.

Estimated total e-commerce sales in euros per country:

Sweden: 8,478 billion
Denmark: 5,097 billion
Norway: 5,126 billion
Finland: 3,154 billion

Using mobile devices for e-commerce has increased causing a change in consumer behavior in both e-commerce and brick and mortar retail. Mobile serves not only as a purchasing channel, but also as a source of information. For example, it acts as a channel for receiving offers via text message, e-mail, and other types of advertising.

PostNord also surveyed the number of people in each country that has used mobile devices for e-commerce. The results were:

Sweden: 35%
Denmark: 23%
Norway: 27%
Finland: 19%

Top categories for online purchases didn’t vary much between the Nordic countries. Clothing and footwear were the most popular purchase for all of the Nordic countries. Media was second on the list for Sweden, Norway and Finland while in Denmark the second most popular category was home electronics. The third most popular category in Finland and Norway was home electronics. In Denmark, media got the third position while in Sweden, the third place went to the health and beauty category.

Most often used delivery method in Sweden and Denmark was collecting the goods from a designated distribution point while in Norway and Finland most used delivery method was delivery to shopper’s own mailbox.

Ordering from abroad is very popular in all Nordic countries but the country that stands out the most is Finland. In Finland, 46% of the population order from abroad. The same statistics for the other Nordic countries were: Norway 42%, Denmark 32% and Sweden 29%. When ordering from abroad, the most popular countries from which to buy are China and the United Kingdom.

Find the full report here.

Finns are already buying from abroad. Why not from you? Read our Finnish SEO