Dynamics in cross-border marketplaces in Europe

In 2022, the total cross-border e-commerce market in Europe, including the UK, Switzerland and Norway, was worth EUR 265 bn (excluding the travel segment). Of this, marketplaces accounted for EUR 167 bn or 63 per cent. Leading the way are industry giants Amazon and Ebay, who account for nearly half of marketplace trade with expected sales of EUR 55 bn and EUR 23.2 bn, respectively. These results from the fourth edition of the study "Top 100 Cross-Border Marketplaces Europe" were published by Cross-Border Commerce Europe, a platform for the promotion of cross-border online trade in Europe.

The 100 largest cross-border online marketplaces generate a turnover of EUR 140 bn across Europe. Following the Covid-19 pandemic, marketplaces continued to grow by 9.3 per cent, supported by hybrid B2C and pure C2C marketplaces. This growth is expected to continue in 2023, rising to 65 per cent of cross-border online sales in Europe by 2025. Hybrid marketplaces will drive gross merchandise value growth and outperform pure marketplaces due to the increasing share of third-party (3P) sellers, often from China.

Ali-Express takes first place with continuous growth. The top 10 (see chart) remain stable, although some values have changed. Zalando has dropped out of the top 10 and Temu (PDD Holding) has joined in 9th place.

The top 100 marketplaces have recorded remarkable growth, the study notes. The average monthly number of cross-border visitors has risen from 2.8 bn to 3.12 bn, an increase of 11 per cent. The share of cross-border visitors has increased from 83.6 per cent to 90.7 per cent in 2022. At the same time, the marketplaces have expanded their reach and now sell to over 29 export countries.