Online shopping is on the rise before the Christmas season – will the shoppers’ euros flow to China?

According to a report* by the Finnish Commerce Federation, Finns’ online shopping is expected to perk up as the Christmas season approaches. At the beginning of November, when the last report was carried out, 79 per cent of Finns said they had made purchases online during the past year. The figure has returned to the level of last December.

“The intentions to make online purchases in the coming months have also increased during the past year,” says Jaana Kurjenoja, Chief Economist of the Finnish Commerce Federation, explaining the results of monitoring online shopping.

As the outlook for e-commerce improves, purchases from China are also on the rise again.

“Single’s Day and the start of the Black Friday campaigns have clearly directed Finns to the websites of Chinese online stores and platforms,” says Kurjenoja, describing the recent developments.

Purchases from China have increased, especially in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area

At the beginning of the year, 24 per cent of the residents of the Helsinki Metropolitan Area had made purchases from Chinese online stores during the year. By autumn, the figure had already increased to 28 per cent. The share of all Finns making purchases from China is 30 per cent.

The majority of people who make digital purchases from China are men. 25 per cent of women and 35 per cent of men have made purchases from China. While the most typical person making purchases from China is a man aged 35–49, making purchases from China has become more common among men under 35 when compared to the beginning of the year.

At the same time, the number of purchases has also increased: 38 per cent of men under 35 who make purchases from China order parcels from China at least every other month.

Those making purchases from China believe they will avoid dangerous products

More than 70 per cent of those who will make purchases from Chinese online stores at the end of the year justify their purchases by not finding similar products in domestic or European stores. At the same time, however, these shoppers believe that the product safety of the Chinese parcels is not at risk as they say the goods are the same as the goods sold in Finland.

“The people making purchases from China have incorrect beliefs about product safety. While they know that Chinese junk is not always safe, many of them still believe that they can avoid the risks by using their common sense. At the same time, they trust that the authorities will stop dangerous products at the border,” says Kurjenoja, explaining the consumers’ beliefs.

Tomi Lounema, Director General of the Finnish Safety and Chemicals Agency, stated in his opinion piece** for Helsingin Sanomat in July that it is difficult and, within their resources, inappropriate for authorities, such as Customs and the Finnish Safety and Chemicals Agency, to inspect goods shipments sent directly to consumers. European authorities are also unable to get hold of Chinese companies, and there are no resources for the sufficiently comprehensive spot-check monitoring of individual parcels sent to consumers due to the enormous volume of parcels.

Online purchases from China are also justified by their low prices: 76 per cent of the shoppers say they make purchases from China because of the prices. The low prices also enable guilt-free impulse purchases.

“As many as 65 per cent of those making purchases from China are happy to make impulse purchases, which further increases the volume of parcels from China,” says Kurjenoja.

Not even people making purchases from China are always happy to receive Chinese junk as a Christmas present

People making purchases from Chinese online stores and platforms should be cautious when buying presents, as 74 per cent of Finns do not want to receive Chinese junk as a Christmas present. Nearly half of all consumers would even perceive such a present as offensive and would also doubt its product safety.

Not even all the people making purchases from China appreciate presents purchased from Chinese websites: 38 per cent of them do not want to receive such presents.

“Many people making purchases from Chinese platforms hope to receive different kinds of presents themselves, even though the majority don’t care about the origin of the present,” says Kurjenoja.

*The report is based on Similarweb’s data on website visits and consumer surveys conducted by Kantar Finland. Jaana Kurjenoja, Chief Economist of the Finnish Commerce Federation, is in charge of the analyses of the report.

** Tomi Lounema, Helsingin Sanomat, 13 July 2025: Viranomaisilla ei ole työkaluja puuttua kiinalaiseen krääsätuontiin

Further information: Jaana Kurjenoja, Chief Economist, tel. +358 40 820 5378, jaana.kurjenoja(at)kauppa.fi

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