The internationalisation of online stores is accelerating: 55 per cent sell abroad, many will start doing so this year

According to the recent Verkkokauppapulssi* survey by Digital Commerce Finland, the Federation of Finnish Special Commodity Trade ETU and the Finnish Commerce Federation, e-commerce in Finland grew by approximately 5.3 per cent last year. Meanwhile, according to Statistics Finland, sales in the retail sector as a whole increased by 1.2 per cent and sales in the specialty goods sector increased by 1.1 per cent.

Last year, Finnish online stores began to seek growth abroad. In 2024, 47 per cent of online stores also sold products outside Finland, and last year, the share increased to 55 per cent.

Domestic online stores continue to strive for internationalisation: more than a quarter of stores that do not yet sell abroad plan to start doing so during the current year. These online stores, in particular, expect strong growth in sales this year.

Strong belief in growth

In the domestic market, more than 36 per cent of online stores expect rapid growth of more than 10 per cent for the next 12 months, and 38 per cent of online stores expect slightly more moderate growth. Fewer, but still more than half of online retailers believe they will experience growth in the coming months. The strongest growth prospects in the coming months are in the interior design and cosmetics sectors.

Although the belief of retailers in growth is strong, Finland’s financial situation and the weak trust of consumers are still seen as large obstacles to the growth of online sales. The weak situation in the sale of apartments is also slowing down sales in some product categories, such as hardware store goods, interior design and household technology.

Many domestic online stores also feel that insufficient marketing resources and their own competence slow down the growth of both domestic and international sales. Online retailers are now trying to strengthen their marketing and develop technical solutions for their online store in order to realise the expected growth. Many online stores have also began the development and deployment of AI tools.

Foreign price competition is also often perceived as unfair and misleading for consumers as stores and products are advertised with unrealistically large and continuous discount campaigns. The operations of Chinese online stores and platforms, in particular, bother retailers, who are worried that price perceptions may become unsustainable.

*Verkkokauppapulssi is a company survey for online stores operating in Finland that is carried out quarterly. It typically receives responses from approximately 100–200 companies. The respondents receive an e-commerce report that discusses the development of e-commerce more extensively than the results of the survey and also utilises other sources of information. Jaana Kurjenoja, Chief Economist of the Finnish Commerce Federation, is responsible for analysing the results of the company survey and producing the content of the e-commerce report.

For further information, please contact:

Jaana Kurjenoja, Chief Economist, Finnish Commerce Federation
Tel. +358 (0)40 820 5378, jaana.kurjenoja(at)kauppa.fi

Mirva Sandström, Digital Commerce Director, Digital Commerce Finland
Tel. +358 (0)400 984 141, mirva.sandstrom(at)digitalcommerce.fi

Jenni Homer, Managing Director, Federation of Finnish Special Commodity Trade (ETU)
Tel. +358 (0)50 300 1660, jenni.homer(at)etu.fi