Eurostat: Clothing and Footwear Remain Leading Online Shopping Categories in the EU
Eurostat data shows that 70% of online shoppers in the EU bought clothing, footwear, or accessories; 35% of online consumers encountered an online-shopping problem in 2025.
What are the key facts?
- 170% of recent online shoppers bought clothing, footwear, or accessories
- 2Subscriptions to films, series, and sports events accounted for 46%
- 335% of EU online consumers encountered an online-shopping problem in 2025
- 4Delivery taking longer than promised was the most common issue, at 20%
What happened?
The 2026 digitalization report published by EU official statistics agency Eurostat shows that clothing, footwear, and accessories remain major online-consumption categories. Among consumers who had shopped online in the previous three months, 70% had bought clothing, footwear, or accessories; subscriptions to films, series, and sports events accounted for 46%; event tickets and business transport services each accounted for 38%; restaurant deliveries and business accommodation each accounted for 33%; and cosmetics accounted for 31%. The report also shows that 35% of online consumers in the EU encountered an online-shopping problem in 2025. The most common issue was delivery taking longer than promised on the website, reported by 20%; 11% found websites difficult to use or unstable; and 10% received incorrect or damaged goods. The data indicates that clothing, accessories, beauty products, and digital subscriptions still have a consumer base in Europe, while delivery times and product accuracy remain important risks in cross-border sales.
What does this mean for cross-border sellers?
Clothing, footwear, accessories, and beauty products continue to have a strong online consumer base in the EU, but 35% of online consumers encountered an online-shopping problem in 2025; 20% experienced delivery slower than promised and 10% received incorrect or damaged goods. Make actual warehouse and delivery lead times, product accuracy, and after-sales issues priorities in European listings and fulfillment management.
What should sellers do now?
- 1For European clothing, footwear, accessories, and beauty listings, check the promised delivery times against actual warehouse and logistics capacity one by one, correct delivery copy that cannot be fulfilled, and produce a before-and-after change table.Listing character checker
- 2Review incorrect or damaged goods and delivery-delay records for European orders; create separate issue tables for the 20% delivery-delay rate and 10% incorrect-or-damaged-goods rate, link each issue to its route and SKU, and track remediation to completion.