Black Friday has slowly but surely infiltrated European retail scenes, having certainly become a phenomenon by 2019. The phenomenon, which has grown from a specific day to an entire period of its own, with deals this year starting at the beginning of the week.
Black Friday and accompanying Cyber Monday, which have both become interlinked, are indicative of the growing popularity of online shopping in the European Union. For Luxembourg especially, consumers likely appreciate the access to other retailers and products not available in the Grand Duchy itself. They can also compare prices easily.
Luxembourg came in as the EU member state with the sixth-highest share of online shopping, with 72% of the population surveyed shopping online. The only countries ahead of the Grand Duchy are Denmark (84%), the United Kingdom (83%), the Netherlands (80%), Sweden (78%), and Germany (77%).
Eurostat's figures on online shopping reveal that 60% of people in the EU shopped online during the year before the 2018 survey, using a sample size of ages 16 through to 74. The proportion has almost doubled compared to 2008.
In terms of demographic breakdowns, Eurostat found that men tend to shop online more than women, but the tendency amongst women to shop online has grown more in the past decade. The proportion of women shopping online in the EU has grown from 30% to 59%, compared to 35% to 61%. Whilst all age groups have started shopping online more frequently, younger internet users (16-24) have experienced the biggest rise in shopping online at an increase from 40% to 72%.
In Luxembourg, the share of women shopping online rose from 42% in 2008 to 68%, whereas more men were - in line with the European figures - already shopping online, corresponding to 57%, and rising to 75%. Among foreign-born (73%) and native-born residents (71%), foreign-born residents tend to shop online more, but only marginally.
Eurostat have compiled a snazzy tool below, showing what types of online shopping Luxembourgers and Europeans at large tend to do the most.
And finally, have you shopped online for Black Friday? Let us know in the poll!
