Raw Data: E-Commerce Around the World

Yesterday I posted a chart showing retail sales via brick-and-mortar outlets. Last night, while browsing for something else¹ I happened across a report showing the size of the e-commerce market in various European countries as a percentage of total retail sales. Here it is:

Belgium and Ireland are way ahead of the pack. Conversely, Germans and Italians are apparently wary of the internet and prefer to schlep their goods home in their hot little hands. The United States comes in fairly average.

I have no point to make about this. It just struck me as interesting. I wonder why all the Germanic-speaking folks are relatively apprehensive about the whole online shopping thing?

¹It’s amazing how often this happens. What’s equally amazing is that it almost always happens when I strike out completely on whatever I was looking for in the first place.

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In this month’s Summer Membership Drive, we’ve got to raise $200,000 to support more crucial investigations. This is a pivotal moment in our nation, with democracy on the line, and we can only do this work because readers like you step up. Every donation, of any amount, makes a difference here. We cannot do this work without you.

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