Are you looking to expand your technology company in the Nordic Region? In this article, GTM Global’s partner the Nordic Embassy, an international business development consultancy, share their expert insight into the Nordic Region’s e-commerce market and consumption.
Generally speaking, Nordic consumers are early adopters when it comes to technology, with an internet penetration of 97% in the Nordic region, which is the highest in all of Europe. Furthermore, the Nordic region is very international orientated, because of their relatively small countries and languages used by few.
With a combined population of 27 million, the Nordic region – Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, and Iceland – is ranked the fifth-largest economy in Europe. Despite being five countries with different languages and cultures, consumer preferences are relatively homogeneous.
Digital consumption pattern in the Nordic region
As a result of being early adopters in the Nordic region, the share of the residents in this region shopping online has increased over the past 10 years. It went from approximately 25 percent of the population in 2008, to 65 percent in 2018 with Sweden in the lead. When Nordic consumers shop online, they do a lot of shopping cross-border. They mostly use shops located in the United States, UK, Sweden, Germany, and China. On Average, 29 percent of consumers in the Nordic region shops abroad. The most popular online product categories to buy online among the Nordic population, is clothing and shoes (36 percent), consumer electronics (25 percent), media (25 percent), beauty and health (22 percent).
Digital advertising
With the Nordic populations increasingly presence on the internet, companies on the Nordic e-commerce market need to be focused on their digital advertising. The most used channels are Google ads and affiliates, Facebook advertising and digital newspapers. Recently it has become a successful business running blogs with many visitors/followers. Paying top bloggers for publicity can sometimes open huge opportunities. This market is going through a phase of professionalism, and bloggers increasingly take on the job as being digital “billboards”.
Find Out More
To have an in-depth conversation about how your business can expand into the Nordic markets meet in-country entry and business specialists, Nordic-Embassy – at one of our upcoming expansion Workshops. Check out our event schedule here.
