The dynamic growth of online shopping during the Covid-19 pandemic came to an abrupt end in 2022.  In almost all EU-27 countries, the spending pendulum is swinging back towards offline trade.

During a joint press conference by the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber, Dr. Rainer Trefelik (head of the Retail Department at the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber), Mag. Iris Thalbauer (Managing Director of the Retail Department, Austrian Federal Economic Chamber), Univ.Prof. Dr. Christoph Teller and Dr. Ernst Gittenberger (IHaM Institute for Retailing, Sales and Marketing), as well as Mag. Karin Gavac and Dr. Wolfgang Ziniel (KMU Forschung Austria) presented current information and statistics about online shopping in the EU-27 and online retail sales in Austria. The press conference was held in the elegant Café Landtmann in Vienna.

Teller/Gittenberger are not surprised about developments regarding shopping behaviour by Austrians and EU citizens. As part of several studies, they have already pointed out that the strong online growth was primarily due to Covid-19's one-time effect and the dynamics of online shopping are unsustainable.

The online boom is over. In top online shopping countries such as Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden and Ireland, the number of online shoppers in the population is already decreasing. In Austria, despite an increase, online shopping in 2022 - after a decline in 2021 - will only reach the level of 2020 again.

A current IHaM analyses show a clear shift in retail spending that is moving toward the direction of brick-and-mortar stores. The share of online spending (of total retail spending by consumers) is declining in 25 of 27 EU countries (including Austria).