Europe is a lucrative market for brands and retailers alike. And, like everywhere else, online marketplaces are the best way to reach European consumers.
Experiencing continued growth, the ecommerce revenue in Europe is set to reach US$900 billion by 2028. Compared to countries like China and South Korea, where ecommerce already makes up 27.2% and 28% (respectively) of all retail sales, Europe still has some room to grow. Ecommerce is the strongest
In Europe, ecommerce contributes between 10.2 to 26.5% of retail sales – about half of its potential, on average. This translates to great growth possibilities, especially for brands that can differentiate themselves from the rest.
The big picture: marketplaces and online retail in Europe
The European region consists of 37 countries, including the 27 European Union (EU) countries, countries in the EEA and/or single market, and several other European countries which are neither EU or single market members.
The top 5 ecommerce-friendly European countries account for 86% of all online spending in Europe. The United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain, and Italy alone contribute revenue of €598.1 billion, most of which is generated on marketplaces and other online platforms.
So, let’s start by zooming-in on these top 5 European countries, and see which online marketplaces are most popular, using visitor traffic as our guide.
The top 5 European countries for ecommerce
#1: The United Kingdom
With a population of 67.9 million, the UK will have approximately 62.1 million ecommerce users in 2025. The United Kingdom generates more than €254 billion in ecommerce revenue, with €129.5 billion coming from consumers. This relatively small, densely populated European country spends more on online purchases than any other, devoting 10.26% of its GDP to ecommerce.
🇬🇧 The most popular marketplaces in the United Kingdom are:
Amazon
eBay
Etsy
Argos
#2: France
France had over 51 million ecommerce users in 2023. More than 5% of GDP goes towards ecommerce spending. Marketplaces and other channels generated annual revenue of €146.9 billion in 2022, this is expected to grow by 7.8% in 2023.
🇫🇷 The most popular marketplaces in France are:
Amazon
Aliexpress
Cdiscount
eBay
#3: Germany
Seen as the economic powerhouse of Europe, Germany is the third-biggest ecommerce market in Europe. With 67.9 million online consumers, this European country is estimated to generate ecommerce revenue of €109 billion in 2023.
🇩🇪 The most popular marketplaces in Germany are:
Amazon
eBay
Otto
Temu
#4: Spain
Although Southern Europe contributes less to the European ecommerce landscape, Spain is a powerful player. This country of 46 million people has 33.82 million ecommerce users. Combined they will spend €45.9 billion online in 2029, much of it on marketplaces.
🇪🇸 The most popular marketplaces in Spain are:
Amazon
El Corte Ingles
Aliexpress
Temu
#5: Italy
With a population of over 60 million Italy has a bigger potential market than Spain, but spends less online. However, it’s still in the top 5 countries in Europe, and online consumers spend proportionally more. There are 31.7 million ecommerce users in Italy, who spent some €45.9 billion online in 2022.
🇮🇹 The most popular marketplaces in Italy are:
Amazon
Temu
Aliexpress
Etsy
The most popular marketplaces in Europe ranked
According to monthly visitor data, these are the top 14 European marketplaces. It gives an indication of the best marketplaces for brands and retailers to target, but visits don’t always translate to purchases. Here’s a list of the top marketplaces in Europe:
Top 14 marketplaces in Europe
The top 14 European marketplaces – in detail
#1: Amazon
Category focus: All categories.
Special features: #1 marketplace in Germany, UK, France, Italy, and Spain.
Regions covered: All Europe.
OK - no surprises here. Amazon is a good starting point for expanding marketplace sales across Europe. It’s the most popular European marketplace, with 1.2 billion monthly visitors coming from the 5 largest countries alone. It has by far the biggest presence in Germany and the UK. Many consumers start their shopping journey by searching on Amazon, so it’s worth being there. More than 86 000 third-party sellers are active, and more than 2700 products are sold each minute on Amazon’s European marketplaces. Thanks to the Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA), multi-channel fulfillment (MCF) and Global Shipping programs, it’s easier to ship across all of Europe and beyond.
Learn more about selling on Amazon.
#2: eBay
Category focus: All categories
Special features: #1 marketplace in Italy and Spain, #2 marketplace in the UK and Germany.
Strongest in: All of Europe. Especially strong in the UK, Germany, France, Italy, & Spain.
Consumers flock to eBay for good deals and a familiar shopping experience. This is one of the best online marketplaces for attracting a large customer base. More than 474 million people visit eBay every month, just from the 5 biggest markets. Most of these come from the UK (232.8 million), with 147.8 million from Germany, 46.9 million from Italy, 24.2 million from France, and 11.7 million from Spain.
Learn more about selling on eBay.
#3: Allegro
Category focus: All categories
Special features: #1 European Marketplace in Poland and Czech Republic, #10 worldwide,
Strongest in: Poland, Czech Republic, expanding to Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, and Croatia.
Allegro is an incredibly popular European marketplace, with a dominant presence in Eastern Europe. It offers its own payment service (Allegro Pay), and a convenient network of pickup points across Poland. Present in 6 European countries, it also ships to 24 countries in Europe. Globally, 289 million people visit the website each month, and about 1 in 10 make a purchase when they do. There are more than 290 million items on offer, across every imaginable category.
Learn more about selling on Allegro.
#4: Zalando
Special features: #1 fashion marketplace in Italy, The Netherlands, Poland, and Germany.
Strongest in: Germany.
Zalando is the top European marketplace for Fashion, attracting more than 121 million visitors each month from its main markets. GMV grew by 34.1% in 2022-2023, and is predicted to reach €30 billion in 2025. Germany and Poland contribute the largest portion of consumers, but the marketplace has a strong following in 17 other countries including France, Spain and Italy. This marketplace is based in Germany, but you can reach almost all of Europe with Zalando. 600 000+ items are on offer, from 2500+ brands. The Zalando website attracts more than 430 million views every month, over 80% via mobile.
Learn more about selling on Zalando.
#5: Temu
Category focus: All categories.
Special features: Addictive shopping app you can’t delete.
Strongest in: UK and France
Just as we predicted it would, Temu is now in the top 5 European marketplaces. This marketplace was founded in 2022, and is owned by the Chinese ecommerce company PDD holdings, which also owns Pinduoduo. Since its launch, Temu has expanded rapidly, and is now a ‘top 5’ retailer in both the UK and France. Because the marketplace is based around its controversial app, it’s hard to tell exactly how many monthly visitors it gets. However, as it captures a share of between 7% and 4% for the total ecommerce traffic in the region, it’s reasonable to estimate 104.6 million monthly visitors from Europe each month. As it has only recently appeared on the scene, it’s hard to know if it will retain a long-term position in this list.
#6: Bol
Category focus: All categories.
Special features: #1 online marketplace in The Netherlands.
Strongest in: The Netherlands, Belgium.
Bol is as familiar in The Netherlands as Amazon is in the US. Indeed, Amazon has struggled to dent Bol’s dominance in the Benelux region. It’s a perfect example of a local hero stepping in to fulfill the demands of consumers before Amazon’s global expansion. With 86.2 million visitors each month, this is definitely a key marketplace for this region.
Learn more about selling on Bol.
#7: ASOS
Category focus: Fashion
Special features: #2 fashion website in the UK, own marketplace launched in 2010.
Strongest in: UK, with sellers and customers around the world.
This UK-based fashion marketplace serves customers across Europe and around the world. More than 900 sellers (a.k.a. ‘boutiques’) are featured in the ASOS marketplace. This popular online marketplace attracts 82.8 million visitors each month.
Learn more about selling on ASOS.
#8 OTTO
Category focus: All categories.
Special features: #3 ecommerce website in Germany.
Strongest in: Germany.
OTTO has a fond place in many German consumer’s hearts. It started out as a mail-order shoe retailer (with a paper catalog!), but made the move online in 1995. When OTTO launched its online marketplace (OTTO market) in 2020 a new frontier opened up for brands and retailers. More than 66 million visitors stop by OTTO each month. This online marketplace has over 11 million registered, active users and accepts up to 10 orders each second.
Learn more about selling on OTTO.
#9ManoMano
Category focus: DIY, Home and Garden
Special features: #2 Home and Garden marketplace in France
Strongest in: France
This French marketplace has gained a following across the big 5 countries in Europe. Some 50 million people visit the ManoMano marketplace every month; 17.9 million come from France, 8.3 million from Italy, 8.3 million from Germany, 5.1 million from Spain, and 3.1 million from the UK.
Learn more about selling on ManoMano.
#10Emag
Category focus: All categories.
Special features: #1 marketplace in Romania, Bulgaria, and Hungary.
Strongest in: Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria.
This marketplace is the best way to reach Eastern European countries, especially Romania. Over 45 million people visit the Emag marketplace each month, with 31.5 million coming from Romania alone.
Learn more about selling on Emag.
#11 Leroy Merlin
Category focus: DIY, Home and Garden.
Special features: #1 Home and Garden marketplace in France and Spain.
Strongest in: France, Spain.
This is a popular European online marketplace with a strong focus on DIY and Home and Garden. It attracts some 41.8 million visitors worldwide. The marketplace used to have a strong presence in Russia, but this was sold off in 2023 in response to the ongoing conflict and collapse of order in the region.
Learn more about selling on Leroy Merlin.
#12 Kaufland
Category focus: All categories.
Special features: 5000+ categories, #1 marketplace for Food and Drink in Germany.
Strongest in: Germany.
This popular European marketplace is much loved in its native Germany, attracting a total of 32 million visitors per month.
Learn more about selling on the Kaufland marketplace.
#13 Fnac
Category focus: Media, Electronics, Books, Household
Special features: #1 ecommerce website in France
Strongest in: France
Now part of the Fnac Darty group, Fnac is the most popular marketplace in France, attracting more than 27 million monthly visitors. It’s also the #4 marketplace in Portugal, and #8 in Spain. The marketplace is also popular in Switzerland and Belgium.
Learn more about selling on Fnac.
#14TikTok Shop
Category focus: All categories
Special features: 2 billion monthly users worldwide. Shop embedded in social platform.
Strongest in: UK.
The TikTok social platform has become a trailblazing social commerce channel, with the UK being one of the first regions to benefit from it. There are 23.4 million UK users of the platform, with the potential to reach much further as TikTok shop expands. TikTok Shop is currently only available in The USA, The UK, and several South East Asian countries, but this is likely to change very soon as they expand their global presence
Learn more about selling on TikTok Shop.
How to start selling on online marketplaces in Europe
Selling on multiple marketplaces is the easiest way to reach millions of new consumers, but it takes the right expertise to ensure that your full potential is realized.
Careful research is important, as each marketplace and country has its strengths and weaknesses. You also need the right software to provide you with the tools you need to set your brand up for success.
At ChannelEngine, we’ve developed powerful marketplace integration software that makes it easier for brands and retailers to manage channels all over Europe. As well as our extensive range of marketplace integrations, ChannelEngine helps ecommerce managers simplify their ecommerce operations by providing a single dashboard to connect all your back-end systems.
For more information or to find out how you can start selling on any of these European marketplaces, Get in touch
