Buchs, 13 November 2025. Six out of ten people in Switzerland regularly order goods or services via a social media platform. This means that social commerce is much more widespread in Switzerland than the European average. Shopping is most common on Facebook, while TikTok is gaining in significance and performing best amongst the major platforms in terms of conversions. These are the results of a survey conducted by the parcel service provider DPD in 22 European countries.
Social commerce has reached the majority in Switzerland: 59 % of regular or occasional online shoppers shop on at least one social platform – directly or via links to an external online shop. This is well above the European average of 44 %. Only Romanian online shoppers are even more active on social media (62 %). This is according to DPD’s E-Shopper Barometer 2025.
Three quarters of the more than 1’000respondents in Switzerland said they used social media as inspiration for online purchases. They don’t just look for product information from suppliers. They are interested in comments and ratings from other users, or in video demonstrations and ‘unboxings’ by Youtubers. Thirty-five per cent of online shoppers are encouraged to make purchases by recommendations from friends and relatives on social media. Only 25 % say influencers have a similar influence on their purchasing decisions.
Collect ideas on YouTube, shop on Facebook
YouTube is the most popular source of inspiration for Swiss online shoppers. Forty per cent of them use the video platform, followed by Instagram (37 %), Facebook (35 %), TikTok (30 %) and Pinterest (18 %). Facebook (30 %) leads the way as a sales platform, ahead of Instagram (28 %), YouTube (26 %), TikTok (22 %) and Pinterest (13 %).
A comparison of the frequency of use of a social medium with the purchases made on that platform (conversions) paints a different picture. This is where Reddit and Pinterest perform best, with a clear lead over X, TikTok, Facebook and Snapchat, which are all roughly equal. For example, 48 % of people who use Facebook at least once a week say they would also shop on that platform. On YouTube, the figure is only 32 %.
European champion for sales and returns
The study also provides interesting insights into online shopping habits outside of social commerce. While 45 % of private individuals in Europe sell second-hand products on online platforms, this figure is 60 % in Switzerland. On average, they sell 20.5 items per year on the Internet – a European record.
Thirty-six per cent of Swiss online shoppers say they returned the last parcel they ordered online. That is more than twice as many as before the pandemic. In no other European country is the rate of returns as high as in Switzerland.
More than 30’500 interviews were conducted in 22 European countries between May and July 2025 for the study on behalf of the Geopost Group, to which DPD Switzerland belongs. In Switzerland, more than 1’000 people took part in the survey. The barometer focuses on ‘regular online shoppers’: people aged between 18 and 70 who shop online at least once a month – that’s 80 % of the population.
New tools for private customers and small businesses
The regular E-Shopper Barometer also serves as a basis for DPD to optimise its customer service. Starting this year, private customers and small businesses can send their parcels using the DPD Web Parcel tool for greater ease and flexibility. The parcel label can be created, paid for and printed out online; the parcel can be collected from home for a surcharge of CHF 5.
The new myDPD app meets the growing need for flexibility in terms of time and location. Thanks to many different functions, such as changing the delivery date or location or adding a drop-off preference with just a few clicks, there are virtually no limits to independent parcel management.
‘At DPD, we are keeping a very close eye on how the behaviour of online shoppers is changing. The C2C business – the delivery of parcels between private individuals – is growing rapidly. The DPD Web Parcel tool and the myDPD app are practical solutions for smaller businesses and private individuals. This customer group also benefits from the expansion of our out-of-home locations in collaboration with Valora. Anyone sending a parcel with DPD Web Parcel can drop it off at over 1’000 locations in Switzerland that could not be any more central,’ says Tilmann Schultze, CEO of DPD Switzerland.
