Geopost's E-Shopper Barometer examines online shopping behavior in Europe.
Aschaffenburg, 23rd September 2025 - In the face of geopolitical and economic uncertainty, coupled with tighter personal budgets, online shopping has firmly established itself in consumer purchasing behavior across Europe. The new E-Shopper Barometer 2025 from Geopost, the parent company of DPD, highlights this. The report is based on a study of the purchasing behavior and preferences of 30,697 e-shoppers across 22 European countries.
While the proportion of online shoppers in the European population remains high at 77 percent, it has plateaued. However, the group of regular e-shoppers, who purchase online at least once a month, has increased by four percentage points, representing 52 percent of all online shoppers. This group not only shows increased price sensitivity—a good two-thirds say that price is the decisive factor in their purchasing decisions—but also shops across a broader range of product categories.
This is consistent with the fact that the group of regular buyers has increased the number of their online orders by 16 percent over the past two years to currently just under 49 purchases per year. This group of shoppers increasingly sees online shopping as a way to save time and money and reduce stress. Italy has the highest proportion of online shoppers in its population, at 84 percent. At 79 percent, German consumers are slightly above the European trend in their affinity for online shopping. Regular e-shoppers account for 88 percent of all online purchases in Germany.
The influence of social media on purchasing decisions is growing rapidly. It inspires three out of four regular buyers. Instagram leads the way with 37 percent, ahead of Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok. Almost half of all buyers make purchases directly via such platforms, with Facebook just ahead of Instagram, followed by YouTube and TikTok. This trend is even more pronounced among Generation Z, the 15- to 30-year-olds. In this group, Instagram leads the way in terms of both inspiration and purchasing decisions, with TikTok in second place.
Cross-border e-commerce is also growing because regular online shoppers are increasingly buying from foreign websites to obtain lower prices or because the products or services are not available in their home market. Chinese websites account for 48 percent of this cross-border shopping behaviour, followed by US websites with 29 percent and German websites with 26 percent.
According to the survey, home delivery remains the most popular delivery option. However, it is losing ground (down five percentage points), while out-of-home delivery solutions (OOH) are becoming increasingly popular. With an increase of four percentage points, deliveries to parcel lockers have replaced parcel shops as the second most popular delivery option.
This trend encourages us to continue expanding our network in order to optimally meet growing customer needs.
Michael Knaupe, Chief Customer Experience & Business Development Officer, DPD Deutschland
Similarly, knowledge of the delivery company has become more important in the purchasing decision, and for 76 percent of online shoppers, it is a decisive factor. This is especially true for German e-shoppers, 83 percent of whom cite this as a factor. The main reasons for this are the need for security and the certainty of good service. “The results of the E-Shopper Barometer 2025 confirm our strategic direction,” Knaupe continues. “Online shopping is no longer just a question of convenience but also of trust. The growing importance of knowing the delivery service shows us that we are on the right track with our investments in service quality and transparency.”
About the Geopost E-Shopper Barometer
The E-Shopper Barometer is an annual study conducted by Geopost. For the 2025 edition, over 30,000 interviews were conducted in 22 European countries between May 13 and July 7, 2025. The survey targeted online shoppers aged 18 and over who had placed at least one online order with physical delivery since January. The aim of the study is to gain insights into current e-commerce behaviour and consumer expectations.
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