Online retail in Finland grew faster than other retail sectors last year, and an increasing number of retailers are seeking growth abroad: 55% already sell across borders, and a large number plan to start doing so this year. At the same time, online retailers identify insufficient marketing resources and a skills gap as barriers to growth, and are therefore striving to improve their marketing and develop technical solutions and new AI tools.
According to the latest “E-commerce Pulse”* report from Digital Commerce Finland, the Finnish Specialty Retailers Association (ETU), and the Finnish Commerce Federation, e-commerce in Finland grew by approximately 5.3 percent last year. At the same time, according to Statistics Finland, total retail sales grew by 1.2 percent and specialty retail sales by 1.1 percent.
Over the past year, Finnish online retailers have been rapidly seeking growth beyond the country’s borders. While 47 percent of online retailers were selling outside Finland in 2024, that share rose to 55 percent last year.
Finnish online retailers continue to seek international expansion: more than a quarter of the stores that do not yet sell outside Finland’s borders plan to begin doing so this year. These online retailers, in particular, are expecting strong sales growth this year.
Confidence in growth is strong
In the domestic market, just over 36 percent now expect rapid growth of more than 10 percent over the next 12 months, while 38 percent of online retailers expect slightly more moderate growth. In the coming months, slightly fewer—but still more than half—of online retailers are confident about growth. The strongest growth prospects for the coming months are in the home decor and cosmetics sectors.
Although online retailers have strong confidence in growth, Finland’s economic situation and low consumer confidence are still seen as major obstacles to the growth of online commerce. The sluggish housing market is also slowing sales in certain product categories, such as hardware, home decor, and home appliances.
Many Finnish online retailers also feel that insufficient marketing resources and a lack of in-house expertise are slowing sales growth both domestically and abroad. Online retailers are now working to strengthen their marketing efforts and develop the technical solutions for their online stores in order to achieve the expected growth. Many online retailers have also begun developing and implementing AI tools.
Foreign price competition is also often perceived as unfair and misleading to consumers, as stores and products are advertised through unrealistically large and ongoing discount campaigns. In particular, the operations of Chinese online retailers and platforms are a source of friction for merchants, and there are fears that price perceptions will become unsustainable.
*The E-commerce Pulse is a quarterly business survey of e-commerce companies operating in Finland, to which typically about 100–200 companies respond. Respondents receive an e-commerce report that provides a broader analysis of e-commerce trends based on the survey results and draws on other data sources as well. Jaana Kurjenoja, Chief Economist at the Finnish Commerce Federation, is responsible for analyzing the survey results and producing the content of the e-commerce report.
For more information:
Jaana Kurjenoja, Chief Economist, Finnish Commerce Federation
Tel. 040 820 5378, jaana.kurjenoja(at)kauppa.fi
Mirva Sandström, Digital Commerce Director, Digital Commerce Finland
Tel. 0400 984 141, mirva.sandstrom(at)digitalcommerce.fi
Jenni Homer, CEO, Finnish
Specialty Retailers Association (ETU) Tel. 050 300 1660, jenni.homer(at)etu.fi
Digital Commerce Finland is a digital commerce community and a community-driven company that helps the digital commerce sector grow faster. The community’s activities include free training sessions for online stores, the eCom Summit & Awards flagship event, data services, club activities, and a shared physical meeting space for digital merchants. www.digitalcommerce.fi
The Finnish Commerce Federation is the voice of the retail sector—the largest industry in the Finnish economy—in society. We bring together the entire sector, from retail and wholesale to e-commerce. We negotiate collective bargaining agreements for the retail sector and advocate for business policy solutions. We work to ensure that Finnish retail and services thrive and succeed in the face of fierce international competition.
The www.kauppa.fiErikoiskaupan Association helps specialty retailers succeed, both in Finland and internationally. Founded in 1920, the Specialty Trade Association represents 13 sectors in the retail and health industries. The association’s member organizations include over 900 companies that employ more than 40,000 people. www.etu.fi
