E-commerce in Portugal is set to jump to EUR 10 billion in 2021, according to estimates from the Government.
Portugal´s Secretary of State for Commerce, Services and Consumer Protection, João Torres, estimated online purchases, leveraged by the covid-19 pandemic, should grow 20% this year, from EUR 8 billion in 2020. In 2019, online shopping was valued at EUR 6 billion.
“Although the digital transition has already started, it was profoundly accelerated by the pandemic and the supply channels proved, in many circumstances, to be effective”, said Torres in an ‘online’ conference.
Some companies are even more optimistic on how the e-commerce market is growing in Portugal. Postal company CTT considers it a pillar for strategic development.
This, according to the CEO of CTT, João Bento, is “not only because it contributes to increasing the postal flow, through parcels arriving in Portugal, namely from China, but mainly because it is the segment that most helps to develop the (CTT´s) area of express mail and parcels, the main pillar of transformation and growth”.
E-Commerce Users in Portugal Grow at Fastest Rate in 18 Years
The head of CTT said that the role of e-commerce was decisive during the pandemic, especially for SMEs that joined the digital world for the first time.
CTT, he added, strengthened its leadership position in this segment with the delivery of more than 50% of orders originated online.
“The pandemic accelerated the digitization process in two or three years and it was found that the volume of orders in the domestic market increased by around 30%, and there was a growth of more than 90% of entities selling in e-commerce”, Bento added.
