Retail sales in Western European markets will not reach last year's revenues, but one of its segments—online shopping—will record significant growth this year. Markets of Spain, Italy and the Netherlands severely affected by the pandemic will see rapid growth in online shopping. Many people in Western Europe will make at least some purchases online by the end of 2020.

Due to the pandemic, online shopping will become even more established among providers and customers. Although total retail sales in Western Europe dropped by 9.9%, online shopping will grow by 16.9%, which is well above the pre-pandemic forecast. Online shopping has attracted more customers each year, and eMarketer had to revise its original growth estimate this year as its share in total sales will not reach only 11%, but even 13.2%. The revision of the forecast means that more than USD 498 billion will be spent in online stores, which is USD 71.94 billion more than in 2019. Rapid growth will slow down in 2021, when regular stores will reopen and regain some share.

Spain is forecasting 22.9% growth, the Netherlands 21.9% and Italy 20.5% online business growth. The growth of online business will also be noticeable in the mature markets of Western Europe, such as the United Kingdom and the Nordic countries, although it will not be as high. Overall, online shopping in every Western European country will increase by at least 12%. Most of the growth will be driven by high growth in online sales of consumer packaged goods, growth in online grocery stores sale, and the promotion of Click & Collect purchases. Many retailers quickly resorted to online shopping and of course, new retailers brought new online users with them.

eMarketer estimates that by the end of the year, 66.9% of Western Europeans will be shopping digitally, and as many as 79% of Internet users in this part of Europe will be digital customers simultaneously.