YOY decline in online sales in festive season in Europe 2021, by country
Of the five selected European countries, Spain saw the largest decline in year-on-year (YOY) online retail sales during the festive period of 2021, with a YOY change of -43.5 percent compared to the same period in 2020. It is notable, however, that all selected countries saw a decline in YOY online retail sales in this period. This may be attributable to COVID-19 regulations in many countries across Europe during the festive period of 2020, which forced many high street retail outlets to close, meaning that shoppers had to rely more on online purchases. Whereas in 2021, many Europeans returned to shopping at traditional brick-and-mortar stores.