Parcel lockers on the rise — now the #2 delivery choice, just behind home delivery, prized for flexibility and control.
Gen Z lead the charge — with more than 60 purchases online a year, they are the most active e-shoppers, reshaping expectations and digital habits.
C2C goes mainstream — secondhand shopping is no longer a trend, it’s a lasting behavior.
Social commerce booms — 61% of GenZ e-shoppers directly shop on social platforms, becoming both marketplace and marketing playground.
Price still rules — but convenience and sustainability are gaining ground fast.
In 2025, European e-shoppers are shaping a new era of online shopping around convenience, trust and sustainability.
The proportion of e-shoppers among the population continues to grow, alongside the share of regular e-shoppers (+4 points vs 2023). The younger generation, the Gen Z, has moved from newcomer to trend-setter, with social media and C2C platforms firmly embedded in their shopping journey. Confirming the rise in popularity of out-of-home delivery solutions, parcel lockers have surged to second place as the preferred delivery option for e-shoppers while C2C shopping has become a lasting habit, notably driven by affordability.
Price remains the primary driver, but expectations around flexible delivery and eco-friendly packaging are now setting the standard across markets.
This year’s e-shopper barometer marks a significant step forward in scope, with 30,700 interviews conducted across 22 European countries, the widest e-commerce survey in Europe. By collecting data outside peak periods such as Black Friday, we can clearly see how online shopping has become embedded in everyday European consumption habits. Today, almost 8 out of 10 Europeans shop online, with over half identifying as regular e-shoppers. The rising preference of e-shoppers for parcel lockers, the growing influence of Gen Z, and the establishment of C2C shopping all highlight consumers’ increasing focus on convenience, affordability and sustainability. We are proud that, over the years, Geopost’s barometer has become a trusted reference point for understanding e-commerce trends and evolving shopper behaviours in Europe.
Carmen Cureu
Market Research Director at Geopost
After years of growth, 2025 has marked a turning point for e-shopping with parcel lockers overtaking parcel shops to become the second most preferred delivery method, after home delivery. This decisive shift reflects how European consumers are reshaping expectations: younger generations and cross-border shoppers increasingly value flexibility and convenience and parcel lockers are seen as an ideal delivery option to meet these criteria. At the same time, the importance of knowing which company delivers their parcels is also growing, with the share of e-shoppers considering it important rising from 71% to 76%. This underlines that trust and reliability remain fundamental to the delivery experience.
This shift in preferred delivery options has been driven for a large part by the explosion of e-shoppers among the younger generations, namely the Gen Z. While Gen Z consumers were seen in the past years as future potential e-shoppers, they are today a central force shaping the e-commerce market, carrying out over 60 purchases per year online. In comparison, millennials made 56 purchases online in 2025 while Gen X, 42. Among the Gen Z e-shoppers, 96% turn to social media for shopping inspiration and 61% purchase directly via these platforms, thereby redefining the entire e-commerce landscape.
While C2C shopping was a growing trend in recent years, it is now a mainstream shopping behaviour. According to the barometer, 72% of regular e-shoppers use C2C platforms, purchasing an average of 13.4 times per year (+1.3 points vs. 2023). Affordability remains the main driver for e-shoppers making their purchases on C2C platforms, but motivations are diversifying: 39% highlighted sustainability (+5 points), while more value supporting individuals and small retailers. In addition, the frequency of selling is very high: at 15.8 times per year among regular e-shoppers, and 22 times per year among aficionados¹ which makes every e-shopper an entrepreneur.
With online shopping fully integrated into daily life, consumers are increasingly demanding seamless experiences. Yet, 19% of e-shoppers reported difficulties reaching customer service when in need of help (+4 points vs. 2023) while 18% declared that there were too many steps between the moment they confirmed their purchase basket and the finalisation of the purchase itself (+5 points vs. 2023). Returns are also on the rise, but the ease of the process has slightly declined (-2 points). This highlights growing frustration with the multiple steps involved in the return procedure and the need to print labels.
(1): Aficionados represent the 15% of e-shoppers with the highest number of annual online purchases