A sharp decline in most e-commerce categories in 2022 – but the nicotine segment grew and maintained its strong position

2023-01-24 08:30

Svensk Handel's (The Swedish Retail Federation) e-commerce indicators show that the turnover for e-commerce significantly decreased every month in 2022 compared to the same month in 2021, except for September. Only three e-commerce categories had a turnover growth in the full year 2022 compared to the full year 2021: nicotine and tobacco products, children's products and toys, and pharmacy products.

The report shows that Swedish domestic e-commerce declined 3 per cent during December compared to the same month in 2021. Over the entire Christmas period of November-December, e-commerce kept pace with last year's in terms of turnover at current prices. 

However, the report shows that the average purchase amount fell despite inflation, suggesting a significant decline in volume sales in e-commerce. Despite increased prices, retailers are finding it difficult to compensate for purchase prices in combination with, among other things, increased energy costs, writes Svensk Handel. 

For 2022, e-commerce turnover decreased by 9 per cent in Sweden and 12 per cent if e-commerce from abroad is also included.

According to Svensk Handel, the nicotine and tobacco products segment grew by 23 per cent last year. That is a continued increase compared to previous reports released earlier this year. The only other categories to have experienced growth during the period are children's items and toys, at 9 per cent, and pharmaceuticals, at 3 per cent.

"E-commerce has experienced a broad downturn affecting most sectors. However, Haypp Group's product category has continued to grow during the year and has the highest sales growth compared to 2021, partly due to consumers choosing to switch from cigarettes to less harmful and cheaper nicotine products, such as nicotine pouches," says Markus Lindblad, Head of External Affairs at Haypp Group. 

Svensk Handel is a Swedish trade- and employer organisation which engages in trading issues for wholesale, retail and e-commerce. Every month Svensk Handel conducts an interview-based study to report how Swedish e-commerce has developed during the period.

Access the full report (in Swedish) here.

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Haypp in brief
The Haypp Group is spearheading the global transformation from smoking to risk-reduced product alternatives. With origins in Scandinavia, our extensive experience from pioneering markets in smoke-free alternatives, as well as being a leader in the e-commerce sector, is now bringing our vision to a global scale. With eleven e-commerce store brands, the Haypp Group is present in eight countries, where we served more than 680,000 active consumers during 2021.

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