Marketplaces in Spain: how do Spaniards use these online platforms? (2023)

The digital world is growing and growing, so more and more marketplaces are coming to the market offering products and services to different types of audiences. Spaniards have taken advantage of the online shopping modality to get the products they look for in their day to day and it is that the marketplaces in Spain are showing more and more advances and a variety of options in their operation to give better results to their consumers.

According to data collected by the 2023 Spain Marketplaces Annual Study conducted by  Tandem Up, an agency specialized in marketplaces,  100% of Spanish online shoppers have made purchases on some marketplace, which means 78% of spanish population between 16 and 70 years old.

What are the main marketplaces in Spain?

There is a variety of marketplaces in the online world and each of them is dedicated to offering different products and services. Here we tell you which ones are the main ones in Spain analyzed by Tandem Up and a little about the approach of each of them:

1. Aliexpress: It is the leader of Asian online sales, offering products ranging from electronics, fashion, home, garden, sports and more.
2. Amazon: This could be the largest eCommerce in the world, having its origins in the United States. On its platform you can find products ranging from clothing, technology, home, books and much more.
3. Carrefour: It is a chain of hyper and supermarkets that is considered very popular in Spanish territory and that has transferred its sales to the online world.
4. Conforama: It is a chain of stores specialized in the sale of furniture, appliances, home decor, and household items.
5. Decathlon: Here users can find sports articles for more than 70 different disciplines.
6. Ebay: This sales site is known for its auctions and consumer-to-consumer sales of all kinds of items.
7. El Corte Inglés: It is the largest chain of department stores in Europe and sells clothing, books and computer items.
8. FNAC: It is a French company dedicated to the sale of computers, photographic items, books, music and video.
9. La Redoute: It is an online space where you can find fashion, shoes and home.
10. Leroy Merlin: It is considered one of the widest catalogs to improve your kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, living room, terrace, garden
11. Maisons du Monde: Their stores offer a variety of furniture, accessories, lighting, textiles, and decorative elements for every room in the home, as well as outdoor spaces.
12. ManoMano: It is an online platform focused on selling home decor products, DIY, gardening and construction products.
13. MediaMarkt: It is a German chain of establishments that sells electronics products with a presence in more than 1,000 stores throughout Europe.
14. Miravia: It is a marketplace with a wide range of products, including cosmetics, supermarkets, home decor or toys.
15. Promofarma: Promofarma is an online platform that allows users to purchase pharmacy, para-pharmacy, and health and wellness products from different brands.
16. Tiendanimal: It is an online store specialized in pet products. It offers a wide range of products and accessories for dogs, cats, birds, rodents, reptiles, fish, and other domestic animals.
17. Worten: It is specialized in the sale of electronics, appliances, and technology products
18. Zalando: It started selling shoes but nowadays it has scaled up and offers clothing, sports items, furniture, decoration and beauty products.

This edition has seen changes in the list of marketplaces included in the study. Miravia, Tiendanimal, and Maisons du Monde have made their debut, while Bulevip, Mascoteros, and Sprinter are no longer part of the analysis.

Amazon is still the leader in market penetration and loyalty

Amazon maintains its first position in terms of market penetration. Meanwhile, AliExpress maintains its second position. The former increases its level of penetration by one point, rising to 90%, while the latter drops two points from 59% to 57%.

On the other hand, El Corte Inglés and Decathlon also hold their positions, but this time they are tied at 50% after rising from 45% and 40%, respectively.

Ebay‘s case stands out negatively, as it falls two positions from the previous edition and falls two more to seventh place. This is due to the increase in the market penetration share of Carrefour and MediaMarkt, who each rise by 5 percentage points.

Marketplaces penetration in Spain/ Source: Tandem up

Similarly, if we look at customer loyalty, Amazon continues to lead in this aspect as well. Their customers only buy from an average of 4.6 additional marketplaces. The second position once again goes to AliExpress, as those who shop on this marketplace also shop on 5.6 more.

In the case of the third and fourth positions, the rankings are reversed this year. El Corte Inglés surpasses eBay, as their customers only shop on 6.1 additional marketplaces, while eBay customers shop on 6.2.

Furthermore, it is important to note that 9 out of 10 buyers from other marketplaces make their purchases on Amazon, which clearly demonstrates the power and loyalty-building capability of the tech giant.

On the other hand, if we only consider the total spontaneous mentions without considering the order in which respondents listed the eCommerce and marketplaces, Amazon still takes the largest share with 90% of users mentioning it.

In the case of AliExpress, when considering all responses, it is mentioned by 44% of people, compared to 54% last year. Nonetheless, it manages to maintain the second position and continues to maintain a certain distance from Ebay, which is mentioned by 29% of respondents, and El Corte Inglés (28%).

How much do Spaniards spend on marketplaces?

The frequency of purchases has slightly increased compared to 2022, from an average of 11.4 times per year to 11.8 times. The same applies to the average spending, which has increased by €12, reaching €82.4 in 2023. The number of purchases made is growing, and we are spending more money on them.

However, when we look at the data regarding the average frequency and purchase ticket of each marketplace, the trend is not as stable. MediaMarkt, Ebay, AliExpress, and Carrefour experience a decrease in their frequency of purchases compared to 2022. Moreover, Ebay and Decathlon have seen a decrease in the average amount spent per purchase compared to the previous year.

Despite MediaMarkt‘s reduced frequency of purchases (from 6.3 times per year to 5.6), it leads in terms of the average purchase ticket with €200.4 per purchase (compared to €56.9 in 2022). The next online store where spaniards spend the most per purchase is El Corte Inglés, with an average of €131.1 (compared to €104.8 in 2022).

Frequency and average ticket of purchase per online store / Source: Tandem up

And the average frequency is led by Amazon with 14.9 times (0.6 more than the previous year), which also increases its average spending by 13€. On the other hand, Carrefour presents the best frequency-spend ratio, as its consumers make an average of 13.9 purchases per year and spend around 122.4€ on each purchase.

Imagen: Depositphotos

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