hen we talk about e-commerce opportunity, the conversation often starts, and ends, with the size of a market. How many webshops are there? Which countries have the highest absolute numbers?

At Tembi, we believe that raw totals only tell part of the story. To really understand where e-commerce is thriving, and where it’s just starting to take hold, you need to look at density, digital integration, and market readiness.

We recently analysed data across 20+ European countries, looking not only at total webshop numbers but how they compare to population size and national business ecosystems.

A Look at the Numbers

Some of the results are surprising:

• Iceland has just 1,807 webshops. But with a population of 384,000, that translates to 4.7 webshops per 1,000 people - making it one of the densest e-commerce markets in Europe.
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• Estonia leads the pack with 7.9 webshops per 1,000 inhabitants, signalling a highly digitised economy.
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• The Netherlands has over 119,000 webshops and 6.6 per 1,000 people - combining scale and density.
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• Germany, by contrast, has 134,000 webshops, but a much lower density: 1.6 per 1,000 people.
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Why This Matters

Knowing how many webshops exist per capita or per company tells us more than just the size of the e-commerce sector. It signals how deeply online sales are embedded into the economy.

Here’s what high webshop density suggests:

• Digitally mature SMEs that prioritise online channels from the start
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• Robust delivery infrastructure that supports fulfilment at scale
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• Strong consumer trust and demand for buying online
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• Markets where e-commerce is no longer a trend - it’s the default
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For commercial teams, this is essential context. Are you entering a market where most companies already sell online? Or one where there’s room to help businesses go digital? Are you facing established competitors, or discovering a still-fragmented field?

This kind of intelligence can shape your go-to-market plan, sales motions, and even your product localisation strategy.

Looking Beyond Market Size

In short: don’t just look at the number of webshops. Look at who they serve, how they scale, and how densely they operate within the economy. Because the future of e-commerce isn’t just about growth -it’s about depth, integration, and staying power.

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hen evaluating market opportunities, many look at total size. But total size doesn’t tell you where momentum is building. New webshop creation - and survival - is often a better indicator.

Despite being considered mature digital markets, across Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway, and Iceland, 9,200 new webshops were launched in 2024 that are still active today. That’s not total launches, that’s survivors - which gives a better sense of which markets are currently supporting new players.

This challenges conventional wisdom about market saturation and highlights untapped opportunities in the region.

Where is the momentum?  

Sweden leads with the strongest growth, showing a 42% increase in the number of newly launched webshops that remain active compared to the previous year. Close behind is Denmark, with a 39% year-on-year growth. These figures suggest that both markets are currently fertile ground for e-commerce newcomers, despite heightened competition and shifting consumer behaviour.

Finland and Iceland also recorded positive, albeit more modest, developments. Finland saw a 14% increase in surviving new webshops, while Iceland posted 13% growth. These numbers may not be as dramatic as Denmark or Sweden, but they still point to a healthy pace of new market entrants that are finding ways to stay afloat.

Norway, by contrast , is the only market that moved in the opposite direction. Here, the number of newly launched webshops that remained active declined by 2% compared to the previous year. While not a steep drop, it stands out in a region otherwise trending upwards. This downturn was primarily concentrated in one category - Beauty & personal care - which appears to have experienced a wave of closures (more details on this in our previous blog post available here).

The contrast between countries suggests that, even within a shared economic region, local market dynamics and category-specific pressures can lead to different outcomes.

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Simultaneous contraction and expansion

At first glance, it may seem contradictory: high closure rates alongside a surge in new webshop launches. Between August 2024 and February 2025, over 3,300 Danish webshops ceased activity. That’s 11% of the total market, gone in just six months. This might suggest a market in retreat struggling with saturation. But the full picture tells a different story.

In the very same period, 2,645 new webshops were successfully launched and remained operational. These aren’t just test stores or dormant domains. These are active webshops that made it past the initial setup phase and into actual trade.

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Innovation thrives - even in mature markets

One of the more common assumptions about Nordic e-commerce is that the market is saturated. With strong category leaders and high consumer expectations, it can appear that there is little room left for new entrants. However, the consistent entries of still active webshops launched in 2024 challenges that thinking.  

These are not just short-lived experiments or weekend projects. They are businesses that have managed to find customers, generate sales, and carve out a place in the market.

In addition, sustainability is playing an increasingly influential role in shaping consumer choices. According to PostNord’s 2024 report, 8 out of 10 Nordic shoppers consider sustainability when making purchases. This creates space for newcomers with strong brand values, circular business models, or second-hand offerings, which are becoming more popular particularly in fashion.

This also presents strategic opportunities for established brands. The new entrants create a pipeline of potential partners, collaborators or acquisition targets. For incumbents, this is a chance to stay ahead of the curve by aligning early with brands that may become the next category leaders.  

For entrepreneurs, the lesson is that everything is still very much possible. While competition is strong, the path to growth remains open to those with a clear proposition answering real customer needs. Differentiation, specialization, and a willingness to build something that doesn’t look like everything else on the market will again prove to be key advantages.

Rather than signaling saturation the current trends reflect a dynamic market. New players continue to reshape what is possible, and the space for innovation remains open.

At Tembi, we track over 600,000 webshops across Europe, updating our database bi-weekly to gather historical data and monitor the development of each webshop.

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n commercial real estate, having the right insights can lead to valuable opportunities. Tembi's new report, "Netherlands Relocation Data & Predictions 2025," offers practical understanding and insights into upcoming shifts in the commercial real estate space.

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Tembi’s AI-driven analytics blend market dynamics, employment patterns, and historical data to deliver accurate and reliable market forecasts.

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Find new tenants proactively with relocation predictions

Our analysis highlights 9,993 companies in the Netherlands likely to relocate during 2025, potentially affecting over 222,000 employees. Another 21,532 companies might also move offices within the next year, impacting nearly 700,000 employees.

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Understand how areas develop

Showing a clear understanding of local trends can enhance your credibility with clients. Our report details areas gaining or losing businesses, like Utrecht, Amsterdam-Duivendrecht, and Rotterdam. This information can help you deliver pitches that clearly match your clients' strategic interests.

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Make informed decisions with clear market insights

Download the report today to stay informed about relocation trends, helping you anticipate market changes, uncover new opportunities, and stay ahead in your field.

Get the full report: Netherlands Relocation Data & Predictions 2025

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Are you interested in getting more data and see how Tembi can you help you grow, talk to our sales team.

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Most of us can name the biggest online retailers—but what about the thousands of smaller webshops that make up the real fabric of e-commerce? In Denmark alone, a country of just under six million people, there are over 30,000 webshops actively selling products online. And if we include service-based and other categories, the number climbs beyond 40,000.

That prompted us to ask: how many of these webshops are actually surviving?

Webshop Closures: What the Data Tells Us

By comparing webshop and company data from August 2024 to February 2025, Tembi identified over 3,300 webshops that had ceased activity. That represents 11% of the total market - a significant churn, even if mostly made up of small to medium-sized players.

In the last 6 months in Denmark:

• ✅ 2,645 new webshops launched
• ❌ 3,300 webshops shut down
• 🏪 Total active product-based webshops: ~30,000

This does not signal an 11% drop in e-commerce overall, but it does indicate high volatility - particularly among smaller players.

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Which Categories Were Hit Hardest?

Looking at category distribution, Clothes and Shoes make up 13.2% of all Danish webshops, followed by Furniture at 10.2%.

When we analysed closures, the category that took the biggest hit was also Clothes & Shoes, with 530 webshops closed - accounting for 16% of all closures. Beauty & Personal Care and Furniture followed, with around 170 closures each.

This aligns with overall category size: more webshops in a category generally mean more closures. But fashion clearly over-indexes in both size and risk.

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Why Is Running a Fashion Webshop So Hard?

Fashion e-commerce is fiercely competitive. Dominated by global players and shaped by constantly shifting consumer preferences, it also faces the operational challenge of seasonal inventory cycles.

To stand out, local brands need a differentiated marketing approach. But with advertising costs rising sharply, that’s easier said than done. It’s not uncommon for B2C fashion stores to increase their spend by 20% just to maintain business-as-usual - often still being outbid by global giants. This forces a tough choice: either reach fewer customers or spend at unsustainable levels.

Add to this the so-called Temu effect. Chinese dropshipping marketplaces like Temu use aggressive, loss-leading strategies to offer ultra-low prices. Danish webshops can’t compete without sacrificing quality or profitability. Even environmentally conscious shoppers can be swayed by endless product options at rock-bottom prices.

Each of these pressures is significant on its own. Together, they create a perfect storm of market conditions that are difficult for local fashion players to survive.

Furniture E-commerce: Logistics Overload

While furniture hasn’t been hit by dropshipping platforms in the same way, it faces a different challenge: logistics.

Shipping large, heavy items is expensive. Rising freight costs in 2024 made margins even tighter. Add in the complexities of delivery windows, assembly services, and returns, and it becomes tough for smaller players to compete with established brands that can absorb those costs or optimise operations at scale.

While we can't say shipping prices are solely to blame for rising closure rates in this category, they are a critical factor impacting profitability.

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The Broader Context

With over 50% of Danish consumers buying clothing online, and nearly 40% purchasing shoes, these categories are massively popular—and saturated.

Not every webshop can survive in such a crowded, price-sensitive market. Despite relative economic stability, consumer confidence in Denmark remains cautious. Reports from BCG and Nordea show low discretionary spending, which hits fashion and beauty especially hard.

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Is This a Crisis?

An 11% closure rate may sound alarming, but it’s not entirely surprising. Tools like Shopify and WooCommerce have made it incredibly easy to launch a webshop - sometimes in less than a day. But low barriers to entry also mean low resilience. The easier it is to start, the easier it is to fail.

While a few large retailers have gone under, our data suggests that the majority of closures come from small and medium-sized businesses.

Still, it’s not all bad news. Over the same period, 2,645 new webshops were successfully launched. So while the market is churning, it’s also replenishing.

Why Continuous Monitoring Matters

E-commerce is dynamic, and understanding it requires continuous tracking. At Tembi, we monitor 600,000+ webshops across Europe, updating our database bi-weekly. This enables us to:

• Track which webshops are entering or exiting the market
• Understand historical trends and category shifts
• Provide commercial teams with better foresight

Because in a market that never stands still, real-time intelligence is your competitive edge.

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e’re excited to share that Tembi has officially launched in Germany, bringing our e-commerce intelligence to one of Europe's largest markets. With Germany now on board, Tembi covers 17 markets, offering commercial teams actionable insights to drive strategic decisions and accelerate growth.

At Tembi, our approach goes beyond basic data collection. Over the past month, our system has visited and analysed more than 500,000 websites, systematically verifying each one. Through this process, we identified and validated over 94,800 genuine, operating webshops - ensuring that our insights are based on high-quality, accurate data. Each webshop is individually assessed, capturing detailed insights into their operations, product offerings, and category performance. This level of precision provides commercial teams with unmatched visibility into Germany’s e-commerce landscape, helping them pinpoint exactly where to focus their efforts - whether strengthening their local presence or expanding internationally.

Our robust intelligence monitors the technology stack of webshops, including commerce platforms like Shopify, WooCommerce, Shopware, ePages,AVADA, and Magento, as well as other software solutions they use. This empowers businesses with clear insights to strategically optimise their tech infrastructure and drive growth.

Tembi’s comprehensive analysis of the German market includes:

• Last-mile delivery marketshare - identifying logistics providers, delivery methods and prices for every webshop.
• Tracking of payment providers used by webshops, including PayPal, Klarna, Google Pay, Apple Pay,Sofort, Shopify Pay, ShopPay, and Opay (and many others).
• Webshop growth data andproduct sold, revealing emerging market trends and growth opportunities.

This launch highlights Tembi's dedication to delivering verified, actionable e-commerce intelligence that helps commercial teams proactively identify growth potential and optimise their strategies in Germany and beyond.

Keep an eye out for future updates, insights, and trends straight from Europe's e-commerce hub.

Want to know more? Reach out to our sales team.

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How the Not-Invented-Here Syndrome can slow you down

In the early 2000s, Open Innovation emerged as a response to the Not-Invented-Here(NIH) Syndrome - a mindset particularly prevalent in engineering and IT organisations.Companies often preferred to build their own solutions rather than adopting existing ones, even when viable alternatives were readily available.

The rise of open innovation, open source, and open data has since accelerated technological progress for everyone. Instead of investing heavily in developing proprietary solutions, businesses can now leverage what already exists, saving time, money, and effort.

Why do companies still build their own solutions?

Despite these advancements, some businesses still choose to develop their own versions of existing solutions. The reasons often include:

• A belief that their needs are unique - assuming no existing solution will fully address their challenges.
• A desire for ownership and control - feeling that an in-house solution offers more flexibility or security.

However, these assumptions often lead to inefficiencies and long-term challenges.

Why reinventing the wheel can be a costly mistake

If a solution already exists in the market, trying to replicate it internally is rarely the best approach. Here’s why:

1. Existing solutions are already optimised. Established providers continuously improve their products, meaning businesses benefit from ongoing innovation at a fraction of the cost.
2. It’s more cost-effective. The upfront investment has already been made by others, allowing you to buy into a mature solution rather than funding development from scratch.
3. Avoiding long-term technical debt. When you build your own solution, you’re responsible for maintenance, updates, and troubleshooting, costs that only increase over time. Dependence on internal teams or external consultants can create bottlenecks and slow progress.

The trap of sunk costs

Once a company has invested in a proprietary solution, it becomes difficult to abandon, even when it’s no longer efficient. This is how businesses end up with a giant with feet of clay, a fragile system that limits agility and innovation.

The Smarter Approach

Rather than building something from the ground up, focus on what differentiates your business. If a solution already exists in the market, build on top of it rather than duplicating efforts. The key to staying competitive isn’t in owning every piece of technology, it’s in leveraging the best tools available to drive your core business forward.

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