Competitive insights on last-mile delivery in Denmark

Curious about who's dominating Denmark’s last-mile delivery scene? Our latest competitive analysis dives deep into Denmark’s e-commerce landscape, mapping how top providers like GLS, PostNord, DAO, and Bring are positioned at online retailers checkout. Here’s a snapshot of what's inside:

  • Market leaders: GLS dominates, present in over 40% of Danish webshops.
  • Checkout positioning: GLS not only appears frequently but often occupies the prime first position in webshop checkouts, significantly influencing consumer choice.
  • Delivery methods: Home delivery remains the most popular (62%), with parcel shops closely following (59%). PostNord uniquely excels in parcel box solutions, while GLS expands business delivery.
  • Price trends: Home delivery and parcel shops remain competitively priced, showing stability despite market fluctuations.
  • Vertical specialisation: Providers differ little in webshop product category focus - DAO leans toward fashion and beauty (light packages), GLS and Bring cater broadly, and PostNord strongly serves home & furniture sectors.

Unlock all insights and understand precisely how market data can help you strategically grow your presence.

Download a snapshot of the report

Would you like to access the full report, send us an email and we'll set up a meeting with one of our data experts for a walkthrough -

Request full report.

Cross-border selling in Europe: A look at six markets

Our recent analysis of aggregated data from webshops in selected European countries confirms two straightforward insights about cross-border selling: webshops typically target neighbouring countries or seek out larger markets to grow their potential customer base. While these findings may seem intuitive, the data illustrates clearly how consistently webshops employ these strategies - particularly when supported by strong partnerships with local logistics providers and prioritised investments in localisation.

The obvious role of proximity
Webshops in Denmark primarily target Sweden (18.9%) and Germany (18%), reflecting straightforward cross-border logistics and cultural familiarity. Similarly, Dutch webshops predominantly sell to Belgium (17.4%) and Germany (13.5%), confirming that short distances and established regional logistics make neighbouring countries natural first choices. Swedish webshops follow the same logic, favouring close neighbours Denmark (17.2%) and Finland (15.9%).

Targeting larger markets beyond proximity
Webshops strategically pursue larger markets with robust consumer bases, such as Germany and France, regardless of direct proximity. For instance, Italian webshops commonly sell to Germany (14.2%) and France (14.1%), driven significantly by the size and high purchasing power of these markets, alongside geographical closeness.

Distinctive patterns in Eastern Europe
Webshops in Hungary display notably low cross-border priority: only 4.4% offer shipping options to Germany, Slovakia, and Romania. This cautious approach likely reflects specific economic calculations, infrastructural limitations, or less developed cross-border logistics partnerships, rather than purely geographical factors.

Latvian webshops clearly illustrate the proximity factor again, heavily targeting neighbouring Lithuania (16.8%) and Estonia (15.9%), highlighting ease of trade through geographic and cultural closeness.

Notable differences in cross-border engagement levels
A significant finding from the data is the variation in how actively webshops pursue international markets. Factors driving these differences include the maturity of the domestic e-commerce market, logistical infrastructure, consumer purchasing power, and particularly the level of investment into localisation and logistics solutions. Engagement levels notably decline with increasing distance, indicating logistical complexity and higher costs likely deter webshops from extensive international expansion beyond neighbouring or well-established larger markets.

Concluding remarks
Our aggregated data confirms proximity and market size as primary drivers for cross-border e-commerce decisions. However, the diverse patterns and varying engagement levels suggest that webshop decisions are influenced by more complex strategic factors, including infrastructural readiness, economic conditions, logistical capabilities, and the willingness to invest in localised consumer experiences. These factors ultimately shape cross-border success far more than geographical closeness alone.

Last-mile delivery providers: Mapping delivery market dynamics across 17 European countries

Last‑mile delivery shapes the online shopping experience, influencing conversion rates, repeat purchases and brand perception.

At Tembi, we analysed over 600,000 webshops to understand two aspects of last‑mile competition in 17 European markets, the market share of the top delivery provider and the number of distinct delivery partners each webshop integrates, and how these factors drive innovation and strategy.

Delivery providers with the highest market presence in webshops’ checkout flows, by country.

Methodology: Tracking integrations not shipments

Rather than estimating parcel volumes, we examined the presence of delivery providers in webshop back‑ends. Every integration represents a commitment by the webshop to offer that carrier at checkout. By counting integrations, we capture:

• Breadth of choice available to consumers

• Carrier prominence within each market

For each country - from Belgium to Slovakia - we identified the top three providers by share of webshop integrations and counted the total number of providers in active use. We excluded providers that have less than 1% market presence.


These figures show that while national postal services still lead in many markets, no single carrier dominates everywhere, and the number of options ranges from three providers in Iceland to more than twenty in the Netherlands.

Consolidated vs Fragmented markets

We classify markets by the checkout presence held by the leading provider:

  1. Highly consolidated (leader > 50%)
    Finland, Hungary, Germany
  2. Moderately consolidated (leader 33–50%)
    Latvia, Estonia, Norway, Denmark, Switzerland, Belgium, Bulgaria, Iceland, Slovakia
  3. Highly fragmented (leader < 33%)
    Netherlands, Sweden, Italy, Romania

Fragmentation in focus, number of competing providers

Adding the count of distinct delivery partners shows where compeition is the hightst:


Most fragmented markets, such as the Netherlands, Romania and Sweden, offer webshops a broad selection of carriers to tailor delivery options by region, price‑point and service level. In the Netherlands, for instance, there are over twenty distinct last‑mile providers active across the market. By contrast, in Iceland and Bulgaria webshops have fewer providers to choose from, simplifying management but concentrating risk, and less consumer choice. Finland sits between these extremes, with around fourteen partners in use yet Posti being present in 62% of all webshop checkouts.

Analysis, geography, national postal providers and innovation

Geography plays a crucial role in shaping last‑mile dynamics. In countries with vast rural areas and archipelagos - most notably Finland and Sweden - webshops need delivery partners that can reliably serve both remote villages and dense urban centres. National posts excel at this: Posti’s 62 percent presence in Finland and PostNord’s 33 percent in Sweden reflect their ability to cover every corner of the country, from Lapland to the Helsinki suburbs, or from the Stockholm archipelago to the far north. This extensive network cements their leadership and makes it challenging for smaller couriers to compete on a truly national scale.

At the same time, urban populations in these markets demand faster and more flexible options. That’s why even highly consolidated markets like Finland still see around fourteen delivery partners in use, and Sweden nearly eighteen. Specialist providers focus on city‑centre same‑day deliveries, parcel locker networks and niche eco‑services, carving out space alongside the national postal incumbent.

By contrast, in highly fragmented markets such as the Netherlands, Italy and Romania, geography is less of a barrier - population density is higher and distances shorter - so webshops routinely offer 18 to 22 different providers to meet varied consumer preferences. National posts such as PostNL and Poste Italiane must innovate continually, rolling out premium services like carbon‑neutral shipping, click‑and‑collect lockers and advanced tracking, and partnering with crowd‑shipping or on‑demand couriers to fill gaps.

In moderately consolidated markets - Denmark, Belgium, Switzerland and the Baltics - the mix reflects mid‑range geography and market size. National posts share the stage with regional specialists (such as GLS and DPD), driving innovation in service differentiation, tech integration and sustainability (electric fleets, bike couriers, offset programmes).

Finally, in smaller or more remote markets like Iceland and Bulgaria, webshops often layer core postal services with a handful (three to five) of local same‑day or on‑demand couriers to ensure coverage. Even here, national posts are expanding parcel‑locker footprints and app‑based tracking to meet rising consumer expectations - while keeping a watchful eye towards rapidly growing new digital-first ventures.

Understanding these overlapping factors - market consolidation, provider fragmentation and geographic realities - allows e‑commerce leaders to tailor last‑mile strategies. In widespread, low‑density regions, deep partnerships with national posts ensure full coverage; in dense, competitive markets, robust multi‑carrier technology and innovative niche services deliver the flexibility consumers expect.

Stay tuned for more insights and sign-up to our monthly newsletter.

How AI Is Transforming Real Estate Development

The real estate sector, particularly in hospitality, is undergoing a significant shift. With growing data availability and the evolution of AI tools, companies can now make faster, more informed, and more strategic decisions. We recently sat down with Jochen Renz to talk about how he and his team are rethinking real estate development by embracing AI-driven insights.

This article is based on a conversation between Michael Bugaj , CMO at Tembi, and Jochen Renz, VP Operations Accor Switzerland & Southern Germany and Managing Director AccorHotels Switzerland.


The challenge of predicting growth

Jochen begins by highlighting a central challenge in real estate development: identifying areas with future growth potential. "The question was, how can I ensure we define areas in a country with further potential growth than we might see today?" he explains. Traditional methods - macro- and microeconomic research, political and demographic analysis - often look backward, relying on historical data to predict future trends.

However, Jochen was looking for more than that. He wanted forward-thinking tools that could help them predict, not just reflect. This desire for a proactive approach led Jochen and his team to explore AI-powered solutions.

Discovering Tembi

One of the tools Jochen explored is Tembi, a platform that helps identify emerging opportunities in different areas of cities based on continuously updated market data. While not yet rolled out in Switzerland, the tool was originally developed in Denmark and stood out to Jochen as a promising forward-looking platform.

"Tembi allowed us to do predictions in areas based on logistics, different sectors, and growing patterns," Jochen shares. "I compared this with more traditional development tools, and what stood out was its ability to look forward by analyzing data such as employer growth, financial data, and sector movements."

From manual labor to scalable insights

Traditionally, site selection was a heavily manual task involving fragmented data sources. Jochen’s team would combine macroeconomic data with localized insights, looking at street-level factors, emissions, and building potential. External consultants were often brought in to help collect and validate this information. "The consistent approach is not easy to achieve," he admits.

With AI-driven tools like Tembi, however, the potential for change is clear. While still a work in progress, the promise lies in being able to access relevant data for hundreds or even thousands of locations more quickly than before. Jochen notes that with tools like Tembi, it's becoming increasingly feasible to explore broader market patterns and opportunities in a more scalable way.

Replicable patterns across borders

Jochen shared an example from Denmark: a promising opportunity in Odense. “I had never heard of the city before,” he laughs. “But by setting a few filters, we uncovered a significant movement in the city that revealed a growing need for hotels.”

With tools like Tembi, such discoveries become replicable. “You could look for similar movements in Sweden, Poland, or Belgium, just by changing the location input. That’s the power of structured data paired with AI.”

A shift in real estate mindset

The ability to anticipate development opportunities earlier in the cycle will give companies a strategic edge. "If we know an area is developing and we can suggest the right brand early on, we influence the project from the beginning," Jochen explains. "That positions us in a completely different way in the value chain."

Lowering the barrier to smart decisions

Perhaps one of the most powerful applications of AI, Jochen believes, is making complex data more accessible. "Think about someone running a 7-Eleven or Domino's Pizza franchise, they're not developers," he says. "But if AI can give them confidence in a location based on structured data, that opens up huge possibilities."

This democratization of insight, paired with AI’s ability to remove emotional bias from decisions, is transforming how Accor - and potentially the wider industry - approaches site selection.

Looking ahead

As AI continues to evolve, Jochen envisions a future where real estate teams can monitor hundreds of markets at once, identifying trends and acting faster than ever before. “You don’t have to focus on one area anymore, you can analyze 100 areas and synthesize it down to the two best opportunities. That’s game-changing.”

The intersection of human insight and machine intelligence is reshaping real estate development. For Jochen and the team at Accor, tools like Tembi have the potential to become more than just another platform - they could evolve into essential partners in strategic growth.

As this conversation shows, the integration of AI into real estate decision-making isn't just a technical evolution, it's a shift in mindset. By empowering teams with better tools, clearer data, and broader perspectives, platforms like Tembi can help companies like Accor stay ahead in an increasingly competitive and fast-moving market.

Stay tuned for more stories like this as we continue to explore the intersection of AI and real-world strategy across industries.

Webshop Delivery Pricing trends: How consumer costs shifted from October 2024 to March 2025

or e-commerce consumers, delivery costs often represent the final hurdle before completing a purchase. Set too high, delivery fees can drive potential buyers away; priced competitively, they can boost conversions and foster customer loyalty. At Tembi, we closely track these shifts, monitoring what webshops across Europe charge consumers for different delivery methods.

We analysed webshop delivery pricing data across nine markets from October 2024 to March 2025, examining variations across three key delivery methods: parcel box, parcel shop, and home delivery.

Over 300.000 webshops are part of this analysis and we've removed the outliers when calculatin average deliver prices (free delivery and delivery of large and/or heavy objects).

Average delivery price per  per market March 2025

Key delivery pricing movements by Method

Parcel Box delivery: Affordable, but volatile

Parcel boxes have become a popular choice due to convenience and lower operational costs. However, pricing varied significantly:

  • 🇱🇹 Lithuania saw a notable increase of 23.8%, rising from €3.03 to €3.75, suggesting webshops might be responding to increased local demand or higher operational costs.
  • 🇳🇱 Netherlands experienced an 18% price drop, from €7.31 to €5.98, potentially reflecting competitive pressure or improved logistics efficiency.

Parcel Shop delivery: Mixed strategies

Parcel shops offer flexibility for consumers who prefer to pick up orders at convenient locations:

  • 🇱🇻 Prices in Latvia decreased by 17.7%, from €2.94 to €2.42, a general trend for deliver prices in the country.
  • 🇳🇴 Norway saw a significant decrease of €1.24 per delivery, suggesting potential improvements in parcel shop logistics or fierce webshop competition to retain customers.
  • Conversely, webshops in🇧🇪 Belgium slightly increased prices by 5.4%, a modest rise that might reflect increased operational costs or a shift in consumer preference.

Home Delivery: Premium convenience, mixed pricing

Home delivery remains the premium service and is generally priced highest:

  • 🇸🇪 Sweden saw a drop by 13%, from €7.91 to €6.88, reflecting aggressive competitive positioning by webshops or improved home-delivery logistics.
  • 🇳🇴 Norway and 🇱🇻 Latvia also saw a decrease home delivery prices.
  • However, 🇫🇮 Finland bucked this trend, seeing a slight price increase from €12.62 to €12.97, possibly driven by increasing last-mile delivery expenses.

Why delivery price changes matter

These shifts in delivery prices reveal strategic decisions by webshops rather than direct changes in logistics provider pricing. Webshops balance several factors:

  • Consumer demand: Price sensitivity and preferred delivery methods vary widely between markets.
  • Competition: Price adjustments can help webshops maintain competitiveness against major marketplaces and local rivals.
  • Operational costs: Changes might reflect fluctuations in fuel, wages, logistics efficiency, or capacity constraints. Delivery can either increase the margin on each product, or decrease it if delvery cost is lower than the cost to the last-mile provider.

For commercial leaders in e-commerce, understanding these pricing strategies is critical. Lower delivery prices may indicate aggressive market positioning or efficiency gains, while increases might signal tighter operational conditions or reduced competition.

Webshop delivery pricing is a powerful indicator of market conditions and consumer expectations. Regular monitoring of these shifts is essential to stay competitive and agile - regardless if you're a retailer selling directrly or inderictly, or operate a last-mile delivery provider.

Where E-commerce truly lives: Rethinking webshop market potential in Europe

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.
  • Estonia leads the pack with 7.9 webshops per 1,000 inhabitants, signalling a highly digitised economy.
  • The Netherlands has over 119,000 webshops and 6.6 per 1,000 people - combining scale and density.
  • Germany, by contrast, has 134,000 webshops, but a much lower density: 1.6 per 1,000 people.

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
  • Robust delivery infrastructure that supports fulfilment at scale
  • Strong consumer trust and demand for buying online
  • Markets where e-commerce is no longer a trend - it’s the default

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.

Nordic e-commerce still has room to grow: Over 9,200 webshops launched last year and still selling in 2025

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?  

Number of new active webshops per country

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.

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.

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.

Netherlands Commercial Real Estate relocation data & insights

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.

Download report

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

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.

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.

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

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

Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.
Competitive insights on last-mile delivery in Denmark

Curious about who's dominating Denmark’s last-mile delivery scene? Our latest competitive analysis dives deep into Denmark’s e-commerce landscape, mapping how top providers like GLS, PostNord, DAO, and Bring are positioned at online retailers checkout. Here’s a snapshot of what's inside:

  • Market leaders: GLS dominates, present in over 40% of Danish webshops.
  • Checkout positioning: GLS not only appears frequently but often occupies the prime first position in webshop checkouts, significantly influencing consumer choice.
  • Delivery methods: Home delivery remains the most popular (62%), with parcel shops closely following (59%). PostNord uniquely excels in parcel box solutions, while GLS expands business delivery.
  • Price trends: Home delivery and parcel shops remain competitively priced, showing stability despite market fluctuations.
  • Vertical specialisation: Providers differ little in webshop product category focus - DAO leans toward fashion and beauty (light packages), GLS and Bring cater broadly, and PostNord strongly serves home & furniture sectors.

Unlock all insights and understand precisely how market data can help you strategically grow your presence.

Download a snapshot of the report

Would you like to access the full report, send us an email and we'll set up a meeting with one of our data experts for a walkthrough -

Request full report.

Market Intelligence
Payment providers in European e‑commerce: A country-by-country analysis

European online payments are shaped by a mix of global platforms and strong local preferences. Below we break down the key payment providers across eight countries – Belgium, Switzerland, Denmark, Finland, Italy, Norway, and Sweden – highlighting who’s active in each market, how they fare in B2B vs B2C, and domestic vs cross-border trends. We also discuss how platform-native solutions (like Shopify Payments and PayPal integrations) enable cross-market reach.

The analysis is based on 208.035 webshops monitored by Tembi with data from the 21st of May 2025.

Belgium - 18.237 active webshops
Switzerland - 30.007
Denmark - 32.370
Finland - 15.912
Italy - 63.672
Norway - 15.032
Sweden - 32.805

Belgium - Bancontact’s home turf, with PayPal for cross-border

Belgian e-commerce is dominated by Bancontact, the national debit scheme, which remains by far the favourite online payment method – about 73% of Belgian shoppers prefer Bancontact and 70% use it most often (retaildetail.eu). Credit cards, once top, now take a secondary role mainly for higher-value purchases (pay.com.)


Key Providers and Roles:

  • Bancontact – Ubiquitous in Belgium. Linked to virtually all Belgian banks, it has more cards in circulation than there are Belgian residents (pay.com). Merchants rely on Bancontact for its wide user base and low fraud (transactions are irrevocable once confirmed, reducing chargebacks (pay.com). It’s essentially mandatory for domestic webshops to support Bancontact.
  • PayPal – While not a domestic method, PayPal is integrated into many Belgian shops (our dataset shows it on a similar number of sites as Bancontact). Its strength is in cross-border shopping: 72% of Belgians have used PayPal to buy from foreign retailers (pay.com), leveraging its buyer protection and global acceptance. PayPal thus complements Bancontact by enabling international B2C sales.
  • Local Banking Apps – Major banks offer their own payment buttons (e.g. Belfius Pay), though these see modest adoption compared to Bancontact (e.g. Belfius appears on a few thousand sites). They cater to customers of those banks for bank-transfer payments.
  • Global Wallets (Apple Pay, Google Pay) – Gaining presence as smartphone usage grows. Apple Pay is supported by many Belgian banks, tapping into the country’s large iPhone user base (pay.com.. These wallets remain convenience add-ons rather than primary methods, but their acceptance in Belgian webshops (thousands of sites) signals a growing cross-platform trend.
  • International PSPs (Stripe, Mollie) – Providers like Stripe and Dutch-based Mollie are used by Belgian merchants (Mollie has ~4,500 Belgian sites in our data). They enable credit cards and alternative methods easily, including Bancontact itself via their integration. This is especially useful for smaller B2B merchants expanding online, as PSPs handle multi-method support in one package.

Domestic vs international adoption
Domestically, a Belgian online shopper expects to see Bancontact at checkout – it’s a trust signal and caters to local payment habits. International e-commerce players entering Belgium must integrate Bancontact (often via Shopify Payments or Adyen) to localise their offering (retaildetail.eu). Conversely, Belgian merchants aiming cross-border include methods like PayPal and credit cards to accommodate foreign customers who can’t use Bancontact. Thus, Belgian sites serving neighboring markets often support both local and global methods. This dual approach (Bancontact + an international wallet) is common in Belgium’s e-commerce, ensuring both local and cross-border sales are covered.

Switzerland - Twint charging up

Switzerland’s payment mix is unusually diverse. Traditionally, bank transfers and invoices have been extremely popular – as of 2023, bank transfers (including pay-by-invoice) were projected to account for ~46% of Swiss e-commerce transactions (pay.com) Cards are also widely used (52% of online transactions, mostly credit cards in online contexts (pay.com). But the biggest shake-up has come from Twint, the Swiss mobile payments app. In recent years Twint has surged to become the dominant online payment method: it’s now accepted in roughly 4 out of 5 Swiss online shops (twint.ch) and counts over 5 million active users in a country of ~8.7 million (pay.com).


Key Providers and Roles:

  • TWINT – A home-grown mobile wallet linked to users’ bank accounts. Launched in 2016 by major Swiss banks, Twint has achieved 98% brand awareness and massive uptake (fintechnews.ch). It’s used for instant bank-direct payments via app (often by scanning a QR code). By 2022, about 74% of Swiss online merchants supported Twint (fintechnews.ch), and that share is still rising (Twint itself boasts ~80% online shop coverage (twint.ch). For domestic B2C, Twint’s appeal is convenience and local trust – it effectively modernized the traditional bank transfer for the mobile era.
  • Credit & Debit Cards – Swiss consumers use cards frequently, especially credit cards for online shopping (an estimated 80% of Swiss prefer credit over debit for e-commerce)pay.com. Visa and Mastercard dominate (around 64% and 17% market share respectively in cards)pay.com, with PostFinance (the postal bank’s debit card) filling much of the remainder domestically. PostFinance’s payment option (e-finance or card) is offered by many Swiss shops (our data shows it on ~5,700 sites) to cater to the large customer base of the national postal bank. Cards are important for both B2C and B2B (corporate cards, etc.), though Swiss B2B buyers sometimes still prefer invoice.
  • Bank Transfers & Invoicing – A significant share of Swiss e-commerce is essentially “pay after delivery.” Many Swiss shoppers choose to receive an invoice (often with a QR-bill) and pay it via their e-banking – this shows up in stats as bank transfer payments. Even online, merchants often offer “purchase on account.” Providers like Klarna have entered Switzerland to offer pay-later, but the concept was already ingrained. Sofort (Klarna’s direct bank transfer service) also appears in Swiss webshops (in ~12k of them per our data) as a popular option for real-time bank payments, used especially for cross-border transactions with Germany.
  • PayPal – PayPal enjoys steady use in Switzerland, but it’s not as dominant as in some other countries. It’s present on most international-facing Swiss shops and is popular for cross-border purchases or niche uses. Swiss consumers do use PayPal domestically, but with Twint and cards readily available, PayPal’s role is more as a universal fallback. Still, our scan found PayPal on ~22,600 Swiss sites – the single most common payment brand on Swiss shops – underscoring its broad presence even if volume share is smaller.
  • Local Banking Options – Apart from Twint, Swiss merchants may support one-click bank payment through services like eBill or direct debit for B2B, but these are less visible. Revolut’s new checkout option has also cropped up (around 4k sites) as Switzerland has many Revolut users; this is mainly to serve tech-savvy shoppers and cross-border customers with Revolut accounts.

Domestic vs international
The Swiss market is small but high-spending, and cross-border e-commerce is significant (many Swiss buy from German, French, or global sites). Domestic shops therefore try to offer a mix of local and international methods. For instance, a Swiss webshop will almost certainly offer Twint and PostFinance for locals, but also Visa/Mastercard and PayPal to appeal to everyone (including cross-border shoppers or expatriates). International retailers entering Switzerland often integrate Twint now – given its reach, not having Twint could alienate a big chunk of local customers. At the same time, Swiss consumers use credit cards and PayPal especially when shopping on foreign sites, since those universally work. This dynamic means successful cross-border sellers into Switzerland either enable local methods via a PSP (Adyen, etc.) or rely on the Swiss buyer falling back to a credit card or PayPal. In summary, Swiss e-commerce shows a dual nature: traditional methods (bank transfer/invoice) remain very strong at home (pay.com), but mobile and global solutions are rapidly overlaying to facilitate seamless buying both domestically and across borders.

Denmark - Home of MobilePay

Denmark is a card-centric country with a twist – nearly every Dane has a Dankort (the national debit card, typically co-branded with Visa), so card payments have long been the norm. In 2024, about 37% of Danish online consumers cited paying by card as their primary method (ecommercenews.eu). Close on its heels, however, is MobilePay, used by roughly 33% of online shoppers as their preferred option (ecommercenews.eu). MobilePay, a mobile wallet linked to card or bank accounts, has become nearly ubiquitous (over 90% of Danes have the app, and virtually all younger adults do (statista.com)). PayPal and other methods exist but are less prominent – a few years ago PayPal accounted for ~13% of Danish online payments (oosga.com), and it remains a common option particularly for cross-border purchases. Overall, Denmark’s landscape mixes global card infrastructure with highly adopted local fintech solutions.


Key Providers and Roles:

  • Dankort / Card Payments – Debit/credit cards are still the #1 online payment method in Denmark by usage (ecommercenews.eu). The Danish Dankort (often used via Visa rails online) ensures almost anyone with a bank account can pay by card. Merchants benefit from well-established card processing and Danes’ comfort with cards for larger or recurring purchases. International cards (Visa, Mastercard) are widely accepted, which also covers foreign shoppers. For B2B e-commerce, cards (corporate cards) are common too.
  • MobilePay – Denmark’s signature mobile wallet app. MobilePay allows one-click or app-confirmation payments drawing funds from the user’s card or bank. It’s deeply ingrained in daily life; in e-commerce it’s become the convenient alternative to entering card details. With 33%+ share of online payments and growing (ecommercenews.eu), MobilePay is almost expected on Danish sites – from small boutiques to large retailers. For merchants, offering MobilePay can boost checkout conversion on mobile devices. Notably, MobilePay is popular in B2C contexts (fast checkout for consumers), while in B2B it’s used less (business buyers typically use cards or invoices).
  • PayPal – Widely available, though not top-of-mind for Danes domestically. Many Danish webshops include PayPal, especially those on platforms like WooCommerce/Shopify where it’s an easy plug-in. It serves mainly as a way to accept payments from international customers or cater to Danes who already have PayPal accounts. While only about 13% of Danish e-commerce shoppers used PayPal as of 2021 (oosga.com), it remains a useful cross-border channel – for example, Danes buying from eBay or foreign sites often use PayPal.
  • Local PSPs (Payment Service Providers) – Denmark has a robust set of payment gateways that serve merchants. QuickPay and OnPay are examples of Danish PSPs that many webshops use behind the scenes. These providers bundle various methods (cards, MobilePay, Viabill, etc.) and are particularly important for SMEs and B2B shops, as they handle the integrations and local acquiring. In our data, QuickPay appears on ~4,800 sites, indicating its strong presence. Such PSPs typically don’t matter to the consumer (who just sees the payment options they provide), but they are key enablers of the local payment ecosystem.
  • Buy Now, Pay Later and Others – Danes have access to BNPL options like ViaBill or Klarna, but uptake is more moderate compared to Sweden or Norway. Klarna is integrated in some Danish shops (~6,600 sites in our scan) targeting installment payments for consumers. However, Danish shoppers, being comfortable with cards, haven’t embraced BNPL to the same extent as Swedes. For B2B, offering payment on invoice is common (especially when selling to government or large companies, who use EAN invoicing), though that’s handled outside the online checkout or via invoicing services rather than through visible providers in checkout.

Domestic vs International Adoption
Danish online retailers focus on domestic preferences first – supporting Dankort/Visa and MobilePay to cover the vast majority of local transactions. Cross-border, Denmark has a high rate of consumers buying from abroad (over half shop abroad monthly (ecommercenews.eu), so Danish merchants also consider methods that international shoppers use. This means accepting foreign Visa/Mastercards (no problem via standard acquiring) and often keeping PayPal available. International merchants selling into Denmark are wise to enable MobilePay – increasingly, payment platforms (like Stripe or Adyen or Shopify Payments) let them do so easily. We see that cross-border giants (Amazon, etc.) have started to include MobilePay for Danish customers. In summary, domestic Danish e-commerce is characterised by card and MobilePay dominance, whereas cross-border commerce relies more on international card networks and PayPal – but the gap is closing as local methods become accessible to foreign merchants too.

Finland: Paytrail dominates

Finnish online shoppers have a strong preference for direct bank payments. Rather than using individual bank buttons, Finland streamlined this through Paytrail, an aggregator that connects all major Finnish banks. As a result, online bank transfer solutions like Paytrail are the top choice for Finns (aboutpayments.com). According to industry info, Finnish consumers most prefer paying via their internet banking through services such as Paytrail or Trustly (aboutpayments.com). Cards are of course used as well, but historically Finland has seen lower credit card usage online than many other European countries. Instead, debit cards via bank transfer and recently mobile wallets are prominent. MobilePay (imported from Denmark) has also gained traction in Finland – it’s available and used by many, though not yet as dominant as in Denmark. Klarna is popular in Finland too (Finland was an early Klarna expansion market), and invoice payments are fairly common for certain purchases. In summary, Finland’s payment scene is a mix of bank-centric methods and a few select international options.


Key Providers and Roles:

  • Paytrail – Arguably the backbone of Finnish e-commerce payments. Paytrail (now part of the Nets/Nexi group) offers merchants a single contract to accept all Finnish online banking payments, cards, as well as local wallets and invoices (nexigroup.com). It is the most used online payment service in Finland’s e-commerce (mastercard.com), which aligns with our data where Paytrail appears very frequently (over 6,500 Finnish sites). For consumers, Paytrail provides a seamless interface to pay from any Finnish bank account, which is highly trusted and convenient. In practice, when a Finnish shopper chooses “online bank payment,” it’s often Paytrail processing it in the background. This method is equally relevant for B2C and B2B – businesses also appreciate paying directly from bank accounts.
  • Trustly – Another bank transfer option, used in Finland and across the Nordics. Trustly allows instant bank payments without leaving the merchant’s site. Finnish shoppers do use Trustly, but since Paytrail already covers domestic banks, Trustly’s role is more for cross-border scenarios (e.g. paying from a Finnish bank on a foreign site). Still, it’s noted as a top method after Paytrai (aboutpayments.com). Some Finnish merchants include Trustly in addition to Paytrail to capture every preference.
  • Cards (Visa/MasterCard) – International debit/credit cards are widely accepted and come next in popularity after bank transfers for Finns (aboutpayments.com). Finland historically had a strong culture of paying by bank rather than credit, but card usage is rising. Most Finnish cards are debit or dual-function cards, and many are used via Paytrail’s interface or via a PSP like Nets/Paytrail itself. For the merchant, accepting cards is essential for cross-border customers and for those Finnish buyers who prefer a familiar Visa/Mastercard flow or need to use a credit line.
  • Klarna – Finland is one of Klarna’s significant markets. Klarna’s pay-later and installment options are offered by a lot of Finnish online stores (our data shows Klarna on ~6,200 Finnish sites, nearly equal to MobilePay’s presence). Finnish consumers use Klarna mainly for splitting payments or buying on invoice, similar to Sweden but perhaps slightly less intensively. It’s a popular option for B2C retail (fashion, electronics – where try-before-you-buy or installment plans appeal). For merchants, Klarna brings potential conversion gains and is often included alongside traditional methods. In B2B sales, Klarna is not commonly used – Finnish businesses would use direct invoicing if they want post-payment.
  • MobilePay – Finland adopted MobilePay after Denmark (Danske Bank introduced it). Today, MobilePay is a commonly used wallet in Finland (aboutpayments.com), though its usage (by share of transactions) isn’t as high as in Denmark. Still, many Finnish shops (over 6,200 in our analysis) offer MobilePay at checkout. It’s popular for its ease on mobile devices and is used predominantly in B2C contexts (e.g. a consumer buying event tickets or clothes may opt for MobilePay instead of typing card details). With MobilePay’s merger with Vipps/Swish underway, Finns may see even more features, but already the app is a key part of the payments mix.
  • Other Local Pay-Later (Walley, etc.) – Finland has some specialized providers like Walley (formerly Collector Bank’s solution). Walley offers invoice and installment payments, including B2B invoicing solutions. It appears in Finnish e-commerce (about 1,800 sites in our data) as an option to “Pay by invoice 14 days” or similar, often under the Walley brand in checkout. This indicates a demand especially in B2B and larger consumer purchases for invoice-based payment. Similarly, Svea (a Swedish company but active in Finland) provides B2B financing and appears on some sites. These are important for B2B e-commerce or high-value consumer sales (furniture, machinery, etc.), where customers expect to be billed or finance the purchase rather than pay upfront.

Domestic vs International
Finnish e-commerce is quite domestic-focused in method – a Finnish shopper expects to pay through their bank or an invoice. International merchants expanding to Finland often partner with Paytrail or a similar PSP to offer localized bank payments, because without those, they’d miss a large portion of sales. The prevalence of English-speaking Finns means many do shop on international sites, where they might then use a credit card or PayPal if Finnish bank options aren’t available. Indeed, PayPal is accepted on many Finnish sites (though not top-five in preference, it’s present on ~8,300 Finnish webshops per our data), functioning as a catch-all for cross-border transactions (e.g. paying a non-Finnish merchant). Adoption trends show that methods like Paytrail keep domestic transactions flowing in local currency and language, whereas global platforms like PayPal or card networks come into play for cross-border. Additionally, Finland being in the Eurozone makes cross-border shopping easier (no currency swap issues), so credit cards are slightly more used for EU-wide shopping. Finnish merchants, to expand abroad, will lean on PSPs that support international cards, PayPal, and possibly multi-currency – many use Stripe (found on ~4,200 Finnish sites) or Adyen for that reason. In sum, Finland has a strong local backbone (bank payments) that any entrant must integrate, and a willingness to layer global methods on top for broader reach.

Italy: PayPal’s Stronghold

Local Payment Landscape: Italy stands out for the prominence of PayPal in e-commerce. Italians have historically been cautious about online payments, leading them to gravitate towards PayPal for its perceived safety and buyer protection. Recent surveys show about 63% of Italian online consumers used PayPal in the past month, and 39% prefer PayPal over any other method – making it the #1 choice by far (rapyd.net). Credit and debit cards are of course used (especially with the widespread CartaSi/VISA and MasterCard), but only ~11% of Italians picked credit cards as their first choice, according to the same study (rapyd.net). Interestingly, a uniquely Italian method, the PostePay prepaid card (issued by the postal service), ranks high – about 12% choose it as their top payment method (rapyd.net). PostePay is essentially a reloadable Visa/Mastercard, and its popularity reflects Italians’ preference for controlled, cash-loaded spending. Cash on delivery (contrassegno) still lingers as an option in Italy for some categories, though its share is decreasing as digital payments grow. Overall, Italy’s online payment mix is a blend of global wallets, card networks (often through domestic brands like CartaSi or PostePay), and some remaining traditional methods.


Key Providers and Roles:

  • PayPal – The undisputed leader in Italian e-commerce payments. PayPal’s ubiquity is evident: it is integrated into the vast majority of Italian webshops (our dataset found it on ~56,000 sites, far more than any other provider in Italy). Its strengths – buyer protection, ease of use, and not requiring the buyer to expose card details – resonated strongly with Italian consumers who had security concerns. Many Italians also keep balances in PayPal or link it to bank accounts, using it almost like a bank alternative. For merchants, offering PayPal is almost a must for B2C, as not having it could mean losing a huge chunk of potential customers. Even in P2B (consumer-to-business) scenarios like freelance services or marketplace sales, PayPal is common. In B2B, PayPal is less used for large transactions, but small business services sometimes get paid via PayPal too. Notably, Italian merchants rely on PayPal not just domestically but to sell internationally – it’s a ready-made cross-border solution that handles multiple currencies and languages, which helped many Italian small businesses to reach global customers.
  • Credit/Debit Cards (CartaSi, Visa, Mastercard) – Card payments in Italy have grown but still face competition from PayPal and cash. Most online card usage is via Visa or Mastercard-branded cards, often issued as CartaSi (the domestic scheme, now Nexi) or as bank cards. Also, PostePay cards (Visa Electron/prepaid) are massively used by younger and unbanked consumers for online shopping. This means that while “card” as a category is significant, many Italians use them through intermediaries (like linking a PostePay to PayPal, or using the card via an Apple Pay wallet). For merchants, enabling card payments is standard – usually through PSPs like Nexi, Gestpay, Stripe, or international acquirers. However, due to high PayPal use, sometimes cards are effectively the secondary option on many sites. In B2B e-commerce, corporate credit cards are used for convenience (especially for SMEs buying software, travel, etc.), but larger purchases often go through bank transfer invoices.
  • Apple Pay / Google Pay – These mobile wallet options are present but not yet top of mind for Italian consumers. Apple Pay in particular is offered by many Italian banks and supported at many online checkouts (our data saw Apple Pay on ~15,000 Italian sites, which is significant). Still, surveys suggest Apple Pay and Google Pay are among the least preferred methods in Italy (rapyd.net). Their significance lies in convenience for the subset of users who have them set up – they streamline card use on mobile. As more Italians use their phones for shopping, these methods might grow. For now, they act as nice-to-have options in B2C (and essentially not used in B2B).
  • Local Banking and Cash Solutions – Italy has had some online banking payment attempts like MyBank (an EU-wide bank transfer system that was adopted by Italian banks) and the traditional bonifico (bank wire) for e-commerce. MyBank allows instant bank debits for online purchases, and some merchants do offer it. It hasn’t reached the ubiquity of Netherlands’ iDEAL, but it caters to those who prefer direct bank payment without cards. Cash on Delivery, while not a “payment provider,” is historically important in Italy – a portion of shoppers still choose to pay the courier in cash or card upon delivery. This method is declining year by year but remains in certain sectors (e.g. furniture, older demographics). Many merchants outsource the COD handling to logistics or just mark it as an option with a fee. It’s more relevant in B2C; B2B rarely uses COD (they’d just invoice).
  • Stripe, Braintree and PSPs – International PSPs like Stripe are quite popular among Italian online businesses (Stripe is the second-most common integration after PayPal in our Italy data, found on ~19,000 sites). These platforms let merchants accept cards, wallets, and even local methods through one gateway. Braintree (owned by PayPal) similarly powers many Italian webshops behind the scenes, enabling both card processing and PayPal integration. Local acquirers like Nexi (CartaSi) and UniCredit’s solutions also have a big merchant base, especially for larger retailers. In effect, PSPs ensure that Italian merchants can accept the mix of payment forms consumers expect. They are crucial in both B2C and B2B (for example, a B2B software SaaS might use Stripe to bill Italian companies via credit card or Sofort, etc.). Some newer options like Revolut Pay have also entered Italy – indeed, our scan saw Revolut on ~14k sites (likely merchants adding the Revolut Pay button to cater to Revolut users). These are still niche but indicate a willingness of merchants to experiment beyond the traditional set.

Domestic vs International
Italian merchants historically catered to domestic buyers’ preferences (hence a heavy emphasis on PayPal). Now, with cross-border e-commerce growing (two-thirds of Italian shoppers have bought from international sites (rapyd.net)), Italian merchants are expanding their payment options. Many are adding methods like Amazon Pay (since Italians shop on Amazon’s platforms), or enabling multi-currency credit card processing to attract foreign customers. Likewise, foreign companies selling to Italy have learned that including PayPal at checkout is crucial – a UK or German site that adds PayPal might suddenly convert many more Italian buyers who trust PayPal over entering card details. We see platform-native solutions smoothing this process: for example, Shopify Payments allows a foreign merchant to offer Italian shoppers local payment options (like bonifico via Sofort or appropriate localized card forms) without that merchant needing an Italian banking relationship. Additionally, services like Klarna have recently launched in Italy as well, aiming to introduce more pay-later options; their usage is nascent but growing for cross-border purchases (e.g. an Italian buying from a German shop might use Klarna). In summary, Italy’s e-commerce shows a stark local preference for PayPal and familiar tools, and both domestic and international sellers adjust to that reality – often by prominently featuring PayPal, offering prepaid-friendly options, and maintaining trust signals. The reliance on platform solutions (PayPal, Amazon Pay, etc.) also lowers the friction of cross-border commerce for Italian consumers, effectively bridging domestic habits with international retail.

Norway: Vipps and Klarna

Norway’s consumers are highly digital and spend a lot online. Card payments are extremely common – in fact, Norway has one of the highest per-capita card usage rates. Cards (debit and credit combined) account for roughly 43% of all retail transactions (online and offline) in Norway (pay.com). The majority of these are through BankAxept, Norway’s domestic debit card system, which is co-branded with Visa/Mastercard for international acceptance (pay.com). Alongside cards, Norway has a very strong mobile payments culture thanks to Vipps, a mobile wallet app used by most Norwegians. Vipps has cornered the digital wallet market in Norway (pay.com), meaning alternatives like Apple Pay or Google Pay are secondary (though available). Klarna and other pay-later options are also popular – Norway, like other Nordics, embraced Klarna early for splitting or delaying payments. PayPal exists but plays a smaller role in day-to-day domestic payments (around 7% share of online transactions as per Norges Bank (pay.com)), used mainly for cross-border shopping. In summary, Norway’s landscape features high card usage with a layer of mobile wallet convenience and BNPL flexibility.


Key Providers and Roles:

  • BankAxept (Card payments) – BankAxept is the domestic debit network, ensuring that payments using Norwegian bank cards are processed cheaply and efficiently inside Norway. Practically every Norwegian has a BankAxept card. Online, when a customer pays by “card,” it often routes through BankAxept if domestic, or via Visa/MasterCard rails if needed. For merchants, accepting cards is non-negotiable – it covers debit and credit usage. Credit card usage is growing in Norway (almost one credit card per person in circulation (pay.com), and many online purchases – especially higher value or travel bookings – go on credit cards. In B2B, cards can be used for convenience too, but many companies also use invoices. Nonetheless, cards form the backbone of Norwegian e-commerce payments, making up a large chunk of transactions by value.
  • Vipps – Norway’s ubiquitous mobile payment app. Vipps allows users to pay online by confirming with their mobile number/app, similar to how one would use a wallet instead of entering card details. Virtually everyone in Norway knows and many use Vipps; it started as a peer-to-peer app but is now available for online checkouts, bill payments, etc. Vipps dominates Norwegian mobile payments, effectively sidelining other e-wallets domestically (pay.com). For online merchants, adding Vipps (via a PSP or Vipps API) can significantly smooth mobile conversion – a user can just choose Vipps and approve the purchase on their phone. Our data shows Vipps present on about 6,700 Norwegian sites, which implies a strong uptake (though not as high as MobilePay in DK, possibly because many international platforms were slower to integrate Vipps). In B2C, Vipps is extremely important, especially among younger shoppers and for quick purchases. In B2B, it’s less used (business purchases would more likely go via bank or invoice), but some small entrepreneurs might even accept Vipps for simplicity.
  • Klarna – Norway is one of Klarna’s significant markets outside Sweden. Klarna’s BNPL and invoicing services are widely offered by Norwegian merchants. Notably, Klarna is reported to account for about 18% of domestic online retail sales in Norway (pay.com), which is substantial. Many Norwegian shoppers enjoy the option to “buy now, pay later” or split payments, and Klarna provides that with its usual smooth user experience. Norwegian merchants, especially in fashion, electronics, and other retail segments, integrate Klarna to boost sales and AOV (average order value). In our dataset, Klarna actually appeared as the top payment-related provider on Norwegian sites (~8,700 sites), even above PayPal, indicating how common it is. For B2C, Klarna is a key player. For B2B, Klarna has a business offering (Klarna for business/Tillit – a local BNPL startup mentioned) but these are less prevalent; businesses typically aren’t using Klarna to pay invoices. Still, the concept of paying after receiving goods is also present in B2B via invoices – just not via Klarna’s interface.
  • PayPal – While not a leader domestically, PayPal has a steady presence in Norway. According to the central bank, it’s about 7% of online transaction volume (pay.com), which is modest, but it remains crucial for cross-border purchases. Norwegians shopping from international websites (where Vipps or Klarna might not be available) often rely on PayPal as a convenient and trusted method (pay.com). Likewise, Norwegian online sellers include PayPal to capture international sales or niche use cases. Our data found PayPal on ~8,300 Norwegian sites, nearly as many as Klarna. This suggests that even if Norwegians themselves don’t prioritize PayPal when domestic options exist, it’s still widely offered as a universal option. In B2B, PayPal usage would be rare except perhaps freelancers or software services.
  • Other Methods/PSPs – Norway’s market sees involvement from Nordic PSPs like Nets (now part of Nexi, historically handled a lot of card processing), as well as Stripe (our data: ~6,000 sites, showing many Norwegian businesses use Stripe to accept cards and other methods). Swish (the Swedish mobile pay) is not used in Norway, but interestingly, MobilePay (from Denmark) was merged with Vipps – yet in our data MobilePay appears on ~3,600 Norwegian sites. This could indicate cross-border Danish merchants or some early adoption in Norway; however, post-merger Vipps will cover that. Another mention is “Klarna’s Kustom Checkout” (seen as “Kustom” on ~1,300 sites) – this appears to be a one-stop checkout solution possibly by Klarna to integrate multiple methods. It’s relatively small but shows innovation in unified checkout experiences. For B2B, beyond standard invoice, some specialized services like Aprila or Svea might offer trade financing, but they didn’t prominently show up in top 10. Vipps does have a business-facing product (Vipps Faktura) to send invoices via Vipps app – highlighting again how consumer tools in Norway often extend into business use.

Domestic vs International
Norway’s e-commerce players pay attention to both local preferences and the fact that Norway is outside the EU (which affects cross-border trade, VAT, etc.). Domestically, a Norwegian merchant will emphasize Vipps and Klarna alongside cards to maximize conversions – these are what local shoppers expect. Internationally, Norwegian merchants know that foreign customers won’t have Vipps, so they ensure card payments (Visa/Mastercard) and PayPal are available. Many also support Klarna’s global offering in other markets (since Klarna operates across Europe and even the US, a Norwegian merchant can offer pay-later to customers in those countries via Klarna). Moreover, with high English proficiency, Norwegians frequently shop abroad; when they do, they typically use cards or PayPal – indeed PayPal’s main utility in Norway is for cross-border purchases (pay.com). This behavior influences Norwegian e-commerce sites too: for example, the prevalence of PayPal on Norwegian sites is partly to reassure and facilitate sales to non-Norwegians (and to Norwegians who might prefer it in certain situations). Another interesting point is that as part of the Vipps-MobilePay merger, Nordic payment integration is improving – soon a Danish customer might pay a Norwegian shop with MobilePay and it seamlessly works with Vipps (and vice versa). This will strengthen cross-Nordic commerce by leveraging each country’s local wallet. In summary, Norway shows a pattern seen in the Nordics: very high local adoption of innovative payments, and a parallel support of global methods to engage in cross-border commerce.

Sweden: The land of Klarna and Swish

Sweden’s online payment landscape has two giants: Klarna and Swish. It’s often said that “everyone in Sweden uses Swish,” and that’s barely an exaggeration – about 98% of Swedish adults have Swish installed and ~95% use it regularly (ergomania.eu). Swish is a mobile payment system (bank account-linked) originally for P2P but now widely used in e-commerce and even brick-and-mortar. On the other hand, Klarna’s pay-later services (invoice, installment, etc.) account for a huge portion of Swedish e-commerce – over 50% of online transactions by value are open invoice payments (adyen.com) - many of those facilitated by Klarna and a handful of competitors. Credit/debit cards remain popular too (especially for some online services and travel), but Sweden stands out in that invoices/payment after delivery are the single largest category, surpassing cards (adyen.com). This is rooted in consumer behavior: Swedes historically liked to receive goods and pay by invoice, a practice that fintechs like Klarna turned into a smooth digital experience. Meanwhile, Swish’s instant bank transfers are siphoning off transactions that might have been card or cash. PayPal exists and is used in Sweden, but given the strong local options, it’s not a leading method for domestic shopping. Overall, Sweden is extremely advanced: high smartphone usage, multiple fintech solutions, and consumers comfortable with alternative payments.


Key Providers and Roles:

  • Klarna – The poster child of Swedish fintech, Klarna is omnipresent in Swedish e-commerce. It started with “Få först, betala sen” (get first, pay later) invoice payments and now offers everything from 30-day invoicing to installment plans and a smooth one-click checkout (Klarna Checkout) that many Swedish sites use as their entire payment frontend. Klarna claims a large share of the market – indeed open invoice methods (dominated by Klarna) exceed half of ecom transactions (adyen.com). In our data, Klarna was on ~22,300 Swedish sites, more than any other provider, which underlines its reach. For consumers, Klarna’s appeal is the flexibility and trust (you can return items before paying, etc.). For merchants, offering Klarna can increase sales, but it comes with fees – still, in Sweden it’s expected. Klarna also now includes card payments and even bank direct payments in its checkout, so some merchants use Klarna Checkout as a one-stop solution (which might also explain why cards are less separately visible). In B2C, Klarna is king. In B2B, while Klarna has business solutions, Swedish companies often rely on traditional invoicing (sometimes using competitors like Svea or just direct billing) for trade credit. Klarna’s brand is primarily consumer-focused in Sweden.
  • Swish – A mobile payment app backed by Sweden’s banks. Swish lets users instantly transfer money using just a phone number. It’s extremely popular for splitting bills, paying small merchants, and increasingly, paying online. Now, Swish is the most frequently used payment service in Swedish online shops and apps (snb.ch) by number of transactions. By 2024, more Swedes named Swish as their leading online payment brand over Klarna, which it overtook in popularity a few years ago (statista.com). For e-commerce, merchants display a Swish option; if chosen, the shopper approves the payment in the Swish app (which debits their bank). It’s effectively like a real-time bank transfer with mobile convenience. Swish is used for both B2C and informal B2B (e.g. small business or sole trader payments). For larger B2B, not so much, as companies prefer invoicing and not all have Swish for business set up. But Swish does have a business product and even charities, clubs etc. use Swish for payments. With 8+ million users (in a country of 10 million (ergomania.eu), any e-commerce catering to Sweden almost needs to accept Swish now.
  • Cards (Visa/Mastercard) – Despite the dominance of Klarna and Swish, cards still account for a significant chunk (around one-third of Swedish online payments by some estimates (ppro.com). Many Swedes have credit cards (often incentivized by loyalty programs) and still use them especially on sites that don’t offer Klarna or Swish (or for services like subscriptions, streaming, etc.). Swedish-issued cards are often co-badged with BankAxept-like debit or just are international Visas/Mastercards. Merchants usually accept cards via PSPs or via Klarna’s infrastructure. The interesting dynamic is that because Klarna Checkout can handle card payments, a shopper might enter card details on a Klarna form – from the user perspective they might not even realize the payment is by traditional card because Klarna or Swish overshadow it. In B2B, corporate cards might be used for things like travel bookings or online services (Swedish businesses have high card adoption for expenses). So cards remain an important method for both consumers and businesses, even if less celebrated.
  • Svea, Walley, and other BNPL/Invoice providers – Sweden has several other players in the invoice/payment plan space: Svea Ekonomi, Walley (Collector), Avarda, AfterPay (Riverty), etc. Adyen’s guide noted 5–6 providers offering invoices in Sweden (adyen.com). Klarna is the largest, but these others carve out niches (for example, Svea might power payments for some smaller retailers or specific sectors). Our data saw Svea on ~2,980 Swedish sites – notable though much smaller than Klarna’s footprint. These services often target both B2C and B2B (Svea and Walley have business credit solutions). For a merchant, choosing one of these can be about better fees or industry-specific offerings. The proliferation of invoice providers underscores how ingrained buy-now-pay-later is in Swedish commerce – there’s competition to grant consumers that convenience of paying after delivery.
  • PayPal and global wallets – PayPal is available in Sweden and quite a few Swedes have accounts, but its usage is limited compared to local solutions. It tends to be used for cross-border transactions (e.g. buying on international sites) or on marketplaces. Many Swedish merchants still offer PayPal – our data found it on ~18,600 sites – often as a “why not” addition for the few customers who prefer it or for foreign customers. Apple Pay and Google Pay are also supported by Swedish banks/cards and sometimes listed on checkouts (Apple Pay was on ~9,100 Swedish sites per our data). They haven’t achieved the same usage as Swish, but they do provide a fast checkout option especially for mobile and for users with international backgrounds. They’re more of a complement; for instance, a tech-savvy shopper might use Apple Pay on an iPhone instead of Swish if they find it quicker.

Domestic vs International: Swedish e-commerce players are very outward-looking (Swedes buy from international sites and Swedish sites sell abroad, especially to the EU). For domestic sales, not offering Klarna or Swish is almost unthinkable for a mainstream merchant – you’d lose too many sales. For cross-border, Swedish merchants rely on those platform capabilities: Klarna is expanding in many markets, so a Swedish merchant can offer Klarna in, say, Germany or the UK to attract foreign customers similarly. Swish, however, is domestic; a non-Swedish customer cannot use Swish, so Swedish merchants must also have card payments and PayPal to cover foreigners. This they generally do – either via a PSP or via Klarna Checkout (which by default shows local Swedish options but can fall back to card for others). International merchants entering Sweden often partner with Klarna to quickly gain local credibility. It’s common for foreign brands launching Swedish sites to heavily feature Klarna and Swish logos – it signals to Swedish shoppers that “you can trust and pay easily here”. Additionally, Sweden’s high trust in fintech means new entrants can get traction – e.g. Stripe is used by many startups in Sweden and can process Swish via plugins, so newcomers can offer Swish with minimal effort. Platform-native solutions like Shopify Payments also support local methods in Sweden (Shopify merchants can enable Klarna and Swish through integrations), which lowers the barrier for smaller foreign merchants to sell to Swedes. A noteworthy cross-border trend is the Nordics integration: with Vipps, MobilePay, and Swish collaborating, a merchant in one Nordic country might soon accept a wallet payment from a neighboring country’s app seamlessly. This will further blur domestic vs international in the Nordic region’s payments. All told, Sweden’s market is characterized by extremely strong local preferences (Swish, invoicing) that any successful player must adapt to, and a parallel accommodation of global methods for complete coverage. Swedish consumers will happily use a local method if available, but if shopping on a foreign site, they might use a card or PayPal – however, their expectation now is that more and more foreign sites will cater to them with Swedish methods.

Platform-native integrations and cross-market presence

One recurring theme across all these countries is the role of platform-native payment integrations – especially on popular e-commerce platforms like Shopify and WooCommerce – in streamlining cross-border payment acceptance. Two prime examples are Shopify Payments (with its local method support) and PayPal’s ubiquitous plugins.

Shopify Payments (and Shop Pay)
Shopify Payments is the built-in payment gateway for Shopify merchants, powered behind the scenes by providers like Stripe/Adyen. Crucially, it automatically enables relevant local payment methods based on the shopper’s region. For instance, a Shopify merchant in the US can easily accept Bancontact and iDEAL when selling to Belgium or the Netherlands – they simply toggle those on, no custom integration needed (help.shopify.com). Shopify Payments supports Bancontact, iDEAL, Sofort, EPS, Klarna, etc., depending on the market (help.shopify.com), meaning merchants on Shopify can localize their checkout experience at the flick of a switch. This has huge implications: it lowers the barrier for cross-market expansion since even small merchants can offer country-specific popular methods without in-depth knowledge. Additionally, Shop Pay, Shopify’s accelerated checkout, is available globally – it stores customer details for one-click payments across any Shopify store. Shop Pay itself isn’t a separate payment method funded by a bank or card, but it streamlines card payments and now even installments (Shop Pay Installments by Affirm in some countries). Its presence (noted in our data across countries, e.g. ~6–13k sites in each country had “Shop Pay” enabled) underscores the impact of platform features. Shop Pay improves conversion and thus indirectly encourages merchants to sell globally, knowing returning customers can pay faster. In essence, platform-native solutions like Shopify Payments abstract away complexity: a single integration gives a merchant Apple Pay, Google Pay, local methods and credit cards in one – very powerful for cross-border commerce.

WooCommerce & PayPal/Stripe integrations
WooCommerce (the popular WordPress e-commerce plugin) relies on third-party payment gateways. PayPal and Stripe are two that have become nearly universal on WooCommerce sites globally. Because they are easy to install and free to use (no monthly fee, just transaction fees), many WooCommerce-based shops simply offer PayPal and Stripe out-of-the-box. This means an English WooCommerce site, a German one, or a Danish one – all likely have a similar PayPal checkout option (and Stripe powering card payments). Our analysis of PayPal’s presence found that a significant percentage of Shopify and WooCommerce stores across these countries have PayPal enabled – often 50% or more (e.g. ~72% in Italy, ~47% in Sweden, ~40% in Finland, ~62% in Belgium) based on the data of PayPal usage on those platform stores. This prevalence is no accident: PayPal comes built-in with Shopify and as a default plugin with WooCommerce, so many merchants leave it on as a convenient global method. The result is a kind of cross-market ubiquity – no matter if you’re shopping on a boutique in Oslo or a gadget store in Milan, you’re likely to see the PayPal button. That consistency gives consumers a familiar fallback and gives merchants confidence they can serve international customers (who might prefer PayPal if they’re unfamiliar with the local method on that site). Stripe’s integration on WooCommerce similarly allows merchants worldwide to accept not just cards but Apple Pay, Google Pay, and even local methods (if configured) like iDEAL or Klarna through Stripe. So, platform ecosystems have made a set of payment methods effectively universal across markets.

Cross-Border Influence of Key Players
Certain providers emerge as bridges across countries. PayPal is the obvious one – present virtually everywhere, it’s the default cross-border wallet. Stripe/Adyen as PSPs power many local methods but are invisible to consumers; their influence is in enabling merchants to support the right mix in each market. Klarna has grown from a Swedish BNPL to a global brand now active in all the discussed countries – a German shopper, a Norwegian, an Italian can all use Klarna, making it a cross-border payment option in its own right. Apple Pay and Google Pay – while not top of any country’s list except perhaps on tech-centric sites – provide a unified experience for a segment of users across borders (a tech-savvy Swiss or Italian might choose Apple Pay in lieu of typing card details, for example). Mollie and Nets/Nexi (regional PSPs) are extending beyond their home (Mollie from NL into Belgium, France, etc., Nets from Nordics into DACH), contributing to cross-pollination of methods.

In summary, platform-native integrations and globally-oriented providers smooth out the differences between markets. They ensure that a merchant doesn’t have to integrate Bancontact, iDEAL, Klarna, Swish separately with different contracts – instead, one integration (be it Shopify Payments, PayPal, Stripe, etc.) covers it. This has led to a situation where key payment methods achieve strong cross-border presence despite being local in nature: for example, Bancontact can be accepted by a German Shopify store selling to Belgium, and iDEAL appears on UK websites via PayPal’s Braintree or Adyen. Likewise, a Dutch merchant can easily offer Klarna to German customers through a single PSP. The significance is huge for market entry and expansion: a merchant can enter a new European market and immediately offer the familiar local payment options through their existing platform, rather than needing to sign deals with local banks. This greatly lowers friction in European e-commerce, effectively enabling the regional patterns we’ve discussed to coexist with global e-commerce flows.

Conclusion: Regional patterns, cross-border champions, and the power of local preferences

Analysing these seven countries side by side reveals clear regional patterns and instructive differences:

Local dominance vs global universals
Each country has one or two dominant local payment methods – Bancontact in Belgium, Twint in Switzerland, MobilePay in Denmark, Paytrail (bank transfers) in Finland, PayPal (local favourite) in Italy, Vipps (and cards) in Norway, Klarna/Swish in Sweden. These methods stem from local banking systems or consumer habits and command loyalty in their home markets. At the same time, global methods like credit cards and PayPal are present “just about everywhere” (retaildetail.eu) as the common denominators. Cards are accepted in all countries (even if not always first choice), and PayPal’s familiar checkout is offered broadly to capture cross-border shoppers. This duality means successful merchants typically combine the local must-haves with a baseline of global options.

North vs south vs central
There’s a north-south divide of sorts. The Nordics (Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland) are heavy on mobile wallets and pay-later solutions: MobilePay/Vipps/Swish and Klarna/Svea are household names there, reflecting a tech-forward consumer base and trust in digital finance. Central-West Europe (Belgium, Netherlands, Switzerland) leans on bank-based payments: Bancontact, iDEAL, Twint, Sofort – these are all bank-account-direct methods, indicating the strength of bank networks and a preference for direct debit-style payments. Southern Europe (Italy) has been more cautious historically, thus PayPal (a “foreign” but trust-building method) and cash/prepaid solutions took hold. Understanding these cultural and historical contexts is key – one size does not fit all in Europe. A Nordics-focused merchant will prioritise mobile wallets and Klarna, whereas a Benelux-focused one must integrate local bank payments or risk losing most customers.

Cross-border influencers – key players
Some payment providers have clearly managed to extend their influence across multiple countries: Klarna (originating in Sweden) is now a major player in Norway, Finland, the Netherlands, Belgium, etc., showing that a popular concept can travel – especially BNPL in regions with similar consumer credit cultures. PayPal remains a pan-European staple for cross-border commerce – even where it’s not #1 locally, it’s the safety net for transactions that cross languages or currencies. Stripe and Adyen (though behind the scenes) power a lot of this by enabling local method acceptance to non-local merchants – they are the unsung heroes making, for example, a French website feel native to a Dutch customer by offering iDEAL. Mollie has grown beyond the Netherlands into Belgium and even across Europe, thanks to its easy integration – it’s becoming a regional champion for SME payments. Meanwhile, regional collaborations (like the Vipps-MobilePay merger and its partnership with Swish) hint at the future: key local methods might interoperate across borders, effectively becoming multi-country methods. If that succeeds, a Nordic wallet could rival card schemes in cross-border utility within that region.

Platform power – shaping market entry
The prevalence of Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento, and other platforms in online retail has greatly shaped how payments are adopted. These platforms have baked-in support for the dominant providers, which means merchants expanding to a new country often have the tools at their fingertips to accept the local payments. For example, a Canadian brand using Shopify entering the Dutch market can enable iDEAL and Bancontact via Shopify Payments in minutes – something that would have been a project on its own a decade ago. This reduces the friction of market expansion; payment localization is no longer a barrier reserved for enterprise retailers with local contracts, but available to SMBs. It also means that certain payment methods achieve widespread adoption simply by being defaults on platforms – PayPal’s presence on WooCommerce is a clear case. In effect, the e-commerce platforms act as conduits for spreading payment innovations across borders. If tomorrow a new payment method becomes huge in one country, chances are platform providers or PSPs will integrate it and thereby propagate it across thousands of merchants in multiple countries (much like Apple Pay rolled out or Klarna became a checkout option globally).

Consumer behaviour and trust
Underpinning all of this, local consumer behaviour and trust patterns dictate what gets used. In Belgium and Netherlands, trust in one’s bank and domestic systems is high – hence bank-based methods flourish. In Italy, wariness about fraud led to a trust in PayPal and cash – only now gradually shifting toward more modern solutions as trust improves. Nordics have high trust both in technology and in credit, enabling things like Swish and Klarna to thrive. These patterns highlight that any payment provider trying to enter a new European market must contend with deeply ingrained habits. Often, partnering or integrating with existing local systems (as Mastercard did by co-badging Bancontact, or as Klarna did by offering localised invoice terms) is more successful than trying to impose a wholly new behaviour.

To conclude, European e-commerce payments are a mix of local traditions and global tech. Merchants aiming for success across these markets need to literally “speak the language” of payments in each country – be it offering installment invoices in Sweden, MobilePay in Denmark, or Bancontact in Belgium – while also providing cross-border staples like cards and PayPal to ensure no customer is left out. The good news is that modern payment platforms and providers have made this mapping far easier. The direction is clear: meet customers’ local expectations at checkout, and they will buy confidently, whether they’re next door or across the continent. By recognizing the strengths and focus of each payment provider (from Twint’s local sovereignty in Switzerland to PayPal’s cross-border indispensability), businesses can craft a payment strategy that feels native in every market they serve, B2C and B2B alike. This localized approach, backed by data and smart integrations, is increasingly what defines competitive advantage in Europe’s vibrant online payments landscape.

E-commerce
Cross-border selling in Europe: A look at six markets

Our recent analysis of aggregated data from webshops in selected European countries confirms two straightforward insights about cross-border selling: webshops typically target neighbouring countries or seek out larger markets to grow their potential customer base. While these findings may seem intuitive, the data illustrates clearly how consistently webshops employ these strategies - particularly when supported by strong partnerships with local logistics providers and prioritised investments in localisation.

The obvious role of proximity
Webshops in Denmark primarily target Sweden (18.9%) and Germany (18%), reflecting straightforward cross-border logistics and cultural familiarity. Similarly, Dutch webshops predominantly sell to Belgium (17.4%) and Germany (13.5%), confirming that short distances and established regional logistics make neighbouring countries natural first choices. Swedish webshops follow the same logic, favouring close neighbours Denmark (17.2%) and Finland (15.9%).

Targeting larger markets beyond proximity
Webshops strategically pursue larger markets with robust consumer bases, such as Germany and France, regardless of direct proximity. For instance, Italian webshops commonly sell to Germany (14.2%) and France (14.1%), driven significantly by the size and high purchasing power of these markets, alongside geographical closeness.

Distinctive patterns in Eastern Europe
Webshops in Hungary display notably low cross-border priority: only 4.4% offer shipping options to Germany, Slovakia, and Romania. This cautious approach likely reflects specific economic calculations, infrastructural limitations, or less developed cross-border logistics partnerships, rather than purely geographical factors.

Latvian webshops clearly illustrate the proximity factor again, heavily targeting neighbouring Lithuania (16.8%) and Estonia (15.9%), highlighting ease of trade through geographic and cultural closeness.

Notable differences in cross-border engagement levels
A significant finding from the data is the variation in how actively webshops pursue international markets. Factors driving these differences include the maturity of the domestic e-commerce market, logistical infrastructure, consumer purchasing power, and particularly the level of investment into localisation and logistics solutions. Engagement levels notably decline with increasing distance, indicating logistical complexity and higher costs likely deter webshops from extensive international expansion beyond neighbouring or well-established larger markets.

Concluding remarks
Our aggregated data confirms proximity and market size as primary drivers for cross-border e-commerce decisions. However, the diverse patterns and varying engagement levels suggest that webshop decisions are influenced by more complex strategic factors, including infrastructural readiness, economic conditions, logistical capabilities, and the willingness to invest in localised consumer experiences. These factors ultimately shape cross-border success far more than geographical closeness alone.

E-commerce
Last-mile delivery providers: Mapping delivery market dynamics across 17 European countries

Last‑mile delivery shapes the online shopping experience, influencing conversion rates, repeat purchases and brand perception.

At Tembi, we analysed over 600,000 webshops to understand two aspects of last‑mile competition in 17 European markets, the market share of the top delivery provider and the number of distinct delivery partners each webshop integrates, and how these factors drive innovation and strategy.

Delivery providers with the highest market presence in webshops’ checkout flows, by country.

Methodology: Tracking integrations not shipments

Rather than estimating parcel volumes, we examined the presence of delivery providers in webshop back‑ends. Every integration represents a commitment by the webshop to offer that carrier at checkout. By counting integrations, we capture:

• Breadth of choice available to consumers

• Carrier prominence within each market

For each country - from Belgium to Slovakia - we identified the top three providers by share of webshop integrations and counted the total number of providers in active use. We excluded providers that have less than 1% market presence.


These figures show that while national postal services still lead in many markets, no single carrier dominates everywhere, and the number of options ranges from three providers in Iceland to more than twenty in the Netherlands.

Consolidated vs Fragmented markets

We classify markets by the checkout presence held by the leading provider:

  1. Highly consolidated (leader > 50%)
    Finland, Hungary, Germany
  2. Moderately consolidated (leader 33–50%)
    Latvia, Estonia, Norway, Denmark, Switzerland, Belgium, Bulgaria, Iceland, Slovakia
  3. Highly fragmented (leader < 33%)
    Netherlands, Sweden, Italy, Romania

Fragmentation in focus, number of competing providers

Adding the count of distinct delivery partners shows where compeition is the hightst:


Most fragmented markets, such as the Netherlands, Romania and Sweden, offer webshops a broad selection of carriers to tailor delivery options by region, price‑point and service level. In the Netherlands, for instance, there are over twenty distinct last‑mile providers active across the market. By contrast, in Iceland and Bulgaria webshops have fewer providers to choose from, simplifying management but concentrating risk, and less consumer choice. Finland sits between these extremes, with around fourteen partners in use yet Posti being present in 62% of all webshop checkouts.

Analysis, geography, national postal providers and innovation

Geography plays a crucial role in shaping last‑mile dynamics. In countries with vast rural areas and archipelagos - most notably Finland and Sweden - webshops need delivery partners that can reliably serve both remote villages and dense urban centres. National posts excel at this: Posti’s 62 percent presence in Finland and PostNord’s 33 percent in Sweden reflect their ability to cover every corner of the country, from Lapland to the Helsinki suburbs, or from the Stockholm archipelago to the far north. This extensive network cements their leadership and makes it challenging for smaller couriers to compete on a truly national scale.

At the same time, urban populations in these markets demand faster and more flexible options. That’s why even highly consolidated markets like Finland still see around fourteen delivery partners in use, and Sweden nearly eighteen. Specialist providers focus on city‑centre same‑day deliveries, parcel locker networks and niche eco‑services, carving out space alongside the national postal incumbent.

By contrast, in highly fragmented markets such as the Netherlands, Italy and Romania, geography is less of a barrier - population density is higher and distances shorter - so webshops routinely offer 18 to 22 different providers to meet varied consumer preferences. National posts such as PostNL and Poste Italiane must innovate continually, rolling out premium services like carbon‑neutral shipping, click‑and‑collect lockers and advanced tracking, and partnering with crowd‑shipping or on‑demand couriers to fill gaps.

In moderately consolidated markets - Denmark, Belgium, Switzerland and the Baltics - the mix reflects mid‑range geography and market size. National posts share the stage with regional specialists (such as GLS and DPD), driving innovation in service differentiation, tech integration and sustainability (electric fleets, bike couriers, offset programmes).

Finally, in smaller or more remote markets like Iceland and Bulgaria, webshops often layer core postal services with a handful (three to five) of local same‑day or on‑demand couriers to ensure coverage. Even here, national posts are expanding parcel‑locker footprints and app‑based tracking to meet rising consumer expectations - while keeping a watchful eye towards rapidly growing new digital-first ventures.

Understanding these overlapping factors - market consolidation, provider fragmentation and geographic realities - allows e‑commerce leaders to tailor last‑mile strategies. In widespread, low‑density regions, deep partnerships with national posts ensure full coverage; in dense, competitive markets, robust multi‑carrier technology and innovative niche services deliver the flexibility consumers expect.

Stay tuned for more insights and sign-up to our monthly newsletter.

Customer stories
How AI Is Transforming Real Estate Development

The real estate sector, particularly in hospitality, is undergoing a significant shift. With growing data availability and the evolution of AI tools, companies can now make faster, more informed, and more strategic decisions. We recently sat down with Jochen Renz to talk about how he and his team are rethinking real estate development by embracing AI-driven insights.

This article is based on a conversation between Michael Bugaj , CMO at Tembi, and Jochen Renz, VP Operations Accor Switzerland & Southern Germany and Managing Director AccorHotels Switzerland.


The challenge of predicting growth

Jochen begins by highlighting a central challenge in real estate development: identifying areas with future growth potential. "The question was, how can I ensure we define areas in a country with further potential growth than we might see today?" he explains. Traditional methods - macro- and microeconomic research, political and demographic analysis - often look backward, relying on historical data to predict future trends.

However, Jochen was looking for more than that. He wanted forward-thinking tools that could help them predict, not just reflect. This desire for a proactive approach led Jochen and his team to explore AI-powered solutions.

Discovering Tembi

One of the tools Jochen explored is Tembi, a platform that helps identify emerging opportunities in different areas of cities based on continuously updated market data. While not yet rolled out in Switzerland, the tool was originally developed in Denmark and stood out to Jochen as a promising forward-looking platform.

"Tembi allowed us to do predictions in areas based on logistics, different sectors, and growing patterns," Jochen shares. "I compared this with more traditional development tools, and what stood out was its ability to look forward by analyzing data such as employer growth, financial data, and sector movements."

From manual labor to scalable insights

Traditionally, site selection was a heavily manual task involving fragmented data sources. Jochen’s team would combine macroeconomic data with localized insights, looking at street-level factors, emissions, and building potential. External consultants were often brought in to help collect and validate this information. "The consistent approach is not easy to achieve," he admits.

With AI-driven tools like Tembi, however, the potential for change is clear. While still a work in progress, the promise lies in being able to access relevant data for hundreds or even thousands of locations more quickly than before. Jochen notes that with tools like Tembi, it's becoming increasingly feasible to explore broader market patterns and opportunities in a more scalable way.

Replicable patterns across borders

Jochen shared an example from Denmark: a promising opportunity in Odense. “I had never heard of the city before,” he laughs. “But by setting a few filters, we uncovered a significant movement in the city that revealed a growing need for hotels.”

With tools like Tembi, such discoveries become replicable. “You could look for similar movements in Sweden, Poland, or Belgium, just by changing the location input. That’s the power of structured data paired with AI.”

A shift in real estate mindset

The ability to anticipate development opportunities earlier in the cycle will give companies a strategic edge. "If we know an area is developing and we can suggest the right brand early on, we influence the project from the beginning," Jochen explains. "That positions us in a completely different way in the value chain."

Lowering the barrier to smart decisions

Perhaps one of the most powerful applications of AI, Jochen believes, is making complex data more accessible. "Think about someone running a 7-Eleven or Domino's Pizza franchise, they're not developers," he says. "But if AI can give them confidence in a location based on structured data, that opens up huge possibilities."

This democratization of insight, paired with AI’s ability to remove emotional bias from decisions, is transforming how Accor - and potentially the wider industry - approaches site selection.

Looking ahead

As AI continues to evolve, Jochen envisions a future where real estate teams can monitor hundreds of markets at once, identifying trends and acting faster than ever before. “You don’t have to focus on one area anymore, you can analyze 100 areas and synthesize it down to the two best opportunities. That’s game-changing.”

The intersection of human insight and machine intelligence is reshaping real estate development. For Jochen and the team at Accor, tools like Tembi have the potential to become more than just another platform - they could evolve into essential partners in strategic growth.

As this conversation shows, the integration of AI into real estate decision-making isn't just a technical evolution, it's a shift in mindset. By empowering teams with better tools, clearer data, and broader perspectives, platforms like Tembi can help companies like Accor stay ahead in an increasingly competitive and fast-moving market.

Stay tuned for more stories like this as we continue to explore the intersection of AI and real-world strategy across industries.

E-commerce
Webshop Delivery Pricing trends: How consumer costs shifted from October 2024 to March 2025

or e-commerce consumers, delivery costs often represent the final hurdle before completing a purchase. Set too high, delivery fees can drive potential buyers away; priced competitively, they can boost conversions and foster customer loyalty. At Tembi, we closely track these shifts, monitoring what webshops across Europe charge consumers for different delivery methods.

We analysed webshop delivery pricing data across nine markets from October 2024 to March 2025, examining variations across three key delivery methods: parcel box, parcel shop, and home delivery.

Over 300.000 webshops are part of this analysis and we've removed the outliers when calculatin average deliver prices (free delivery and delivery of large and/or heavy objects).

Average delivery price per  per market March 2025

Key delivery pricing movements by Method

Parcel Box delivery: Affordable, but volatile

Parcel boxes have become a popular choice due to convenience and lower operational costs. However, pricing varied significantly:

  • 🇱🇹 Lithuania saw a notable increase of 23.8%, rising from €3.03 to €3.75, suggesting webshops might be responding to increased local demand or higher operational costs.
  • 🇳🇱 Netherlands experienced an 18% price drop, from €7.31 to €5.98, potentially reflecting competitive pressure or improved logistics efficiency.

Parcel Shop delivery: Mixed strategies

Parcel shops offer flexibility for consumers who prefer to pick up orders at convenient locations:

  • 🇱🇻 Prices in Latvia decreased by 17.7%, from €2.94 to €2.42, a general trend for deliver prices in the country.
  • 🇳🇴 Norway saw a significant decrease of €1.24 per delivery, suggesting potential improvements in parcel shop logistics or fierce webshop competition to retain customers.
  • Conversely, webshops in🇧🇪 Belgium slightly increased prices by 5.4%, a modest rise that might reflect increased operational costs or a shift in consumer preference.

Home Delivery: Premium convenience, mixed pricing

Home delivery remains the premium service and is generally priced highest:

  • 🇸🇪 Sweden saw a drop by 13%, from €7.91 to €6.88, reflecting aggressive competitive positioning by webshops or improved home-delivery logistics.
  • 🇳🇴 Norway and 🇱🇻 Latvia also saw a decrease home delivery prices.
  • However, 🇫🇮 Finland bucked this trend, seeing a slight price increase from €12.62 to €12.97, possibly driven by increasing last-mile delivery expenses.

Why delivery price changes matter

These shifts in delivery prices reveal strategic decisions by webshops rather than direct changes in logistics provider pricing. Webshops balance several factors:

  • Consumer demand: Price sensitivity and preferred delivery methods vary widely between markets.
  • Competition: Price adjustments can help webshops maintain competitiveness against major marketplaces and local rivals.
  • Operational costs: Changes might reflect fluctuations in fuel, wages, logistics efficiency, or capacity constraints. Delivery can either increase the margin on each product, or decrease it if delvery cost is lower than the cost to the last-mile provider.

For commercial leaders in e-commerce, understanding these pricing strategies is critical. Lower delivery prices may indicate aggressive market positioning or efficiency gains, while increases might signal tighter operational conditions or reduced competition.

Webshop delivery pricing is a powerful indicator of market conditions and consumer expectations. Regular monitoring of these shifts is essential to stay competitive and agile - regardless if you're a retailer selling directrly or inderictly, or operate a last-mile delivery provider.

E-commerce
Nordic e-commerce still has room to grow: Over 9,200 webshops launched last year and still selling in 2025

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?  

Number of new active webshops per country

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.

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.

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.

E-commerce
The fierce e-commerce market competition: 11% of webshops in Denmark shut down the last six months.

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.

Data from Nordic Market Intelligence report (September 2024)

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.

Number of webshops closed in the period Aug 2024-Feb 2025 per product category

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.

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.

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.

E-commerce
Where E-commerce truly lives: Rethinking webshop market potential in Europe

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.
  • Estonia leads the pack with 7.9 webshops per 1,000 inhabitants, signalling a highly digitised economy.
  • The Netherlands has over 119,000 webshops and 6.6 per 1,000 people - combining scale and density.
  • Germany, by contrast, has 134,000 webshops, but a much lower density: 1.6 per 1,000 people.

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
  • Robust delivery infrastructure that supports fulfilment at scale
  • Strong consumer trust and demand for buying online
  • Markets where e-commerce is no longer a trend - it’s the default

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.

Market Intelligence
Netherlands Commercial Real Estate relocation data & insights

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.

Download report

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

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.

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.

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

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

E-commerce
Germany E-commerce Intelligence now available on Tembi

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.

 

Product
Not-Invented-Here Syndrome

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.

Five Intelligence trends for 2025

s we look ahead to 2025, our CEO Kristian Mørk Puggaard and CMO Michael Bugaj have identified five intelligence trends looking to transform how organisations approach data, analytics, AI, and strategic decision-making. From the increasing demand for tailored intelligence to the early days of AI “colleagues,” these predictions underscore the continuously growing importance of innovation in staying competitive.

Whether you’re seeking to use open data, explore agentic AI, or simply make the most of emerging cloud technologies, we hope these insights spark new ideas and guide your next steps. Dive into our Five Intelligence Predictions for 2025 to discover how you can proactively prepare for, and thrive in, the evolving landscape of intelligence.

Prediction 1

Skyrocketing demand for tailored intelligence

As off-the-shelf solutions lose their edge and general solutions built on scraping and simple analytics fail to provide sufficient depth, businesses will demand insights custom-fit to their use cases, ushering in a new era of specialised intelligence to stay ahead of the competition.

Many organisations are interested in understanding and tracking market trends to gain broader insights. However, as business leaders, we seek actionable intelligence within our own domains. As we realise what is possible, and as trust in AI-based solutions grows, the demand for use-case intelligence will surge exponentially.

We’re already seeing AI reshape workflows, but in 2025 it will become a core differentiator in business models—unlocking deeper insights, driving strategy, and delivering more profound value than ever before by empowering organisations to incorporate advanced intelligence across their operations.

Prediction 2

The power of Open Data ecosystems

AI requires data to be truly effective. Initiatives like the European Data Act and Overture Maps signify a shift towards freely available data, leading to new business opportunities and collaborative innovations across industries. With the EU Data Act expected to become applicable in 2025, more data will be made available for use by the broader economy and society, while ensuring companies and individuals who generate the data remain in control.

With an increase in both the quantity and quality of available data - at a lower cost - small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) will be better positioned to leverage that data in their decision-making processes.

Prediction 3

Agentic AI and our first AI colleagues

By 2025, we’ll see AI colleagues enter our work environment. AI assistants will progress beyond data crunching and GPT-driven solutions to orchestrating tasks and decisions - enabling professionals to tackle complex challenges with unprecedented precision and speed.

New roles will arise to oversee agentic systems and manage AI assistants. AI is already viewed as a commodity, and with the ability to build systems in which AI agents collaborate with one another, organisations will begin creating human processes around AI, including entire roles managed by AI.

Prediction 4

Growing Dependence on External Data

As data becomes the lifeblood of strategic decision-making, organisations will rely on ever broader and more diverse external datasets. The skill to source, curate, and interpret these data volumes will be a critical competitive advantage.

Real-time market monitoring will play an even greater role in decision-making. New vendors will emerge with highly specialised datasets will challenges traditional data to keep their datasets up to date, while predictive models will help fill the gaps - shifting us from yearly monitoring to more frequent and immediate updates.

Prediction 5

Cloud & AI for everyone

Thanks to ongoing technological advancements and cost efficiencies, cloud-based AI services will become more accessible—and more affordable—allowing organisations of every size to benefit from sophisticated intelligence solutions.

NVIDIA, for instance, with their project DIGITS, will offer a personal AI supercomputer that can pack 1,000 times the power of an average laptop, bringing high-performance AI computing to individual users. Small and medium-sized enterprises, just like international enterprises, can now train their private AI in secure environments - integrating both internal and external data. This will pave the way for digital twins of their markets and the ability to simulate different outcomes.

What's your take on the intelligence space for 2025?

Customer stories
Customer story: Clerk.io

How Clerk.io used Tembi's E-commerce Intelligence to explore new markets and improve lead quality.

 

About Clerk.io

Clerk.io is a leading e-commerce personalisation platform, helping thousands of webshops optimise their customer experience through tailored product recommendations, search, and email personalisation.

The challenge

Clerk.io needed to address two main challenges:

  • Market exploration: Understanding market potential in different regions to identify high-priority growth opportunities.
  • Lead quality: Ensuring lead accuracy to reduce time spent manually qualify ing irrelevant or unfit leads


Christian, Head of Lead Generation at Clerk.io, explained: “We were looking for a solution to scan markets and get a clear understanding of their potential. At the same time, we needed to ensure the leads we pursued met specific criteria, like being transactional webshops. Our previous provider couldn’t consistently deliver on these fronts.”

The solution: Partnering with Tembi

Clerk.io turned to Tembi to tackle these challenges. With Tembi's market data & intelligence, the team gained access to:

  • Detailed market insights: Tembi helped Clerk.io identify untapped opportunities by filtering markets based on factors like product count, visitor volume, and transaction data.
  • Improved lead accuracy: Tembi’s platform allowed Clerk.io to focus on high-potential leads while significantly reducing manual qualification time through Tembi’s webshop validation software.

Christian highlighted the impact: “Tembi gave us a market feeling. For example, in Norway and Sweden, we could see the potential and decide if this was something we should double down on. The data helped us make informed decisions about where to focus our sales efforts. And 98% of the leads we identified via Tembi were qualified, allowing us to focus on high-quality opportunities without loosing time on irrelevant prospects.”

The results

1. More Accurate Leads. By leveraging Tembi's validation process and advanced filtering tools, Clerk.io increased the accuracy of its leads.Only 1% were unqualified, and another 1% didn’t match the ICP criteria.

2. Time savings. Manual qualification time was massively reduced, allowing the team to allocate resources more effectively.

3. Market viability assessments. Clerk.io used Tembi to assess markets likeNorway and Sweden, deciding where to prioritise their efforts for maximum growth potential.

“Tembi made qualifying leads less time-consuming, and the time savings alone justified the investment,” said Peter, Head of Marketing at Clerk.io.’

A seamless partnership

Beyond the technical aspects, Clerk.io found their collaboration with Tembi to be seamless and productive. Peter Tullin, CMO at Clerk concluded: “We’ve been very happy with Tembi. It was a seamless collaboration, and their local Copenhagen office made it even easier to work together.”

 

Market Intelligence
Seed investment

embi has secured a €3 million investment from Seed Capital to grow our market intelligence platform and expand our market reach.

The post below is a translation of a news article posted by ITWatch the 5th of December 2024 by journalist Tobias Krog Vind.

Market Intelligence Platform Secures Seed Investment: "We Believe This Will Be the Way Companies Work in the Future"

Tembi has just received a capital injection of DKK 22 million from Seed Capital. This marks only the beginning for the company, which aims to set the agenda for the future of market analysis through AI.

In a rapidly changing market, keeping up with emerging trends can be challenging, especially in a landscape with thousands of businesses and even more products. Forecasting developments adds another layer of complexity.

The Danish market intelligence platform Tembi, however, claims it can provide AI-generated insights tailored to the realities of each individual company.

Using image recognition, language models, and machine learning, Tembi's AI aggregates data from various sources and presents it as market analyses in clear graphs and actionable insights. Customers can manipulate the data and graphs as needed, customising the platform to fit their requirements.

“We enable our customers to predict market movements, helping them stay ahead of their competitors. At the same time, our services also support them in actively leveraging these insights in their strategies and execution,” says Kristian Mørk Puggaard, CEO of Tembi.

For example, Tembi's solution provides insights into trade and logistics patterns within e-commerce and retail, including which webshops and product categories are growing in a given country and which companies are experiencing the most robust growth.

“It’s crucial for a company's success to know what’s happening among competitors and customers within their product group. Our tool makes it easier—and far less resource-intensive—to stay updated,” adds the Tembi CEO.

Seizing Opportunities Now

The two-year-old market intelligence platform, which currently serves 50 customers across 14 European countries, has raised DKK 22 million from Seed Capital in its latest funding round.

According to Kristian Mørk Puggaard, the timing of the investment aligns with Tembi's rapid growth and the opportunities available, but it also requires immediate action to capitalise on them.

“To be the first to dominate this market in Europe, we need to act now. In a few years, I believe everyone will demand a platform like ours. We believe this is the way companies will operate in the future. To ensure we’re the ones delivering it, we want to accelerate our growth now,” he explains.

Why Seed Capital?

“It was clear they understand what we are building and the future we’re targeting. It’s vital for us to have partners who ask the challenging questions that push us to rethink what we might otherwise take as established truths,” says Puggaard.

He also highlights Seed Capital's network and strong reputation as decisive factors, enabling Tembi to take its next steps.

Expanding Beyond Europe

The next step for Tembi is to grow its customer base beyond Europe’s borders, which the company plans to achieve within the next two years.

“We aim to be on the radar of all leading companies, not just in Europe but on other continents as well. While we haven’t finalised the exact location, North America seems like a strong candidate,” says Puggaard.

Additionally, Tembi plans to expand its client portfolio, which is currently concentrated in logistics, trade, and real estate.

Given this trajectory, Puggaard anticipates that the company will be ready for another funding round within one to two years.

Market Intelligence
Nordic Market Intelligence report: September 2024

he Nordic eCommerce report dives into the eCommerce market in Sweden, Finland, Norway and Denmark. The report is free and available for download here.

What to expect inside?

Looking into data from 79.000 online retailers that sell physical goods we analysed what type of commerce platforms are popular, which payment providers are mostly used as well as delivery methods and product categories.

Interested in knowing more about our data, or are you looking to reach a specific type of webshops? Contact our sales here for a short intro.

Previous E-commerce Reports

Baltic E-Commerce Market Intelligence Report (Published January 2024)
Nordic e-commerce Market Intelligence Report (Published October 2023)

E-commerce
The most popular commerce platforms across ten European markets

hen starting a webshop, you have two options: build a custom site from scratch or choose a ready-to-go commerce platform to manage inventory and sell products or services online. Given that webshops have existed since the early days of the internet, there are now numerous providers catering to both entrepreneurs and established businesses.

A variety of commerce platforms power European webshops, from large international providers like Shopify and WooCommerce to smaller local specialists such as Dandomain in Denmark and Voog in Estonia. Larger platforms often offer the benefits of scale, while local providers might offer specialized solutions and compliance with regional regulations that enhance scalability.

Choosing the right platform is not just important for those building webshops, but also for the ecosystem surrounding commerce platforms. Not all plug-ins and solutions are compatible with every framework, and understanding a platform’s market penetration can be a strong indicator of its success and investment in that region.

In this article, we take a deep dive into the most widely used commerce platforms across 10 European markets, examining which solutions are the most popular. It’s likely no surprise that Shopify and WordPress’s open-source WooCommerce plugin dominate, but who are the other key players?

Looking at Switzerland, The Netherlands, Slovakia, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia we’ve identified a total of 242.061 active webshops. With over 100.479 webshops, or 32%, Shopify is trailing behind WooCommerce with 9%. Looking at these 10 markets, WooCommerce is today the preferred e-commerce platform with around 129.480 webshops.

The fact that we only identified 6.682  custom-built webshops (2,1% of the dataset), shows just how powerful commerce platforms are today, where both large and small webshops can benefit from the platform's investments in technology and solutions that make it easy, and possible, to operate and grow a business online.

Before diving into the specifics of each market’s platform penetration, let’s quickly explain how we gather and maintain the quality of this data.

Gathering quality webshop data

Monitoring hundreds of thousands of webshops on an ongoing basis demands a robust validation process to maintain high-quality data. At Tembi, we automatically filter out inactive webshops, businesses in bankruptcy, and webshops not registered as official companies, and we can only to this by actually visiting the webshops and analyze their operations continuously. We’re not B2B lead list generation company per se, but our data is used by many companies to improve sales and help identify business opportunities.

Once the validation process is complete, and we’ve analyized the webshops products, our system categorizes each webshop into a product category and enriches the data with for example website traffic data and company data.

If you're interested in learning more about how our technology works, be sure to check out our article: Insights from every Webshop on the Market

Deep dive into commerce platforms in European countries

Having looked how the distribution looks over 10 European countries, let’s examine which E-Commerce platforms are popular in each country and see what insights we can uncover into regional preferences and market trends.

E-commerce platforms in Denmark

In Denmark, we can find a total of 32.720 webshops. We have identified that 13.567 webshops are built using WooCommerce, and 11.703 are built with Shopify. Just as it also shows in the picture of the ten European markets, WooCommerce and Shopify power the majority of the webshops. The remaining 24% (7.450 webshops) utilize various other providers. With 2.164 webshops, Dandomain stands as the third most used platform in Denmark, likely due to its local roots and strong integration with popular hosting services in the country.

E-Commerce Platforms in Estonia

Estonia has a total of 8.568 webshops, with WooCommerce as the clear market leader. WooCommerce is used by 5.846 webshops, representing 68% of all Estonian market. In second place, like in most markets, Shopify follows, but with only 9% of the market, totaling 739 webshops.  WooCommerce’s strong presence in Estonia gives it the highest market share in the group of the analysed countries. In third place we find the local e-commerce platform, Estonian Voog, powering 570 webshops. Voog offers native language support and is perfect for small to medium-sized companies, which could also explain why WooCommerce owns such a big portion of the market.

The remaining 23% of E-Commerces, without the ones using WooCommerce and Shopify, are built using various other providers (1.983 webshops).

E-Commerce Platforms in Finland

Finland has a total of 15.092 webshops, with WooCommerce and Shopify being the market leaders. 6.953 webshops in Finland use WooCommerce (45% of the Finnish market), while Shopify is used by 4.014 webshops, accounting for a 26% market share.

The remaining 28% (4,125 webshops) utilize various other providers. Notably, 644 webshops (5% of the market) are custom-built, highlighting a segment of businesses opting for fully tailored E-Commerce solution. With a strong tech and design culture, Finnish businesses likely leverage local expertise to create bespoke solutions cater directly to their target market. MyCashFlow, a Finnish E-Commerce Platform, is the third most used one in the country, accounting with 1.327 webshops, a 9% of the total.  

E-Commerce Platforms in Latvia

There are 4.903 webshops in Latvia. Of this number, 1.841 webshops are built with WooCommerce (37% of Latvian webshops) and 1.201 webshops are built with Shopify (24%). The other 1.861 webshops (38%) use different providers.

E-Commerce Platforms in Lithuania

Lithuania has a total of 12.077 webshops, with WooCommerce as the most popular platform, powering 6.568 stores, or 55% of the market. Shopify is the second most used (2.198 webshops) making up 18% of Lithuanian online stores. The remaining 26% (3.311 webshops) use various other providers, with PrestaShop ranking third, supporting 1.506 webshops and capturing 12% of the market. As we can see, PrestaShop ranks very closely to Shopify. We see how two Lithuanian E-Commerce platforms, such as Shopiteka and Verskis, are too the most used ones.  

E-Commerce Platforms in The Netherlands

The Netherlands have a highly developed E-Commerce market with 81.224 webshops. WooCommerce has by far most clients, powering 38,316 stores, or 46% of all online shops. Shopify follows with 21,534 webshops, accounting for 26% of the market. The remaining 27%, or 21.374 stores, are distributed across various other providers.

E-Commerce Platforms in Norway

Norway has an E-Commerce market with 13.469 webshops. WooCommerce leads the way, powering 5.346 webshops, or 39% of the market. Shopify is a close second, used by 4.931 webshops, making up 36% of the market. The remaining 24%, or 3.192 webshops, utilize various other providers. The competition between Shopify and WooCommerce is tight in Norway, with only 415 webshops more (a 3%) built with the latter. The third one is MyStore, an E-Commerce provider created in Norway.

E-Commerce Platforms in Slovakia

There are 15.429 webshops in Slovakia. WooCommerce leads the market, powering 6.399 of these webshops, accounting for 41%. Shoptet follows with 3.502 webshops, making up 22% of the market. The remaining 36%, or 5.528 webshops, are built using a variety of other providers. Slovakia’s case is specially interesting, as Shopify is not the second choice. In its place we find Shoptet, a Czech platform that offers marketplace integrations to the Central European market. This can be relevant for companies looking to increase visibility and brand recognition in the region.

E-Commerce Platforms in Sweden

Sweden's E-Commerce landscape is strong, with a total of 31.588 webshops. WooCommerce has a solid position on the market, powering 13.293 of these stores, or 39%, showcasing its popularity among Swedish businesses. Shopify isn’t far behind, with 11.354 webshops, making up 34% of the market. The other 6.941 webshops, representing 26%, use a variety of different providers. We find similar data in Norway, the competition between WooCommerce and Shopify is close, with only a 4% market share of difference (roughly 2.000 webshops).

E-Commerce Platforms in Switzerland

Switzerland is home to 26.991 webshops, with WooCommerce and Shopify leading the market. 12.168 of these webshops are built with WooCommerce (45% market share), making it the most popular E-Commerce platform in the country. Shopify follows closely, with 9.841 webshops, representing 36% of the market. The remaining 19% (4.739 webshops) are built using different providers. Of the most used platforms in Switzerland, only PepperShop is Swiss company.

Better market intelligence

The data from analyzing 242.061 webshops confirms that WooCommerce and Shopify hold a dominant position, commanding 73% of the market share. Breaking this dominance is no easy task, as it would not only require mass migration but also new solutions that offer greater value than the globally leading commerce platforms.

However, despite the dominance of these major providers, there are still over 80.000 webshops using other frameworks. For instance, with over 15,000 webshops on PrestaShop and more than 13,000 using Magento, there remains a significant opportunity to develop plug-ins and solutions for these platforms.

Whether you're developing plug-ins or building software reliant on specific frameworks, understanding your total addressable market (TAM) is a key indicator of potential and helps determine if an investment is worthwhile. Additionally, knowing how different markets are penetrated provides insights into where to focus future sales and marketing efforts. The more data you have, the better informed your decisions will be.

If you’re interested in more data around the webshops, don’t hesitate to contact us on hello@tembi.io. We are adding more countries continuously so sign up for our newsletter to get the latest updates.

Technology
How Data and Analytics are transforming business decision-making

he amounts of available data is growing in an overwhelming speed, on one hand presenting an increased difficulty to collect and access the data, on the other hand an increased opportunity to better understand markets and competitors.  

With continuously increased computing power and a steadily growing democratisation of access to advanced analytics, the way we approach decision-making is evolving.  What has been historically a process of intuition and experience is now increasingly guided by data-driven insights. This transformation is enabling companies to not only understand past and present trends but also to predict and shape future outcomes.  

Let’s dive into how data and analytics are reshaping business decision-making, from traditional methods to the advanced analytics techniques of the future.

The evolution of decision-making processes

Traditionally, business decisions were often made based on intuition, experience, and a limited set of data. Executives relied heavily on their gut feelings or the historical knowledge of their industry. While this approach worked in the past, it more than often led to suboptimal outcomes due to the lack of comprehensive information and understanding of the market.

The emergence of data-driven decision-making marked a significant shift in this process. Businesses began to collect and analyse large internal and external datasets, to inform their strategies and tactics. A development that has been rapidly accelerated by the introduction of BI software. Decisions were no longer solely based on instinct but were supported by quantitative evidence.

As technology advanced, so did the decision-making process. We have now entered an era of analytics-driven decisions, where businesses use sophisticated analytical tools to forecast future trends (predictive analytics) and even prescribe specific actions to achieve desired outcomes (prescriptive analytics). For instance, Amazon uses predictive analytics to manage inventory, ensuring that products are in stock when customers want them while minimising storage costs. Our company, Tembi, has developed a beta product that uses prescriptive analytics to recommend development and construction companies what to build in certain locations to reach full capacity. And this is the only beginning of how data and analytics will assist us in making better decisions.

The Analytics Value Escalator

To understand the full impact of analytics on decision-making, it’s essential to explore the concept of the Analytics Value Escalator developed by Gartner. This model describes the progression of analytical methods, each offering increasing value and complexity.

1. Descriptive Analytics

Descriptive analytics answers the question, “What happened?” It involves summarising historical data to understand past performance. For example, sales reports, web analytics, and financial statements fall into this category. While descriptive analytics provides valuable insights, it is often limited to hindsight and does not explain the reasons behind the data.

2. Diagnostic Analytics

Diagnostic analytics delves deeper, addressing the question, “Why did it happen?” By identifying correlations and patterns within the data, businesses can uncover the root causes of specific outcomes. This method is more powerful than descriptive analytics but still focuses on past events.

3. Predictive Analytics

Moving up the escalator, predictive analytics answers the question, “What is likely to happen?” It uses historical data, machine learning algorithms, and statistical models to forecast future trends and behaviors. For example, retailers might use predictive analytics to anticipate customer demand or optimise inventory levels.

4. Prescriptive Analytics

At the top of the escalator is prescriptive analytics, which addresses the question, “What should we do?” This advanced method not only predicts future outcomes but also recommends specific actions to achieve the best possible results. For instance, a logistics company might use prescriptive analytics to determine the most efficient delivery routes, considering variables like traffic, weather, and fuel costs.  

The importance of quality data

No matter how advanced the analytics methods are, their effectiveness is fundamentally dependent on the quality of the data they analyse. Poor quality data or analytics conducted on incomplete data-sets can lead to misleading conclusions and can hence create unreliable insights.    

Common data issues include data silos, where information is trapped in isolated systems; inconsistent data formats; and incomplete or outdated data.  

To ensure data quality, businesses must adopt best practices such as regular data cleaning, integration across departments, and robust data governance policies.  

For instance, Procter & Gamble invested in a comprehensive data governance framework to ensure consistency and accuracy across its global operations, which has been crucial in maintaining the integrity of their analytics initiatives.  

“We’re also now able to take our data analytics and AI to the next level because we have a solid, reliable base of product data that can be matched with external consumer data. That possibility gets our business leaders really excited!”
Laura Becker, President of Global Business Services at Procter & Gamble

 

Generative AI’s limitations in business decision-making

Generative AI, a cutting-edge technology that enables machines to create new and original content, has revolutionised various industries by producing text, images, music, and even complex data patterns. Its ability to generate content that mimics human creativity has opened up exciting possibilities in fields like marketing, design, entertainment, and more. However, despite its remarkable capabilities, generative AI faces notable limitations, particularly in the context of business decision-making.

In business environments, decision-making often requires a deep understanding of nuanced contexts, the ability to interpret complex and sometimes ambiguous data, and the capacity to foresee the broader implications of certain choices. While generative AI can assist by providing insights, generating scenarios, or offering creative solutions, it lacks the human intuition and judgment needed to fully comprehend the strategic, ethical, and long-term consequences of business decisions.

Another significant limitation is the lack of transparency in how generative AI models arrive at their outputs. These models often function as "black boxes," where the decision-making processes are not easily interpretable or understandable, even to those with technical expertise. This opacity can be problematic in business settings, where leaders need to understand the rationale behind decisions and recommendations. Without transparency, it becomes challenging to trust and validate the AI's outputs, increasing the risk of relying on potentially flawed or biased information. For example, in finance, where decisions can have significant consequences, the lack of transparency in generative AI’s recommendations might lead to regulatory concerns.

Moreover, generative AI relies heavily on the quality and scope of the data it has been trained on. If the training data is biased, incomplete, or not representative of the current environment, the AI’s output may be flawed or misleading. This can be particularly problematic in business, where decisions based on inaccurate or biased data can lead to significant financial losses, reputational damage, or other unintended negative outcomes.  

The future of decision-making with Prescriptive Analytics

Looking ahead, prescriptive analytics is set to further transform how businesses make decisions, enabling them to be more proactive and confident in their choices. By processing large amounts of data—both historical and real-time—using advanced algorithms, prescriptive analytics not only analyses past events and predicts future trends but also recommends the best actions to take. This empowers everyone in an organisation, from managers to frontline employees, to make quicker and more informed decisions.

For example, industries like healthcare, finance, and supply chain management are already beginning to harness the power of prescriptive analytics. In healthcare, it can optimize treatment plans for patients by analyzing a wide range of factors, from medical history to genetic data. The Mayo Clinic is one institution exploring how prescriptive analytics can personalise treatments that hopefully can lead to better patient outcomes and reduced costs. By using simulations, companies can test different strategies in a virtual environment before implementing them, ensuring that decisions are more likely to lead to successful outcomes.

A key advantage of prescriptive analytics is its ability to combine internal data with external market intelligence. By integrating data from sources like customer feedback, industry trends, and competitive analysis, businesses can gain a more comprehensive view of the environment in which they operate. This broader perspective allows companies to better understand market dynamics, customer needs, and emerging opportunities. When internal data is enriched with external insights, businesses can make more informed decisions about where to allocate resources, how to optimise operations, and where to focus strategic efforts. This combination of internal and external data enhances the ability to deploy resources effectively, ensuring that efforts are aligned with both internal capabilities and market demands.

However, not every company will immediately or fully adopt prescriptive analytics. The extent to which businesses can leverage this technology depends on the quality of their data, the sophistication of their existing analytical capabilities, and their willingness to embrace advanced analytics. Companies with strong internal data and analytical resources will be the first to take full advantage of prescriptive analytics. In contrast, smaller businesses or those with less advanced data strategies may begin with specific applications and gradually expand its use. Alternatively, they can utilise Intelligence-as-a-Service providers such as Tembi to gain access to market data, analytics, and actionable insights, allowing them to benefit from advanced analytics without the need for extensive in-house capabilities.

The success of prescriptive analytics also hinges on the quality of internal data and the company’s analytical skills. To implement it effectively, businesses need to ensure their data is accurate, comprehensive, and up-to-date, requiring investment in data management and infrastructure. Skilled data scientists and analysts are essential for developing and maintaining the models that drive prescriptive analytics. Moreover, fostering a data-driven culture within the organisation is crucial, so that decision-makers understand and trust the recommendations provided by these tools.

As prescriptive analytics becomes more widespread, companies must also consider the ethical implications of relying on these advanced technologies. The potential for algorithmic bias, the need for transparency in decision-making processes, and concerns around data privacy and security are all critical issues, especially in industries handling sensitive information. Businesses will need to strike a balance between leveraging the capabilities of prescriptive analytics and maintaining human oversight to ensure responsible and effective decision-making.

Conclusion

The journey from traditional decision-making to an analytics-driven approach represents an important evolution in the business world. As data and analytics continue to advance, businesses are better equipped than ever to make informed, strategic decisions. However, the effectiveness of these decisions depends on the quality of the data, the appropriate use of analytical methods, and a clear understanding of the limitations of emerging technologies like generative AI.

To navigate this new landscape, businesses should consider the following steps:

Audit your data quality: Ensure that your data is clean, integrated, and well-governed.

Invest in analytics training: Equip your team with the skills needed to leverage advanced analytics tools.

Balance AI with human judgment: Use AI tools like generative AI and prescriptive analytics wisely, keeping human oversight in place.

As we look to the future, prescriptive analytics offers a promising glimpse into how businesses can navigate an increasingly complex world with confidence and foresight. By embracing these tools and strategies, companies can stay ahead of the curve and achieve sustained success in a data-driven world.

For further reading, consider exploring the ethical challenges of AI in business or case studies on successful data-driven decision-making in various industries.

Invitation for Discussion: How are you incorporating analytics into your decision-making process? What challenges or successes have you experienced? Share your thoughts with us at mbu@tembi.io.

E-commerce
Last-Mile: 5 Key Tactics For Maximising Profits During Q4 Peak Season

s we approach the year's final quarter, the stakes for last-mile delivery companies couldn't be higher. With the majority of revenue generated from B2C webshops, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and the Christmas season represent crucial opportunities to maximise profits.  

However, preparation for these peak periods involves more than ramping up staff, fine-tuning routing, and increasing throughput.  

At Tembi, having helped over 40 last-mile providers across Europe, we understand that strategic planning on the commercial side can make or break your Q4 performance. To help you in the process we have collected a five of our key learnings on the topic.

1. Make Sure Your Bases Are Loaded

Instead of focusing solely on acquiring new clients, ensure you're optimally positioned with your existing ones. Monitoring your position in their checkout process can yield significant returns. Being positioned as the top delivery provider at the delivery checkout can dramatically increase the number of orders you receive, often doubling or even tripling them.  

From several of our Last-mile delivery clients, we have witnessed an average of 30%-50% increase in top-1 rankings working tactically with this. Typically, this amounts to a total increase of 20%- 33% in revenue from the existing client base!  

2. Target the Right Clients, Not Just More Clients

Strategic client acquisition is essential. Focus on attracting webshops that boast a strong infrastructure, high order volumes, and the right geographical locations that align with your logistics.  

These targeted efforts can significantly enhance your profit margins and operational efficiency.

On the other hand, failing to identify the clients that are right for you means losing time and money on unsuccessful outreach, attending irrelevant meetings, and seeing your closing rate decline. And even worse, potentially attracting a non-profitable client for your business.  

Market research or a good market insight & sales intelligence tool will help ensuring you target the right clients. More is not always better.

3. Leverage Your Unique Advantages

Understand where you stand out compared to your competitors and highlight your unique selling points to differentiate yourself in a crowded market. Are your delivery times faster? Do you offer more sustainable options? Is your service reliability superior?

Tembi’s E-commerce Market Intelligence solution provides users with a comprehensive, data-driven market overview. This enables last-mile delivery companies to understand their performance and how they measure up against competitors. Our data not only visualises your strengths but also serves as credible evidence of your advantages.

Combining this data with comprehensive insights into each webshop in your market provides a significant advantage in sales meetings. You can tailor your pitch using up-to-date information, demonstrating how your solution will enhance the delivery experience for your customers' clients. This personalised approach showcases the specific benefits and improvements your service offers, making a compelling case for why your company is the best choice.

4. Plan and Work with Your Clients

Q4 is a vulnerable time for webshops, where faulty shipments and slow deliveries can be extremely costly. Success often stems from a partnership approach between webshops and last-mile providers.  

Engage deeply with your clients to ensure they see you as a trusted partner they can rely on during these critical periods.

In essence, this is where you want your sales and account management team to spend the majority of their time, which can be enabled by strong processes and the right tools/technologies to help your team be even more efficient.

5. Don’t wait - Start Today

Effective planning and execution require time, structured outreach, and meticulous account management. There is no easy way. The sooner you start, the better positioned you'll be to capitalise on the high season's opportunities. The time is now – not in October.

Get Ahead Of The Competition With Tembi

At Tembi, we bring years of experience in delivering market insights and partnership services that drive success.  

Our market intelligence solutions provide last-mile delivery companies with continuously updated data and insights into webshops, delivery provider rankings, export markets, technology usage, product categories, and much more - allowing companies to react swiftly to changes, maintain top rankings, and increase revenue from their existing client base.  

We tailor our supportive services to each client's needs, and we would love nothing more than to set up a free, non-committal session to discover how our e-commerce market intelligence solution could help your business achieve its revenue goals—both in Q4 and throughout the year.  

E-commerce
Insights from every webshop on the market – How we do it

ith Tembi you don’t just get enriched B2B company data, we’ve actually visited every webshop on the market to ensure it is operating, analysed its products to understand what product category it belongs to, and connected traffic data from SimilarWeb to understand how its popularity has developed. 

A similar exercise would take 82 years for a person if s/he worked without a pause. And we do it bi-weekly.

Tembi for sales and marketing teams

At Tembi we are fascinated by the challenge of large-scale data gathering and analytics, and the more complicated, the more creative our product and data science team gets.Our Market Intelligence solution for companies targeting webshops - E-commerce Core – visits bi-weekly any active webshop in the European market capturing data on:

 • Technology platform (WooCommerce, Shopify, Magento etc.)
• Payment providers/systems (Klarna, Ayden, Stripe etc.)
• Product data (Products sold, number of products, product growth etc.)
• Company data (Ownership, address, warehouse(s), financial data etc.)
• Operating markets (languages, export markets etc.)

On top of this, we use proprietary AI-models to categoriSe each webshop into a product category using both image recognition and large language models (LLM) to ensure high quality data when you filter our database.

Granular filters to match your ICP

We’ve been there ourselves, looking for that last filter to get a precise search result –why we’ve added over 50 filter options to our product to ensure you can find exactly the webshop you’re looking for. Filter or cross-filter on product categories, growth stage, number of employees, website traffic, number of products, languages –and if you would lack a filter, our team is quick to add it (if we have the data of course).

Advanced analytics that generate insights

With deep data on each webshop, we can uncover insights by combining data in different ways. Our econometric and AI-models can today predict revenue estimations, company growth and for example technological investments – adding a deeper understanding of the maturity of a webshops operations. 

Combining these insights with webshops data further increases your possibility of narrowing your targeting, as well as better understanding your current clients, or where you’ve had success lately.

 With better data, we can get better insights that helps us reach our goals faster. If you’re interested in getting a demo or better understand how our clients use Tembi – don’t hesitate to book a call - or find more material about our E-commerce Core Solution here.

Technology
How to build a data and AI-driven organisation

n today’s business world, being data-driven is no longer a question; it is a necessity. Organisations that don’t understand how to work with data and leverage it risk falling behind or even going out of business. However, merely being data-driven is not enough anymore. The rapid growth of access to artificial intelligence (AI) and lowered computing cost has amplified the significance of data, driving a shift towards predictive (and even prescriptive) intelligence to stay ahead of the competition.  

Transitioning from a data-driven to an AI-driven organisation presents immense opportunities, enabling companies to understand the competitive landscape better, and leverage both market predictions to gain an edge, as well as improving operations to lower operating expenses. This transition requires a fundamental change in how we operate and organise the company. Secondly, we need to decide where to start, and whether to build, or buy a solution.

Here we share five, simple, steps to ensure your organisations success in this transition.  

1. Management must clearly state that it is a goal

Achieving success with a transition is a strategic choice and an executional leadership challenge. It is crucial for management, whether top-level executives, business unit leaders, or team managers, to clearly communicate that the goal is to capitalise on the benefits of being data-, AI-, or analytics-driven, and where these benefits will have an impact, and why the transition is imperative for the organisation’s success. Leaders should:

  • Clearly state the necessity of this transition for organisational success.
  • Be transparent about the potential challenges of the transition.
  • Accept that the transition might take longer time than anticipated, especially if immediate benefits are not apparent.
  • Repeat the goal, ensure regular follow-ups on the agenda, at least monthly, preferably weekly, and support.

2. Organise the transition

Clarifying responsibility is essential as well as identifying the right person to lead the operational work of the transition. Allocate funding centrally rather than locally to prevent initiatives from being perceived as competing with short-term operational needs. By centralizing funding and clarifying responsibility, organisations can ensure that the transition to an AI-driven approach is viewed as a strategic investment rather than an operational cost.

3. Disseminate the solution broadly

It is unfortunate when initiatives become confined to a single department or individual. The benefits of an AI-driven approach are significant and extend across the entire organisation. Therefore, it is crucial to integrate solutions into as many teams as possible where there is a business case. Engaging more teams in the adoption phase offers several benefits:

  • Shared costs across more teams.
  • A unified language and collaborative efforts towards success.
  • Accelerated transition and higher combined ROI.

Avoid placing the burden on a single individual. Employ the innovative power of the entire organisation to achieve greater success.

4. Embed new solutions in daily routines

For new solutions and strategies to work, they must be integrated into daily operations. Overcoming existing habits and ways of working requires repetition until the new practices become habits. Incorporate the use of data and analytics tools into the organisational rhythm, such as in weekly meetings or daily stand-ups. Measure the impact of these new practices and share the progress with the entire organisation. Highlight how the transition is improving efficiency compared to previous methods.  

5. Embrace an Adaptive Mentality

Fostering an adaptive mindset is crucial for the transition to an AI-driven organisation. This mindset should infiltrate the company culture, regardless of role. Here are three tips for building a stronger adaptive mindset:

  • Identify and support superusers who can inspire and motivate others.
  • Hire individuals with an innovative mindset, both leaders and employees.
  • Promote a supportive culture through promotions, celebrating successes, and sharing positive results.

It might sound simple, but actively working on lifting and promoting the right people is very often overlooked. Make sure it is part of the leaderships action plan so this practice doesn’t fall between two chairs, or is forgotten within a couple of quarters.

Conclusion

Building a data and AI-driven organisation is essential for maintaining competitiveness in today’s business environment. Transitioning from being merely data-driven to embracing AI and predictive intelligence offers significant advantages, including a better understanding of the competitive landscape, leveraging market predictions, and improving operational efficiencies.

To ensure success in this transition, organisations should follow five key steps. First, management must clearly articulate that becoming an AI-driven organisation is a strategic goal. This involves transparent communication about the importance and challenges of the transition, along with regular follow-ups and continuous leadership support.

Second, organising the transition is crucial. This includes clarifying responsibilities and centralizing funding to ensure that AI initiatives are viewed as strategic investments rather than operational costs.

Third, disseminating the solution broadly across the organisation is vital. Integrating AI solutions into multiple teams enhances collaboration, shares costs, and accelerates the transition, leading to a higher overall ROI.

Fourth, embedding new solutions into daily routines ensures that these practices become ingrained in the organisation’s operations. Regular use and measurement of the impact help highlight the efficiency improvements over previous methods.

Finally, fostering an adaptive mentality is essential. This involves supporting superusers, hiring individuals with an innovative mindset, and promoting a culture that celebrates successes. An adaptive mentality ensures the organisation remains agile and responsive to new opportunities.

By following these steps, organisations can effectively leverage data and AI, achieving sustained success in an increasingly AI-driven world.

Market Intelligence
Nordic E-commerce Report

iscover data and insight around webshops in Sweden, Denmark, Finland & Norway. This report is free and available on LinkedIn for download.

What to expect inside?

We've visited and analysed over 70.000 active webshops in Sweden, Denmark, Finland & Norway. Orginsed around three topics you'll find:

➜ Insights around distribution of product categories
➜ Data on delivery prices and delivery methods
➜ Discover which technology platforms power the webshops
And much more ⏩

Go to our linkedIn page and view, or download your copy.

Previous E-commerce Reports

Baltic E-Commerce Market Intelligence Report (Published January 2024)
Nordic e-commerce Market Intelligence Report (Published October 2023)


Real Estate
Strategic Selling: Use Local Area Insights to Win Your Next Commercial Pitch

hen you're pitching as a real estate agent, knowing the details well shows your professionalism and sets you up for success. In commercial real estate, understanding the area around your property can really make a difference. It's not just about showing the space; it's about explaining its future potential and what's happening in the market around it.

While Tembi’s Market Intelligence Platform for Real Estate helps agents find tenants by predicting company relocations, this data is also very useful in pitches to Real Estate Owners.

Here are a few ideas and ways to improve your pitch using data from Tembi’s platform, moving it from a generic presentation to an insightful conversation around the commercial property and its area.

 

Present deep area insights

Know the types of buildings, available spaces, and current tenants. This lets you understand the area's composition and the types and sizes of businesses likely to move in. Analysing moving patterns helps you see where companies are coming from, how often relocations occur, and how long companies stay.  

Predicting Company movements

The commercial real estate market constantly changes, with companies of all sizes reassessing their location needs. Pointing out these potential moves can strengthen your pitch significantly. Clearly explain which businesses might move to the area and why with the help of Tembi’s Moving Probability Score. This shows you understand market trends and aligns with what your clients need.

Space requirements: Tailoring your approach

Knowing how much space a prospective tenant might need is crucial. This isn’t just about numbers; it’s about tailoring your offerings to the market’s needs. Discussing square meters in the context of tenant demands positions you as a knowledgeable partner, not just a facilitator. For example, consider whether it makes more sense to split a 400 square meter office into two or three units based on moving patterns and the area’s composition.

Catering to the right tenants

The types of companies moving into an area can greatly influence a property’s value. Whether it’s tech startups or law firms, understanding this dynamic can transform your pitch. Match the property’s features with the expectations and culture of incoming companies.

Data-driven discussions

Back up your claims with data, market analysis, or company data. Having this data at your fingertips boosts your credibility. It shows you’re informed, and your insights are based on reliable sources. By using targeted, data-backed information, you reduce time spent on generic preparations. This lets you create a more impactful presentation that addresses specific client concerns and market opportunities.

Lifting the conversation

Move from generic pitches to discussions that resonate more deeply. Talk about the property and its area not just as they are, but as they could be. This encourages deeper engagement from potential clients who see you understand their long-term success.

Knowing how the area around “your potential” property is developing gives you a strategic edge. It allows you to anticipate changes and position your property as a smart choice in an evolving landscape.

 

In commercial real estate, winning a pitch often comes down to how well you understand and convey a property’s location potential. By focusing on the broader context, you turn a simple sales pitch into a compelling vision of the future, clearly showing why the smart choice is to act now, with you.

Interested in knowing more about Tembi’s Real Estate solution, don’t hesitate to book a meeting with Dennis.

Read more about our Platform.

E-commerce
Last Mile Delivery: If You're Not Monitoring Your Checkout Positioning, You're Losing Market

n the ever-evolving landscape of e-commerce, the race to secure customers and meet their delivery expectations has never been more intense. Last-mile delivery providers are constantly seeking new e-commerce clients, but what if I told you that there's a critical factor many overlook? It's not just about acquiring new clients; it's about optimising your position in their checkout process. Here's why:

1. The Power of Checkout Positioning

At Tembi, we understand the significance of where a delivery provider stands in the checkout process. Did you know that up to 60% of final package orders go to the top-ranking delivery provider? This means that by being ranked number 1 instead of 2, 3, or 4 at your clients, you could double or even triple the number of orders from a client.

2. Cost and Ranking

Interestingly, but not surprisingly, our data shows that the top-ranking delivery provider is the cheapest option in up to 80% of cases.  

End-user delivery fees depend on the independent deal between last-mile providers and webshops. Other than lowering the delivery price paid by the e-commerce company, there are several ways to affect this.

Progressive discounts based on order volume, collaborative logistic offerings, reliance on service, and related solutions are all options that can help e-commerce companies offer your last-mile delivery service as the cheaper option for the end user.  

3. Beyond Cost: Delivery Time, Sustainability, and Collaboration

However, it's about more than just being the cheapest option. Factors such as delivery time, delivery method, sustainability options, and collaboration with the delivery company also play significant roles. One or more of these are always present when the cheapest option differs from the top-ranked delivery option.  

Consumers are increasingly conscious of environmental impact and delivery speed, making these factors crucial in their decision-making process. Therefore, they are also weighed in terms of the webshop owner's priorities and systems.

4. Reacting to Changes

Losing your top ranking can be disastrous, but it's often discovered too late. Sometimes, you only realise this at the end of a quarter when financial results reflect the drop in orders. It's crucial to act swiftly on changes at your clients.  

The Tembi Market Intelligence Solution for e-commerce gives you updated insights into your market's webshops, including delivery providers, checkout rankings, export markets, technology use, product categories, and much more.

This not only enables you to identify new ideal client profiles but also to quickly react to changes in your existing clients – like when you lose or win a top 1 position.

5. Strategic Monitoring and Reaction

Many of our clients establish a business case for using our market intelligence solution for e-commerce based on new client acquisition alone. However, the value of working strategically and tactically to monitor and react to changes in checkout positions at existing clients often significantly exceeds the value of client acquisitions alone.

From several of our Last-mile delivery clients, we have witnessed an average of 30% - 50% increase in top-1 rankings working tactically with this. Typically, this amounts to a total increase of 20%- 33% in revenue from the existing client base!

6. Take Action

Curious to learn more? Eager to get started?  

Contact Tembi for a commitment-free discussion about our solutions and services to help you optimise your revenue from your current and future e-commerce clients. With Tembi's market intelligence, you can stay ahead of the competition and secure your position at the top of the checkout page.

In the fast-paced world of e-commerce, every advantage counts. By focusing on client acquisition and optimising your checkout positioning, you can ensure your last-mile delivery business thrives in today's competitive market.

Click here to schedule a call today.  

E-commerce
Similarweb and Tembi

ccess website traffic data inside Tembi.

We are happy to share that we’ve entered into a data partnership with Similarweb where we display monthly website data traffic inside our Market IntelligencePlatform.

Using Tembi, you can now use the data from Similarweb to filter your search based on traffic volumes, see historical data on selected webshops and be able find the growing webshops within different product categories.

For access or inquires, please contact our e-commerce responsible Peter.

search icon
No Results found.

Sorry, no results match your search criteria. Please try a different keyword or browse our categories for related information.

More Posts

View All
E-commerce

Last-mile delivery providers: Mapping delivery market dynamics across 17 European countries

Last‑mile delivery shapes the online shopping experience, influencing conversion rates, repeat purchases and brand perception.

At Tembi, we analysed over 600,000 webshops to understand two aspects of last‑mile competition in 17 European markets, the market share of the top delivery provider and the number of distinct delivery partners each webshop integrates, and how these factors drive innovation and strategy.

Delivery providers with the highest market presence in webshops’ checkout flows, by country.

Methodology: Tracking integrations not shipments

Rather than estimating parcel volumes, we examined the presence of delivery providers in webshop back‑ends. Every integration represents a commitment by the webshop to offer that carrier at checkout. By counting integrations, we capture:

• Breadth of choice available to consumers

• Carrier prominence within each market

For each country - from Belgium to Slovakia - we identified the top three providers by share of webshop integrations and counted the total number of providers in active use. We excluded providers that have less than 1% market presence.


These figures show that while national postal services still lead in many markets, no single carrier dominates everywhere, and the number of options ranges from three providers in Iceland to more than twenty in the Netherlands.

Consolidated vs Fragmented markets

We classify markets by the checkout presence held by the leading provider:

  1. Highly consolidated (leader > 50%)
    Finland, Hungary, Germany
  2. Moderately consolidated (leader 33–50%)
    Latvia, Estonia, Norway, Denmark, Switzerland, Belgium, Bulgaria, Iceland, Slovakia
  3. Highly fragmented (leader < 33%)
    Netherlands, Sweden, Italy, Romania

Fragmentation in focus, number of competing providers

Adding the count of distinct delivery partners shows where compeition is the hightst:


Most fragmented markets, such as the Netherlands, Romania and Sweden, offer webshops a broad selection of carriers to tailor delivery options by region, price‑point and service level. In the Netherlands, for instance, there are over twenty distinct last‑mile providers active across the market. By contrast, in Iceland and Bulgaria webshops have fewer providers to choose from, simplifying management but concentrating risk, and less consumer choice. Finland sits between these extremes, with around fourteen partners in use yet Posti being present in 62% of all webshop checkouts.

Analysis, geography, national postal providers and innovation

Geography plays a crucial role in shaping last‑mile dynamics. In countries with vast rural areas and archipelagos - most notably Finland and Sweden - webshops need delivery partners that can reliably serve both remote villages and dense urban centres. National posts excel at this: Posti’s 62 percent presence in Finland and PostNord’s 33 percent in Sweden reflect their ability to cover every corner of the country, from Lapland to the Helsinki suburbs, or from the Stockholm archipelago to the far north. This extensive network cements their leadership and makes it challenging for smaller couriers to compete on a truly national scale.

At the same time, urban populations in these markets demand faster and more flexible options. That’s why even highly consolidated markets like Finland still see around fourteen delivery partners in use, and Sweden nearly eighteen. Specialist providers focus on city‑centre same‑day deliveries, parcel locker networks and niche eco‑services, carving out space alongside the national postal incumbent.

By contrast, in highly fragmented markets such as the Netherlands, Italy and Romania, geography is less of a barrier - population density is higher and distances shorter - so webshops routinely offer 18 to 22 different providers to meet varied consumer preferences. National posts such as PostNL and Poste Italiane must innovate continually, rolling out premium services like carbon‑neutral shipping, click‑and‑collect lockers and advanced tracking, and partnering with crowd‑shipping or on‑demand couriers to fill gaps.

In moderately consolidated markets - Denmark, Belgium, Switzerland and the Baltics - the mix reflects mid‑range geography and market size. National posts share the stage with regional specialists (such as GLS and DPD), driving innovation in service differentiation, tech integration and sustainability (electric fleets, bike couriers, offset programmes).

Finally, in smaller or more remote markets like Iceland and Bulgaria, webshops often layer core postal services with a handful (three to five) of local same‑day or on‑demand couriers to ensure coverage. Even here, national posts are expanding parcel‑locker footprints and app‑based tracking to meet rising consumer expectations - while keeping a watchful eye towards rapidly growing new digital-first ventures.

Understanding these overlapping factors - market consolidation, provider fragmentation and geographic realities - allows e‑commerce leaders to tailor last‑mile strategies. In widespread, low‑density regions, deep partnerships with national posts ensure full coverage; in dense, competitive markets, robust multi‑carrier technology and innovative niche services deliver the flexibility consumers expect.

Stay tuned for more insights and sign-up to our monthly newsletter.

Customer stories

How AI Is Transforming Real Estate Development

The real estate sector, particularly in hospitality, is undergoing a significant shift. With growing data availability and the evolution of AI tools, companies can now make faster, more informed, and more strategic decisions. We recently sat down with Jochen Renz to talk about how he and his team are rethinking real estate development by embracing AI-driven insights.

This article is based on a conversation between Michael Bugaj , CMO at Tembi, and Jochen Renz, VP Operations Accor Switzerland & Southern Germany and Managing Director AccorHotels Switzerland.


The challenge of predicting growth

Jochen begins by highlighting a central challenge in real estate development: identifying areas with future growth potential. "The question was, how can I ensure we define areas in a country with further potential growth than we might see today?" he explains. Traditional methods - macro- and microeconomic research, political and demographic analysis - often look backward, relying on historical data to predict future trends.

However, Jochen was looking for more than that. He wanted forward-thinking tools that could help them predict, not just reflect. This desire for a proactive approach led Jochen and his team to explore AI-powered solutions.

Discovering Tembi

One of the tools Jochen explored is Tembi, a platform that helps identify emerging opportunities in different areas of cities based on continuously updated market data. While not yet rolled out in Switzerland, the tool was originally developed in Denmark and stood out to Jochen as a promising forward-looking platform.

"Tembi allowed us to do predictions in areas based on logistics, different sectors, and growing patterns," Jochen shares. "I compared this with more traditional development tools, and what stood out was its ability to look forward by analyzing data such as employer growth, financial data, and sector movements."

From manual labor to scalable insights

Traditionally, site selection was a heavily manual task involving fragmented data sources. Jochen’s team would combine macroeconomic data with localized insights, looking at street-level factors, emissions, and building potential. External consultants were often brought in to help collect and validate this information. "The consistent approach is not easy to achieve," he admits.

With AI-driven tools like Tembi, however, the potential for change is clear. While still a work in progress, the promise lies in being able to access relevant data for hundreds or even thousands of locations more quickly than before. Jochen notes that with tools like Tembi, it's becoming increasingly feasible to explore broader market patterns and opportunities in a more scalable way.

Replicable patterns across borders

Jochen shared an example from Denmark: a promising opportunity in Odense. “I had never heard of the city before,” he laughs. “But by setting a few filters, we uncovered a significant movement in the city that revealed a growing need for hotels.”

With tools like Tembi, such discoveries become replicable. “You could look for similar movements in Sweden, Poland, or Belgium, just by changing the location input. That’s the power of structured data paired with AI.”

A shift in real estate mindset

The ability to anticipate development opportunities earlier in the cycle will give companies a strategic edge. "If we know an area is developing and we can suggest the right brand early on, we influence the project from the beginning," Jochen explains. "That positions us in a completely different way in the value chain."

Lowering the barrier to smart decisions

Perhaps one of the most powerful applications of AI, Jochen believes, is making complex data more accessible. "Think about someone running a 7-Eleven or Domino's Pizza franchise, they're not developers," he says. "But if AI can give them confidence in a location based on structured data, that opens up huge possibilities."

This democratization of insight, paired with AI’s ability to remove emotional bias from decisions, is transforming how Accor - and potentially the wider industry - approaches site selection.

Looking ahead

As AI continues to evolve, Jochen envisions a future where real estate teams can monitor hundreds of markets at once, identifying trends and acting faster than ever before. “You don’t have to focus on one area anymore, you can analyze 100 areas and synthesize it down to the two best opportunities. That’s game-changing.”

The intersection of human insight and machine intelligence is reshaping real estate development. For Jochen and the team at Accor, tools like Tembi have the potential to become more than just another platform - they could evolve into essential partners in strategic growth.

As this conversation shows, the integration of AI into real estate decision-making isn't just a technical evolution, it's a shift in mindset. By empowering teams with better tools, clearer data, and broader perspectives, platforms like Tembi can help companies like Accor stay ahead in an increasingly competitive and fast-moving market.

Stay tuned for more stories like this as we continue to explore the intersection of AI and real-world strategy across industries.

Market Intelligence

Payment providers in European e‑commerce: A country-by-country analysis

3
 min read

European online payments are shaped by a mix of global platforms and strong local preferences. Below we break down the key payment providers across eight countries – Belgium, Switzerland, Denmark, Finland, Italy, Norway, and Sweden – highlighting who’s active in each market, how they fare in B2B vs B2C, and domestic vs cross-border trends. We also discuss how platform-native solutions (like Shopify Payments and PayPal integrations) enable cross-market reach.

The analysis is based on 208.035 webshops monitored by Tembi with data from the 21st of May 2025.

Belgium - 18.237 active webshops
Switzerland - 30.007
Denmark - 32.370
Finland - 15.912
Italy - 63.672
Norway - 15.032
Sweden - 32.805

Belgium - Bancontact’s home turf, with PayPal for cross-border

Belgian e-commerce is dominated by Bancontact, the national debit scheme, which remains by far the favourite online payment method – about 73% of Belgian shoppers prefer Bancontact and 70% use it most often (retaildetail.eu). Credit cards, once top, now take a secondary role mainly for higher-value purchases (pay.com.)


Key Providers and Roles:

  • Bancontact – Ubiquitous in Belgium. Linked to virtually all Belgian banks, it has more cards in circulation than there are Belgian residents (pay.com). Merchants rely on Bancontact for its wide user base and low fraud (transactions are irrevocable once confirmed, reducing chargebacks (pay.com). It’s essentially mandatory for domestic webshops to support Bancontact.
  • PayPal – While not a domestic method, PayPal is integrated into many Belgian shops (our dataset shows it on a similar number of sites as Bancontact). Its strength is in cross-border shopping: 72% of Belgians have used PayPal to buy from foreign retailers (pay.com), leveraging its buyer protection and global acceptance. PayPal thus complements Bancontact by enabling international B2C sales.
  • Local Banking Apps – Major banks offer their own payment buttons (e.g. Belfius Pay), though these see modest adoption compared to Bancontact (e.g. Belfius appears on a few thousand sites). They cater to customers of those banks for bank-transfer payments.
  • Global Wallets (Apple Pay, Google Pay) – Gaining presence as smartphone usage grows. Apple Pay is supported by many Belgian banks, tapping into the country’s large iPhone user base (pay.com.. These wallets remain convenience add-ons rather than primary methods, but their acceptance in Belgian webshops (thousands of sites) signals a growing cross-platform trend.
  • International PSPs (Stripe, Mollie) – Providers like Stripe and Dutch-based Mollie are used by Belgian merchants (Mollie has ~4,500 Belgian sites in our data). They enable credit cards and alternative methods easily, including Bancontact itself via their integration. This is especially useful for smaller B2B merchants expanding online, as PSPs handle multi-method support in one package.

Domestic vs international adoption
Domestically, a Belgian online shopper expects to see Bancontact at checkout – it’s a trust signal and caters to local payment habits. International e-commerce players entering Belgium must integrate Bancontact (often via Shopify Payments or Adyen) to localise their offering (retaildetail.eu). Conversely, Belgian merchants aiming cross-border include methods like PayPal and credit cards to accommodate foreign customers who can’t use Bancontact. Thus, Belgian sites serving neighboring markets often support both local and global methods. This dual approach (Bancontact + an international wallet) is common in Belgium’s e-commerce, ensuring both local and cross-border sales are covered.

Switzerland - Twint charging up

Switzerland’s payment mix is unusually diverse. Traditionally, bank transfers and invoices have been extremely popular – as of 2023, bank transfers (including pay-by-invoice) were projected to account for ~46% of Swiss e-commerce transactions (pay.com) Cards are also widely used (52% of online transactions, mostly credit cards in online contexts (pay.com). But the biggest shake-up has come from Twint, the Swiss mobile payments app. In recent years Twint has surged to become the dominant online payment method: it’s now accepted in roughly 4 out of 5 Swiss online shops (twint.ch) and counts over 5 million active users in a country of ~8.7 million (pay.com).


Key Providers and Roles:

  • TWINT – A home-grown mobile wallet linked to users’ bank accounts. Launched in 2016 by major Swiss banks, Twint has achieved 98% brand awareness and massive uptake (fintechnews.ch). It’s used for instant bank-direct payments via app (often by scanning a QR code). By 2022, about 74% of Swiss online merchants supported Twint (fintechnews.ch), and that share is still rising (Twint itself boasts ~80% online shop coverage (twint.ch). For domestic B2C, Twint’s appeal is convenience and local trust – it effectively modernized the traditional bank transfer for the mobile era.
  • Credit & Debit Cards – Swiss consumers use cards frequently, especially credit cards for online shopping (an estimated 80% of Swiss prefer credit over debit for e-commerce)pay.com. Visa and Mastercard dominate (around 64% and 17% market share respectively in cards)pay.com, with PostFinance (the postal bank’s debit card) filling much of the remainder domestically. PostFinance’s payment option (e-finance or card) is offered by many Swiss shops (our data shows it on ~5,700 sites) to cater to the large customer base of the national postal bank. Cards are important for both B2C and B2B (corporate cards, etc.), though Swiss B2B buyers sometimes still prefer invoice.
  • Bank Transfers & Invoicing – A significant share of Swiss e-commerce is essentially “pay after delivery.” Many Swiss shoppers choose to receive an invoice (often with a QR-bill) and pay it via their e-banking – this shows up in stats as bank transfer payments. Even online, merchants often offer “purchase on account.” Providers like Klarna have entered Switzerland to offer pay-later, but the concept was already ingrained. Sofort (Klarna’s direct bank transfer service) also appears in Swiss webshops (in ~12k of them per our data) as a popular option for real-time bank payments, used especially for cross-border transactions with Germany.
  • PayPal – PayPal enjoys steady use in Switzerland, but it’s not as dominant as in some other countries. It’s present on most international-facing Swiss shops and is popular for cross-border purchases or niche uses. Swiss consumers do use PayPal domestically, but with Twint and cards readily available, PayPal’s role is more as a universal fallback. Still, our scan found PayPal on ~22,600 Swiss sites – the single most common payment brand on Swiss shops – underscoring its broad presence even if volume share is smaller.
  • Local Banking Options – Apart from Twint, Swiss merchants may support one-click bank payment through services like eBill or direct debit for B2B, but these are less visible. Revolut’s new checkout option has also cropped up (around 4k sites) as Switzerland has many Revolut users; this is mainly to serve tech-savvy shoppers and cross-border customers with Revolut accounts.

Domestic vs international
The Swiss market is small but high-spending, and cross-border e-commerce is significant (many Swiss buy from German, French, or global sites). Domestic shops therefore try to offer a mix of local and international methods. For instance, a Swiss webshop will almost certainly offer Twint and PostFinance for locals, but also Visa/Mastercard and PayPal to appeal to everyone (including cross-border shoppers or expatriates). International retailers entering Switzerland often integrate Twint now – given its reach, not having Twint could alienate a big chunk of local customers. At the same time, Swiss consumers use credit cards and PayPal especially when shopping on foreign sites, since those universally work. This dynamic means successful cross-border sellers into Switzerland either enable local methods via a PSP (Adyen, etc.) or rely on the Swiss buyer falling back to a credit card or PayPal. In summary, Swiss e-commerce shows a dual nature: traditional methods (bank transfer/invoice) remain very strong at home (pay.com), but mobile and global solutions are rapidly overlaying to facilitate seamless buying both domestically and across borders.

Denmark - Home of MobilePay

Denmark is a card-centric country with a twist – nearly every Dane has a Dankort (the national debit card, typically co-branded with Visa), so card payments have long been the norm. In 2024, about 37% of Danish online consumers cited paying by card as their primary method (ecommercenews.eu). Close on its heels, however, is MobilePay, used by roughly 33% of online shoppers as their preferred option (ecommercenews.eu). MobilePay, a mobile wallet linked to card or bank accounts, has become nearly ubiquitous (over 90% of Danes have the app, and virtually all younger adults do (statista.com)). PayPal and other methods exist but are less prominent – a few years ago PayPal accounted for ~13% of Danish online payments (oosga.com), and it remains a common option particularly for cross-border purchases. Overall, Denmark’s landscape mixes global card infrastructure with highly adopted local fintech solutions.


Key Providers and Roles:

  • Dankort / Card Payments – Debit/credit cards are still the #1 online payment method in Denmark by usage (ecommercenews.eu). The Danish Dankort (often used via Visa rails online) ensures almost anyone with a bank account can pay by card. Merchants benefit from well-established card processing and Danes’ comfort with cards for larger or recurring purchases. International cards (Visa, Mastercard) are widely accepted, which also covers foreign shoppers. For B2B e-commerce, cards (corporate cards) are common too.
  • MobilePay – Denmark’s signature mobile wallet app. MobilePay allows one-click or app-confirmation payments drawing funds from the user’s card or bank. It’s deeply ingrained in daily life; in e-commerce it’s become the convenient alternative to entering card details. With 33%+ share of online payments and growing (ecommercenews.eu), MobilePay is almost expected on Danish sites – from small boutiques to large retailers. For merchants, offering MobilePay can boost checkout conversion on mobile devices. Notably, MobilePay is popular in B2C contexts (fast checkout for consumers), while in B2B it’s used less (business buyers typically use cards or invoices).
  • PayPal – Widely available, though not top-of-mind for Danes domestically. Many Danish webshops include PayPal, especially those on platforms like WooCommerce/Shopify where it’s an easy plug-in. It serves mainly as a way to accept payments from international customers or cater to Danes who already have PayPal accounts. While only about 13% of Danish e-commerce shoppers used PayPal as of 2021 (oosga.com), it remains a useful cross-border channel – for example, Danes buying from eBay or foreign sites often use PayPal.
  • Local PSPs (Payment Service Providers) – Denmark has a robust set of payment gateways that serve merchants. QuickPay and OnPay are examples of Danish PSPs that many webshops use behind the scenes. These providers bundle various methods (cards, MobilePay, Viabill, etc.) and are particularly important for SMEs and B2B shops, as they handle the integrations and local acquiring. In our data, QuickPay appears on ~4,800 sites, indicating its strong presence. Such PSPs typically don’t matter to the consumer (who just sees the payment options they provide), but they are key enablers of the local payment ecosystem.
  • Buy Now, Pay Later and Others – Danes have access to BNPL options like ViaBill or Klarna, but uptake is more moderate compared to Sweden or Norway. Klarna is integrated in some Danish shops (~6,600 sites in our scan) targeting installment payments for consumers. However, Danish shoppers, being comfortable with cards, haven’t embraced BNPL to the same extent as Swedes. For B2B, offering payment on invoice is common (especially when selling to government or large companies, who use EAN invoicing), though that’s handled outside the online checkout or via invoicing services rather than through visible providers in checkout.

Domestic vs International Adoption
Danish online retailers focus on domestic preferences first – supporting Dankort/Visa and MobilePay to cover the vast majority of local transactions. Cross-border, Denmark has a high rate of consumers buying from abroad (over half shop abroad monthly (ecommercenews.eu), so Danish merchants also consider methods that international shoppers use. This means accepting foreign Visa/Mastercards (no problem via standard acquiring) and often keeping PayPal available. International merchants selling into Denmark are wise to enable MobilePay – increasingly, payment platforms (like Stripe or Adyen or Shopify Payments) let them do so easily. We see that cross-border giants (Amazon, etc.) have started to include MobilePay for Danish customers. In summary, domestic Danish e-commerce is characterised by card and MobilePay dominance, whereas cross-border commerce relies more on international card networks and PayPal – but the gap is closing as local methods become accessible to foreign merchants too.

Finland: Paytrail dominates

Finnish online shoppers have a strong preference for direct bank payments. Rather than using individual bank buttons, Finland streamlined this through Paytrail, an aggregator that connects all major Finnish banks. As a result, online bank transfer solutions like Paytrail are the top choice for Finns (aboutpayments.com). According to industry info, Finnish consumers most prefer paying via their internet banking through services such as Paytrail or Trustly (aboutpayments.com). Cards are of course used as well, but historically Finland has seen lower credit card usage online than many other European countries. Instead, debit cards via bank transfer and recently mobile wallets are prominent. MobilePay (imported from Denmark) has also gained traction in Finland – it’s available and used by many, though not yet as dominant as in Denmark. Klarna is popular in Finland too (Finland was an early Klarna expansion market), and invoice payments are fairly common for certain purchases. In summary, Finland’s payment scene is a mix of bank-centric methods and a few select international options.


Key Providers and Roles:

  • Paytrail – Arguably the backbone of Finnish e-commerce payments. Paytrail (now part of the Nets/Nexi group) offers merchants a single contract to accept all Finnish online banking payments, cards, as well as local wallets and invoices (nexigroup.com). It is the most used online payment service in Finland’s e-commerce (mastercard.com), which aligns with our data where Paytrail appears very frequently (over 6,500 Finnish sites). For consumers, Paytrail provides a seamless interface to pay from any Finnish bank account, which is highly trusted and convenient. In practice, when a Finnish shopper chooses “online bank payment,” it’s often Paytrail processing it in the background. This method is equally relevant for B2C and B2B – businesses also appreciate paying directly from bank accounts.
  • Trustly – Another bank transfer option, used in Finland and across the Nordics. Trustly allows instant bank payments without leaving the merchant’s site. Finnish shoppers do use Trustly, but since Paytrail already covers domestic banks, Trustly’s role is more for cross-border scenarios (e.g. paying from a Finnish bank on a foreign site). Still, it’s noted as a top method after Paytrai (aboutpayments.com). Some Finnish merchants include Trustly in addition to Paytrail to capture every preference.
  • Cards (Visa/MasterCard) – International debit/credit cards are widely accepted and come next in popularity after bank transfers for Finns (aboutpayments.com). Finland historically had a strong culture of paying by bank rather than credit, but card usage is rising. Most Finnish cards are debit or dual-function cards, and many are used via Paytrail’s interface or via a PSP like Nets/Paytrail itself. For the merchant, accepting cards is essential for cross-border customers and for those Finnish buyers who prefer a familiar Visa/Mastercard flow or need to use a credit line.
  • Klarna – Finland is one of Klarna’s significant markets. Klarna’s pay-later and installment options are offered by a lot of Finnish online stores (our data shows Klarna on ~6,200 Finnish sites, nearly equal to MobilePay’s presence). Finnish consumers use Klarna mainly for splitting payments or buying on invoice, similar to Sweden but perhaps slightly less intensively. It’s a popular option for B2C retail (fashion, electronics – where try-before-you-buy or installment plans appeal). For merchants, Klarna brings potential conversion gains and is often included alongside traditional methods. In B2B sales, Klarna is not commonly used – Finnish businesses would use direct invoicing if they want post-payment.
  • MobilePay – Finland adopted MobilePay after Denmark (Danske Bank introduced it). Today, MobilePay is a commonly used wallet in Finland (aboutpayments.com), though its usage (by share of transactions) isn’t as high as in Denmark. Still, many Finnish shops (over 6,200 in our analysis) offer MobilePay at checkout. It’s popular for its ease on mobile devices and is used predominantly in B2C contexts (e.g. a consumer buying event tickets or clothes may opt for MobilePay instead of typing card details). With MobilePay’s merger with Vipps/Swish underway, Finns may see even more features, but already the app is a key part of the payments mix.
  • Other Local Pay-Later (Walley, etc.) – Finland has some specialized providers like Walley (formerly Collector Bank’s solution). Walley offers invoice and installment payments, including B2B invoicing solutions. It appears in Finnish e-commerce (about 1,800 sites in our data) as an option to “Pay by invoice 14 days” or similar, often under the Walley brand in checkout. This indicates a demand especially in B2B and larger consumer purchases for invoice-based payment. Similarly, Svea (a Swedish company but active in Finland) provides B2B financing and appears on some sites. These are important for B2B e-commerce or high-value consumer sales (furniture, machinery, etc.), where customers expect to be billed or finance the purchase rather than pay upfront.

Domestic vs International
Finnish e-commerce is quite domestic-focused in method – a Finnish shopper expects to pay through their bank or an invoice. International merchants expanding to Finland often partner with Paytrail or a similar PSP to offer localized bank payments, because without those, they’d miss a large portion of sales. The prevalence of English-speaking Finns means many do shop on international sites, where they might then use a credit card or PayPal if Finnish bank options aren’t available. Indeed, PayPal is accepted on many Finnish sites (though not top-five in preference, it’s present on ~8,300 Finnish webshops per our data), functioning as a catch-all for cross-border transactions (e.g. paying a non-Finnish merchant). Adoption trends show that methods like Paytrail keep domestic transactions flowing in local currency and language, whereas global platforms like PayPal or card networks come into play for cross-border. Additionally, Finland being in the Eurozone makes cross-border shopping easier (no currency swap issues), so credit cards are slightly more used for EU-wide shopping. Finnish merchants, to expand abroad, will lean on PSPs that support international cards, PayPal, and possibly multi-currency – many use Stripe (found on ~4,200 Finnish sites) or Adyen for that reason. In sum, Finland has a strong local backbone (bank payments) that any entrant must integrate, and a willingness to layer global methods on top for broader reach.

Italy: PayPal’s Stronghold

Local Payment Landscape: Italy stands out for the prominence of PayPal in e-commerce. Italians have historically been cautious about online payments, leading them to gravitate towards PayPal for its perceived safety and buyer protection. Recent surveys show about 63% of Italian online consumers used PayPal in the past month, and 39% prefer PayPal over any other method – making it the #1 choice by far (rapyd.net). Credit and debit cards are of course used (especially with the widespread CartaSi/VISA and MasterCard), but only ~11% of Italians picked credit cards as their first choice, according to the same study (rapyd.net). Interestingly, a uniquely Italian method, the PostePay prepaid card (issued by the postal service), ranks high – about 12% choose it as their top payment method (rapyd.net). PostePay is essentially a reloadable Visa/Mastercard, and its popularity reflects Italians’ preference for controlled, cash-loaded spending. Cash on delivery (contrassegno) still lingers as an option in Italy for some categories, though its share is decreasing as digital payments grow. Overall, Italy’s online payment mix is a blend of global wallets, card networks (often through domestic brands like CartaSi or PostePay), and some remaining traditional methods.


Key Providers and Roles:

  • PayPal – The undisputed leader in Italian e-commerce payments. PayPal’s ubiquity is evident: it is integrated into the vast majority of Italian webshops (our dataset found it on ~56,000 sites, far more than any other provider in Italy). Its strengths – buyer protection, ease of use, and not requiring the buyer to expose card details – resonated strongly with Italian consumers who had security concerns. Many Italians also keep balances in PayPal or link it to bank accounts, using it almost like a bank alternative. For merchants, offering PayPal is almost a must for B2C, as not having it could mean losing a huge chunk of potential customers. Even in P2B (consumer-to-business) scenarios like freelance services or marketplace sales, PayPal is common. In B2B, PayPal is less used for large transactions, but small business services sometimes get paid via PayPal too. Notably, Italian merchants rely on PayPal not just domestically but to sell internationally – it’s a ready-made cross-border solution that handles multiple currencies and languages, which helped many Italian small businesses to reach global customers.
  • Credit/Debit Cards (CartaSi, Visa, Mastercard) – Card payments in Italy have grown but still face competition from PayPal and cash. Most online card usage is via Visa or Mastercard-branded cards, often issued as CartaSi (the domestic scheme, now Nexi) or as bank cards. Also, PostePay cards (Visa Electron/prepaid) are massively used by younger and unbanked consumers for online shopping. This means that while “card” as a category is significant, many Italians use them through intermediaries (like linking a PostePay to PayPal, or using the card via an Apple Pay wallet). For merchants, enabling card payments is standard – usually through PSPs like Nexi, Gestpay, Stripe, or international acquirers. However, due to high PayPal use, sometimes cards are effectively the secondary option on many sites. In B2B e-commerce, corporate credit cards are used for convenience (especially for SMEs buying software, travel, etc.), but larger purchases often go through bank transfer invoices.
  • Apple Pay / Google Pay – These mobile wallet options are present but not yet top of mind for Italian consumers. Apple Pay in particular is offered by many Italian banks and supported at many online checkouts (our data saw Apple Pay on ~15,000 Italian sites, which is significant). Still, surveys suggest Apple Pay and Google Pay are among the least preferred methods in Italy (rapyd.net). Their significance lies in convenience for the subset of users who have them set up – they streamline card use on mobile. As more Italians use their phones for shopping, these methods might grow. For now, they act as nice-to-have options in B2C (and essentially not used in B2B).
  • Local Banking and Cash Solutions – Italy has had some online banking payment attempts like MyBank (an EU-wide bank transfer system that was adopted by Italian banks) and the traditional bonifico (bank wire) for e-commerce. MyBank allows instant bank debits for online purchases, and some merchants do offer it. It hasn’t reached the ubiquity of Netherlands’ iDEAL, but it caters to those who prefer direct bank payment without cards. Cash on Delivery, while not a “payment provider,” is historically important in Italy – a portion of shoppers still choose to pay the courier in cash or card upon delivery. This method is declining year by year but remains in certain sectors (e.g. furniture, older demographics). Many merchants outsource the COD handling to logistics or just mark it as an option with a fee. It’s more relevant in B2C; B2B rarely uses COD (they’d just invoice).
  • Stripe, Braintree and PSPs – International PSPs like Stripe are quite popular among Italian online businesses (Stripe is the second-most common integration after PayPal in our Italy data, found on ~19,000 sites). These platforms let merchants accept cards, wallets, and even local methods through one gateway. Braintree (owned by PayPal) similarly powers many Italian webshops behind the scenes, enabling both card processing and PayPal integration. Local acquirers like Nexi (CartaSi) and UniCredit’s solutions also have a big merchant base, especially for larger retailers. In effect, PSPs ensure that Italian merchants can accept the mix of payment forms consumers expect. They are crucial in both B2C and B2B (for example, a B2B software SaaS might use Stripe to bill Italian companies via credit card or Sofort, etc.). Some newer options like Revolut Pay have also entered Italy – indeed, our scan saw Revolut on ~14k sites (likely merchants adding the Revolut Pay button to cater to Revolut users). These are still niche but indicate a willingness of merchants to experiment beyond the traditional set.

Domestic vs International
Italian merchants historically catered to domestic buyers’ preferences (hence a heavy emphasis on PayPal). Now, with cross-border e-commerce growing (two-thirds of Italian shoppers have bought from international sites (rapyd.net)), Italian merchants are expanding their payment options. Many are adding methods like Amazon Pay (since Italians shop on Amazon’s platforms), or enabling multi-currency credit card processing to attract foreign customers. Likewise, foreign companies selling to Italy have learned that including PayPal at checkout is crucial – a UK or German site that adds PayPal might suddenly convert many more Italian buyers who trust PayPal over entering card details. We see platform-native solutions smoothing this process: for example, Shopify Payments allows a foreign merchant to offer Italian shoppers local payment options (like bonifico via Sofort or appropriate localized card forms) without that merchant needing an Italian banking relationship. Additionally, services like Klarna have recently launched in Italy as well, aiming to introduce more pay-later options; their usage is nascent but growing for cross-border purchases (e.g. an Italian buying from a German shop might use Klarna). In summary, Italy’s e-commerce shows a stark local preference for PayPal and familiar tools, and both domestic and international sellers adjust to that reality – often by prominently featuring PayPal, offering prepaid-friendly options, and maintaining trust signals. The reliance on platform solutions (PayPal, Amazon Pay, etc.) also lowers the friction of cross-border commerce for Italian consumers, effectively bridging domestic habits with international retail.

Norway: Vipps and Klarna

Norway’s consumers are highly digital and spend a lot online. Card payments are extremely common – in fact, Norway has one of the highest per-capita card usage rates. Cards (debit and credit combined) account for roughly 43% of all retail transactions (online and offline) in Norway (pay.com). The majority of these are through BankAxept, Norway’s domestic debit card system, which is co-branded with Visa/Mastercard for international acceptance (pay.com). Alongside cards, Norway has a very strong mobile payments culture thanks to Vipps, a mobile wallet app used by most Norwegians. Vipps has cornered the digital wallet market in Norway (pay.com), meaning alternatives like Apple Pay or Google Pay are secondary (though available). Klarna and other pay-later options are also popular – Norway, like other Nordics, embraced Klarna early for splitting or delaying payments. PayPal exists but plays a smaller role in day-to-day domestic payments (around 7% share of online transactions as per Norges Bank (pay.com)), used mainly for cross-border shopping. In summary, Norway’s landscape features high card usage with a layer of mobile wallet convenience and BNPL flexibility.


Key Providers and Roles:

  • BankAxept (Card payments) – BankAxept is the domestic debit network, ensuring that payments using Norwegian bank cards are processed cheaply and efficiently inside Norway. Practically every Norwegian has a BankAxept card. Online, when a customer pays by “card,” it often routes through BankAxept if domestic, or via Visa/MasterCard rails if needed. For merchants, accepting cards is non-negotiable – it covers debit and credit usage. Credit card usage is growing in Norway (almost one credit card per person in circulation (pay.com), and many online purchases – especially higher value or travel bookings – go on credit cards. In B2B, cards can be used for convenience too, but many companies also use invoices. Nonetheless, cards form the backbone of Norwegian e-commerce payments, making up a large chunk of transactions by value.
  • Vipps – Norway’s ubiquitous mobile payment app. Vipps allows users to pay online by confirming with their mobile number/app, similar to how one would use a wallet instead of entering card details. Virtually everyone in Norway knows and many use Vipps; it started as a peer-to-peer app but is now available for online checkouts, bill payments, etc. Vipps dominates Norwegian mobile payments, effectively sidelining other e-wallets domestically (pay.com). For online merchants, adding Vipps (via a PSP or Vipps API) can significantly smooth mobile conversion – a user can just choose Vipps and approve the purchase on their phone. Our data shows Vipps present on about 6,700 Norwegian sites, which implies a strong uptake (though not as high as MobilePay in DK, possibly because many international platforms were slower to integrate Vipps). In B2C, Vipps is extremely important, especially among younger shoppers and for quick purchases. In B2B, it’s less used (business purchases would more likely go via bank or invoice), but some small entrepreneurs might even accept Vipps for simplicity.
  • Klarna – Norway is one of Klarna’s significant markets outside Sweden. Klarna’s BNPL and invoicing services are widely offered by Norwegian merchants. Notably, Klarna is reported to account for about 18% of domestic online retail sales in Norway (pay.com), which is substantial. Many Norwegian shoppers enjoy the option to “buy now, pay later” or split payments, and Klarna provides that with its usual smooth user experience. Norwegian merchants, especially in fashion, electronics, and other retail segments, integrate Klarna to boost sales and AOV (average order value). In our dataset, Klarna actually appeared as the top payment-related provider on Norwegian sites (~8,700 sites), even above PayPal, indicating how common it is. For B2C, Klarna is a key player. For B2B, Klarna has a business offering (Klarna for business/Tillit – a local BNPL startup mentioned) but these are less prevalent; businesses typically aren’t using Klarna to pay invoices. Still, the concept of paying after receiving goods is also present in B2B via invoices – just not via Klarna’s interface.
  • PayPal – While not a leader domestically, PayPal has a steady presence in Norway. According to the central bank, it’s about 7% of online transaction volume (pay.com), which is modest, but it remains crucial for cross-border purchases. Norwegians shopping from international websites (where Vipps or Klarna might not be available) often rely on PayPal as a convenient and trusted method (pay.com). Likewise, Norwegian online sellers include PayPal to capture international sales or niche use cases. Our data found PayPal on ~8,300 Norwegian sites, nearly as many as Klarna. This suggests that even if Norwegians themselves don’t prioritize PayPal when domestic options exist, it’s still widely offered as a universal option. In B2B, PayPal usage would be rare except perhaps freelancers or software services.
  • Other Methods/PSPs – Norway’s market sees involvement from Nordic PSPs like Nets (now part of Nexi, historically handled a lot of card processing), as well as Stripe (our data: ~6,000 sites, showing many Norwegian businesses use Stripe to accept cards and other methods). Swish (the Swedish mobile pay) is not used in Norway, but interestingly, MobilePay (from Denmark) was merged with Vipps – yet in our data MobilePay appears on ~3,600 Norwegian sites. This could indicate cross-border Danish merchants or some early adoption in Norway; however, post-merger Vipps will cover that. Another mention is “Klarna’s Kustom Checkout” (seen as “Kustom” on ~1,300 sites) – this appears to be a one-stop checkout solution possibly by Klarna to integrate multiple methods. It’s relatively small but shows innovation in unified checkout experiences. For B2B, beyond standard invoice, some specialized services like Aprila or Svea might offer trade financing, but they didn’t prominently show up in top 10. Vipps does have a business-facing product (Vipps Faktura) to send invoices via Vipps app – highlighting again how consumer tools in Norway often extend into business use.

Domestic vs International
Norway’s e-commerce players pay attention to both local preferences and the fact that Norway is outside the EU (which affects cross-border trade, VAT, etc.). Domestically, a Norwegian merchant will emphasize Vipps and Klarna alongside cards to maximize conversions – these are what local shoppers expect. Internationally, Norwegian merchants know that foreign customers won’t have Vipps, so they ensure card payments (Visa/Mastercard) and PayPal are available. Many also support Klarna’s global offering in other markets (since Klarna operates across Europe and even the US, a Norwegian merchant can offer pay-later to customers in those countries via Klarna). Moreover, with high English proficiency, Norwegians frequently shop abroad; when they do, they typically use cards or PayPal – indeed PayPal’s main utility in Norway is for cross-border purchases (pay.com). This behavior influences Norwegian e-commerce sites too: for example, the prevalence of PayPal on Norwegian sites is partly to reassure and facilitate sales to non-Norwegians (and to Norwegians who might prefer it in certain situations). Another interesting point is that as part of the Vipps-MobilePay merger, Nordic payment integration is improving – soon a Danish customer might pay a Norwegian shop with MobilePay and it seamlessly works with Vipps (and vice versa). This will strengthen cross-Nordic commerce by leveraging each country’s local wallet. In summary, Norway shows a pattern seen in the Nordics: very high local adoption of innovative payments, and a parallel support of global methods to engage in cross-border commerce.

Sweden: The land of Klarna and Swish

Sweden’s online payment landscape has two giants: Klarna and Swish. It’s often said that “everyone in Sweden uses Swish,” and that’s barely an exaggeration – about 98% of Swedish adults have Swish installed and ~95% use it regularly (ergomania.eu). Swish is a mobile payment system (bank account-linked) originally for P2P but now widely used in e-commerce and even brick-and-mortar. On the other hand, Klarna’s pay-later services (invoice, installment, etc.) account for a huge portion of Swedish e-commerce – over 50% of online transactions by value are open invoice payments (adyen.com) - many of those facilitated by Klarna and a handful of competitors. Credit/debit cards remain popular too (especially for some online services and travel), but Sweden stands out in that invoices/payment after delivery are the single largest category, surpassing cards (adyen.com). This is rooted in consumer behavior: Swedes historically liked to receive goods and pay by invoice, a practice that fintechs like Klarna turned into a smooth digital experience. Meanwhile, Swish’s instant bank transfers are siphoning off transactions that might have been card or cash. PayPal exists and is used in Sweden, but given the strong local options, it’s not a leading method for domestic shopping. Overall, Sweden is extremely advanced: high smartphone usage, multiple fintech solutions, and consumers comfortable with alternative payments.


Key Providers and Roles:

  • Klarna – The poster child of Swedish fintech, Klarna is omnipresent in Swedish e-commerce. It started with “Få först, betala sen” (get first, pay later) invoice payments and now offers everything from 30-day invoicing to installment plans and a smooth one-click checkout (Klarna Checkout) that many Swedish sites use as their entire payment frontend. Klarna claims a large share of the market – indeed open invoice methods (dominated by Klarna) exceed half of ecom transactions (adyen.com). In our data, Klarna was on ~22,300 Swedish sites, more than any other provider, which underlines its reach. For consumers, Klarna’s appeal is the flexibility and trust (you can return items before paying, etc.). For merchants, offering Klarna can increase sales, but it comes with fees – still, in Sweden it’s expected. Klarna also now includes card payments and even bank direct payments in its checkout, so some merchants use Klarna Checkout as a one-stop solution (which might also explain why cards are less separately visible). In B2C, Klarna is king. In B2B, while Klarna has business solutions, Swedish companies often rely on traditional invoicing (sometimes using competitors like Svea or just direct billing) for trade credit. Klarna’s brand is primarily consumer-focused in Sweden.
  • Swish – A mobile payment app backed by Sweden’s banks. Swish lets users instantly transfer money using just a phone number. It’s extremely popular for splitting bills, paying small merchants, and increasingly, paying online. Now, Swish is the most frequently used payment service in Swedish online shops and apps (snb.ch) by number of transactions. By 2024, more Swedes named Swish as their leading online payment brand over Klarna, which it overtook in popularity a few years ago (statista.com). For e-commerce, merchants display a Swish option; if chosen, the shopper approves the payment in the Swish app (which debits their bank). It’s effectively like a real-time bank transfer with mobile convenience. Swish is used for both B2C and informal B2B (e.g. small business or sole trader payments). For larger B2B, not so much, as companies prefer invoicing and not all have Swish for business set up. But Swish does have a business product and even charities, clubs etc. use Swish for payments. With 8+ million users (in a country of 10 million (ergomania.eu), any e-commerce catering to Sweden almost needs to accept Swish now.
  • Cards (Visa/Mastercard) – Despite the dominance of Klarna and Swish, cards still account for a significant chunk (around one-third of Swedish online payments by some estimates (ppro.com). Many Swedes have credit cards (often incentivized by loyalty programs) and still use them especially on sites that don’t offer Klarna or Swish (or for services like subscriptions, streaming, etc.). Swedish-issued cards are often co-badged with BankAxept-like debit or just are international Visas/Mastercards. Merchants usually accept cards via PSPs or via Klarna’s infrastructure. The interesting dynamic is that because Klarna Checkout can handle card payments, a shopper might enter card details on a Klarna form – from the user perspective they might not even realize the payment is by traditional card because Klarna or Swish overshadow it. In B2B, corporate cards might be used for things like travel bookings or online services (Swedish businesses have high card adoption for expenses). So cards remain an important method for both consumers and businesses, even if less celebrated.
  • Svea, Walley, and other BNPL/Invoice providers – Sweden has several other players in the invoice/payment plan space: Svea Ekonomi, Walley (Collector), Avarda, AfterPay (Riverty), etc. Adyen’s guide noted 5–6 providers offering invoices in Sweden (adyen.com). Klarna is the largest, but these others carve out niches (for example, Svea might power payments for some smaller retailers or specific sectors). Our data saw Svea on ~2,980 Swedish sites – notable though much smaller than Klarna’s footprint. These services often target both B2C and B2B (Svea and Walley have business credit solutions). For a merchant, choosing one of these can be about better fees or industry-specific offerings. The proliferation of invoice providers underscores how ingrained buy-now-pay-later is in Swedish commerce – there’s competition to grant consumers that convenience of paying after delivery.
  • PayPal and global wallets – PayPal is available in Sweden and quite a few Swedes have accounts, but its usage is limited compared to local solutions. It tends to be used for cross-border transactions (e.g. buying on international sites) or on marketplaces. Many Swedish merchants still offer PayPal – our data found it on ~18,600 sites – often as a “why not” addition for the few customers who prefer it or for foreign customers. Apple Pay and Google Pay are also supported by Swedish banks/cards and sometimes listed on checkouts (Apple Pay was on ~9,100 Swedish sites per our data). They haven’t achieved the same usage as Swish, but they do provide a fast checkout option especially for mobile and for users with international backgrounds. They’re more of a complement; for instance, a tech-savvy shopper might use Apple Pay on an iPhone instead of Swish if they find it quicker.

Domestic vs International: Swedish e-commerce players are very outward-looking (Swedes buy from international sites and Swedish sites sell abroad, especially to the EU). For domestic sales, not offering Klarna or Swish is almost unthinkable for a mainstream merchant – you’d lose too many sales. For cross-border, Swedish merchants rely on those platform capabilities: Klarna is expanding in many markets, so a Swedish merchant can offer Klarna in, say, Germany or the UK to attract foreign customers similarly. Swish, however, is domestic; a non-Swedish customer cannot use Swish, so Swedish merchants must also have card payments and PayPal to cover foreigners. This they generally do – either via a PSP or via Klarna Checkout (which by default shows local Swedish options but can fall back to card for others). International merchants entering Sweden often partner with Klarna to quickly gain local credibility. It’s common for foreign brands launching Swedish sites to heavily feature Klarna and Swish logos – it signals to Swedish shoppers that “you can trust and pay easily here”. Additionally, Sweden’s high trust in fintech means new entrants can get traction – e.g. Stripe is used by many startups in Sweden and can process Swish via plugins, so newcomers can offer Swish with minimal effort. Platform-native solutions like Shopify Payments also support local methods in Sweden (Shopify merchants can enable Klarna and Swish through integrations), which lowers the barrier for smaller foreign merchants to sell to Swedes. A noteworthy cross-border trend is the Nordics integration: with Vipps, MobilePay, and Swish collaborating, a merchant in one Nordic country might soon accept a wallet payment from a neighboring country’s app seamlessly. This will further blur domestic vs international in the Nordic region’s payments. All told, Sweden’s market is characterized by extremely strong local preferences (Swish, invoicing) that any successful player must adapt to, and a parallel accommodation of global methods for complete coverage. Swedish consumers will happily use a local method if available, but if shopping on a foreign site, they might use a card or PayPal – however, their expectation now is that more and more foreign sites will cater to them with Swedish methods.

Platform-native integrations and cross-market presence

One recurring theme across all these countries is the role of platform-native payment integrations – especially on popular e-commerce platforms like Shopify and WooCommerce – in streamlining cross-border payment acceptance. Two prime examples are Shopify Payments (with its local method support) and PayPal’s ubiquitous plugins.

Shopify Payments (and Shop Pay)
Shopify Payments is the built-in payment gateway for Shopify merchants, powered behind the scenes by providers like Stripe/Adyen. Crucially, it automatically enables relevant local payment methods based on the shopper’s region. For instance, a Shopify merchant in the US can easily accept Bancontact and iDEAL when selling to Belgium or the Netherlands – they simply toggle those on, no custom integration needed (help.shopify.com). Shopify Payments supports Bancontact, iDEAL, Sofort, EPS, Klarna, etc., depending on the market (help.shopify.com), meaning merchants on Shopify can localize their checkout experience at the flick of a switch. This has huge implications: it lowers the barrier for cross-market expansion since even small merchants can offer country-specific popular methods without in-depth knowledge. Additionally, Shop Pay, Shopify’s accelerated checkout, is available globally – it stores customer details for one-click payments across any Shopify store. Shop Pay itself isn’t a separate payment method funded by a bank or card, but it streamlines card payments and now even installments (Shop Pay Installments by Affirm in some countries). Its presence (noted in our data across countries, e.g. ~6–13k sites in each country had “Shop Pay” enabled) underscores the impact of platform features. Shop Pay improves conversion and thus indirectly encourages merchants to sell globally, knowing returning customers can pay faster. In essence, platform-native solutions like Shopify Payments abstract away complexity: a single integration gives a merchant Apple Pay, Google Pay, local methods and credit cards in one – very powerful for cross-border commerce.

WooCommerce & PayPal/Stripe integrations
WooCommerce (the popular WordPress e-commerce plugin) relies on third-party payment gateways. PayPal and Stripe are two that have become nearly universal on WooCommerce sites globally. Because they are easy to install and free to use (no monthly fee, just transaction fees), many WooCommerce-based shops simply offer PayPal and Stripe out-of-the-box. This means an English WooCommerce site, a German one, or a Danish one – all likely have a similar PayPal checkout option (and Stripe powering card payments). Our analysis of PayPal’s presence found that a significant percentage of Shopify and WooCommerce stores across these countries have PayPal enabled – often 50% or more (e.g. ~72% in Italy, ~47% in Sweden, ~40% in Finland, ~62% in Belgium) based on the data of PayPal usage on those platform stores. This prevalence is no accident: PayPal comes built-in with Shopify and as a default plugin with WooCommerce, so many merchants leave it on as a convenient global method. The result is a kind of cross-market ubiquity – no matter if you’re shopping on a boutique in Oslo or a gadget store in Milan, you’re likely to see the PayPal button. That consistency gives consumers a familiar fallback and gives merchants confidence they can serve international customers (who might prefer PayPal if they’re unfamiliar with the local method on that site). Stripe’s integration on WooCommerce similarly allows merchants worldwide to accept not just cards but Apple Pay, Google Pay, and even local methods (if configured) like iDEAL or Klarna through Stripe. So, platform ecosystems have made a set of payment methods effectively universal across markets.

Cross-Border Influence of Key Players
Certain providers emerge as bridges across countries. PayPal is the obvious one – present virtually everywhere, it’s the default cross-border wallet. Stripe/Adyen as PSPs power many local methods but are invisible to consumers; their influence is in enabling merchants to support the right mix in each market. Klarna has grown from a Swedish BNPL to a global brand now active in all the discussed countries – a German shopper, a Norwegian, an Italian can all use Klarna, making it a cross-border payment option in its own right. Apple Pay and Google Pay – while not top of any country’s list except perhaps on tech-centric sites – provide a unified experience for a segment of users across borders (a tech-savvy Swiss or Italian might choose Apple Pay in lieu of typing card details, for example). Mollie and Nets/Nexi (regional PSPs) are extending beyond their home (Mollie from NL into Belgium, France, etc., Nets from Nordics into DACH), contributing to cross-pollination of methods.

In summary, platform-native integrations and globally-oriented providers smooth out the differences between markets. They ensure that a merchant doesn’t have to integrate Bancontact, iDEAL, Klarna, Swish separately with different contracts – instead, one integration (be it Shopify Payments, PayPal, Stripe, etc.) covers it. This has led to a situation where key payment methods achieve strong cross-border presence despite being local in nature: for example, Bancontact can be accepted by a German Shopify store selling to Belgium, and iDEAL appears on UK websites via PayPal’s Braintree or Adyen. Likewise, a Dutch merchant can easily offer Klarna to German customers through a single PSP. The significance is huge for market entry and expansion: a merchant can enter a new European market and immediately offer the familiar local payment options through their existing platform, rather than needing to sign deals with local banks. This greatly lowers friction in European e-commerce, effectively enabling the regional patterns we’ve discussed to coexist with global e-commerce flows.

Conclusion: Regional patterns, cross-border champions, and the power of local preferences

Analysing these seven countries side by side reveals clear regional patterns and instructive differences:

Local dominance vs global universals
Each country has one or two dominant local payment methods – Bancontact in Belgium, Twint in Switzerland, MobilePay in Denmark, Paytrail (bank transfers) in Finland, PayPal (local favourite) in Italy, Vipps (and cards) in Norway, Klarna/Swish in Sweden. These methods stem from local banking systems or consumer habits and command loyalty in their home markets. At the same time, global methods like credit cards and PayPal are present “just about everywhere” (retaildetail.eu) as the common denominators. Cards are accepted in all countries (even if not always first choice), and PayPal’s familiar checkout is offered broadly to capture cross-border shoppers. This duality means successful merchants typically combine the local must-haves with a baseline of global options.

North vs south vs central
There’s a north-south divide of sorts. The Nordics (Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland) are heavy on mobile wallets and pay-later solutions: MobilePay/Vipps/Swish and Klarna/Svea are household names there, reflecting a tech-forward consumer base and trust in digital finance. Central-West Europe (Belgium, Netherlands, Switzerland) leans on bank-based payments: Bancontact, iDEAL, Twint, Sofort – these are all bank-account-direct methods, indicating the strength of bank networks and a preference for direct debit-style payments. Southern Europe (Italy) has been more cautious historically, thus PayPal (a “foreign” but trust-building method) and cash/prepaid solutions took hold. Understanding these cultural and historical contexts is key – one size does not fit all in Europe. A Nordics-focused merchant will prioritise mobile wallets and Klarna, whereas a Benelux-focused one must integrate local bank payments or risk losing most customers.

Cross-border influencers – key players
Some payment providers have clearly managed to extend their influence across multiple countries: Klarna (originating in Sweden) is now a major player in Norway, Finland, the Netherlands, Belgium, etc., showing that a popular concept can travel – especially BNPL in regions with similar consumer credit cultures. PayPal remains a pan-European staple for cross-border commerce – even where it’s not #1 locally, it’s the safety net for transactions that cross languages or currencies. Stripe and Adyen (though behind the scenes) power a lot of this by enabling local method acceptance to non-local merchants – they are the unsung heroes making, for example, a French website feel native to a Dutch customer by offering iDEAL. Mollie has grown beyond the Netherlands into Belgium and even across Europe, thanks to its easy integration – it’s becoming a regional champion for SME payments. Meanwhile, regional collaborations (like the Vipps-MobilePay merger and its partnership with Swish) hint at the future: key local methods might interoperate across borders, effectively becoming multi-country methods. If that succeeds, a Nordic wallet could rival card schemes in cross-border utility within that region.

Platform power – shaping market entry
The prevalence of Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento, and other platforms in online retail has greatly shaped how payments are adopted. These platforms have baked-in support for the dominant providers, which means merchants expanding to a new country often have the tools at their fingertips to accept the local payments. For example, a Canadian brand using Shopify entering the Dutch market can enable iDEAL and Bancontact via Shopify Payments in minutes – something that would have been a project on its own a decade ago. This reduces the friction of market expansion; payment localization is no longer a barrier reserved for enterprise retailers with local contracts, but available to SMBs. It also means that certain payment methods achieve widespread adoption simply by being defaults on platforms – PayPal’s presence on WooCommerce is a clear case. In effect, the e-commerce platforms act as conduits for spreading payment innovations across borders. If tomorrow a new payment method becomes huge in one country, chances are platform providers or PSPs will integrate it and thereby propagate it across thousands of merchants in multiple countries (much like Apple Pay rolled out or Klarna became a checkout option globally).

Consumer behaviour and trust
Underpinning all of this, local consumer behaviour and trust patterns dictate what gets used. In Belgium and Netherlands, trust in one’s bank and domestic systems is high – hence bank-based methods flourish. In Italy, wariness about fraud led to a trust in PayPal and cash – only now gradually shifting toward more modern solutions as trust improves. Nordics have high trust both in technology and in credit, enabling things like Swish and Klarna to thrive. These patterns highlight that any payment provider trying to enter a new European market must contend with deeply ingrained habits. Often, partnering or integrating with existing local systems (as Mastercard did by co-badging Bancontact, or as Klarna did by offering localised invoice terms) is more successful than trying to impose a wholly new behaviour.

To conclude, European e-commerce payments are a mix of local traditions and global tech. Merchants aiming for success across these markets need to literally “speak the language” of payments in each country – be it offering installment invoices in Sweden, MobilePay in Denmark, or Bancontact in Belgium – while also providing cross-border staples like cards and PayPal to ensure no customer is left out. The good news is that modern payment platforms and providers have made this mapping far easier. The direction is clear: meet customers’ local expectations at checkout, and they will buy confidently, whether they’re next door or across the continent. By recognizing the strengths and focus of each payment provider (from Twint’s local sovereignty in Switzerland to PayPal’s cross-border indispensability), businesses can craft a payment strategy that feels native in every market they serve, B2C and B2B alike. This localized approach, backed by data and smart integrations, is increasingly what defines competitive advantage in Europe’s vibrant online payments landscape.

E-commerce

Cross-border selling in Europe: A look at six markets

3
 min read

Our recent analysis of aggregated data from webshops in selected European countries confirms two straightforward insights about cross-border selling: webshops typically target neighbouring countries or seek out larger markets to grow their potential customer base. While these findings may seem intuitive, the data illustrates clearly how consistently webshops employ these strategies - particularly when supported by strong partnerships with local logistics providers and prioritised investments in localisation.

The obvious role of proximity
Webshops in Denmark primarily target Sweden (18.9%) and Germany (18%), reflecting straightforward cross-border logistics and cultural familiarity. Similarly, Dutch webshops predominantly sell to Belgium (17.4%) and Germany (13.5%), confirming that short distances and established regional logistics make neighbouring countries natural first choices. Swedish webshops follow the same logic, favouring close neighbours Denmark (17.2%) and Finland (15.9%).

Targeting larger markets beyond proximity
Webshops strategically pursue larger markets with robust consumer bases, such as Germany and France, regardless of direct proximity. For instance, Italian webshops commonly sell to Germany (14.2%) and France (14.1%), driven significantly by the size and high purchasing power of these markets, alongside geographical closeness.

Distinctive patterns in Eastern Europe
Webshops in Hungary display notably low cross-border priority: only 4.4% offer shipping options to Germany, Slovakia, and Romania. This cautious approach likely reflects specific economic calculations, infrastructural limitations, or less developed cross-border logistics partnerships, rather than purely geographical factors.

Latvian webshops clearly illustrate the proximity factor again, heavily targeting neighbouring Lithuania (16.8%) and Estonia (15.9%), highlighting ease of trade through geographic and cultural closeness.

Notable differences in cross-border engagement levels
A significant finding from the data is the variation in how actively webshops pursue international markets. Factors driving these differences include the maturity of the domestic e-commerce market, logistical infrastructure, consumer purchasing power, and particularly the level of investment into localisation and logistics solutions. Engagement levels notably decline with increasing distance, indicating logistical complexity and higher costs likely deter webshops from extensive international expansion beyond neighbouring or well-established larger markets.

Concluding remarks
Our aggregated data confirms proximity and market size as primary drivers for cross-border e-commerce decisions. However, the diverse patterns and varying engagement levels suggest that webshop decisions are influenced by more complex strategic factors, including infrastructural readiness, economic conditions, logistical capabilities, and the willingness to invest in localised consumer experiences. These factors ultimately shape cross-border success far more than geographical closeness alone.

E-commerce

Last-mile delivery providers: Mapping delivery market dynamics across 17 European countries

3
 min read

Last‑mile delivery shapes the online shopping experience, influencing conversion rates, repeat purchases and brand perception.

At Tembi, we analysed over 600,000 webshops to understand two aspects of last‑mile competition in 17 European markets, the market share of the top delivery provider and the number of distinct delivery partners each webshop integrates, and how these factors drive innovation and strategy.

Delivery providers with the highest market presence in webshops’ checkout flows, by country.

Methodology: Tracking integrations not shipments

Rather than estimating parcel volumes, we examined the presence of delivery providers in webshop back‑ends. Every integration represents a commitment by the webshop to offer that carrier at checkout. By counting integrations, we capture:

• Breadth of choice available to consumers

• Carrier prominence within each market

For each country - from Belgium to Slovakia - we identified the top three providers by share of webshop integrations and counted the total number of providers in active use. We excluded providers that have less than 1% market presence.


These figures show that while national postal services still lead in many markets, no single carrier dominates everywhere, and the number of options ranges from three providers in Iceland to more than twenty in the Netherlands.

Consolidated vs Fragmented markets

We classify markets by the checkout presence held by the leading provider:

  1. Highly consolidated (leader > 50%)
    Finland, Hungary, Germany
  2. Moderately consolidated (leader 33–50%)
    Latvia, Estonia, Norway, Denmark, Switzerland, Belgium, Bulgaria, Iceland, Slovakia
  3. Highly fragmented (leader < 33%)
    Netherlands, Sweden, Italy, Romania

Fragmentation in focus, number of competing providers

Adding the count of distinct delivery partners shows where compeition is the hightst:


Most fragmented markets, such as the Netherlands, Romania and Sweden, offer webshops a broad selection of carriers to tailor delivery options by region, price‑point and service level. In the Netherlands, for instance, there are over twenty distinct last‑mile providers active across the market. By contrast, in Iceland and Bulgaria webshops have fewer providers to choose from, simplifying management but concentrating risk, and less consumer choice. Finland sits between these extremes, with around fourteen partners in use yet Posti being present in 62% of all webshop checkouts.

Analysis, geography, national postal providers and innovation

Geography plays a crucial role in shaping last‑mile dynamics. In countries with vast rural areas and archipelagos - most notably Finland and Sweden - webshops need delivery partners that can reliably serve both remote villages and dense urban centres. National posts excel at this: Posti’s 62 percent presence in Finland and PostNord’s 33 percent in Sweden reflect their ability to cover every corner of the country, from Lapland to the Helsinki suburbs, or from the Stockholm archipelago to the far north. This extensive network cements their leadership and makes it challenging for smaller couriers to compete on a truly national scale.

At the same time, urban populations in these markets demand faster and more flexible options. That’s why even highly consolidated markets like Finland still see around fourteen delivery partners in use, and Sweden nearly eighteen. Specialist providers focus on city‑centre same‑day deliveries, parcel locker networks and niche eco‑services, carving out space alongside the national postal incumbent.

By contrast, in highly fragmented markets such as the Netherlands, Italy and Romania, geography is less of a barrier - population density is higher and distances shorter - so webshops routinely offer 18 to 22 different providers to meet varied consumer preferences. National posts such as PostNL and Poste Italiane must innovate continually, rolling out premium services like carbon‑neutral shipping, click‑and‑collect lockers and advanced tracking, and partnering with crowd‑shipping or on‑demand couriers to fill gaps.

In moderately consolidated markets - Denmark, Belgium, Switzerland and the Baltics - the mix reflects mid‑range geography and market size. National posts share the stage with regional specialists (such as GLS and DPD), driving innovation in service differentiation, tech integration and sustainability (electric fleets, bike couriers, offset programmes).

Finally, in smaller or more remote markets like Iceland and Bulgaria, webshops often layer core postal services with a handful (three to five) of local same‑day or on‑demand couriers to ensure coverage. Even here, national posts are expanding parcel‑locker footprints and app‑based tracking to meet rising consumer expectations - while keeping a watchful eye towards rapidly growing new digital-first ventures.

Understanding these overlapping factors - market consolidation, provider fragmentation and geographic realities - allows e‑commerce leaders to tailor last‑mile strategies. In widespread, low‑density regions, deep partnerships with national posts ensure full coverage; in dense, competitive markets, robust multi‑carrier technology and innovative niche services deliver the flexibility consumers expect.

Stay tuned for more insights and sign-up to our monthly newsletter.

Customer stories

How AI Is Transforming Real Estate Development

3
 min read

The real estate sector, particularly in hospitality, is undergoing a significant shift. With growing data availability and the evolution of AI tools, companies can now make faster, more informed, and more strategic decisions. We recently sat down with Jochen Renz to talk about how he and his team are rethinking real estate development by embracing AI-driven insights.

This article is based on a conversation between Michael Bugaj , CMO at Tembi, and Jochen Renz, VP Operations Accor Switzerland & Southern Germany and Managing Director AccorHotels Switzerland.


The challenge of predicting growth

Jochen begins by highlighting a central challenge in real estate development: identifying areas with future growth potential. "The question was, how can I ensure we define areas in a country with further potential growth than we might see today?" he explains. Traditional methods - macro- and microeconomic research, political and demographic analysis - often look backward, relying on historical data to predict future trends.

However, Jochen was looking for more than that. He wanted forward-thinking tools that could help them predict, not just reflect. This desire for a proactive approach led Jochen and his team to explore AI-powered solutions.

Discovering Tembi

One of the tools Jochen explored is Tembi, a platform that helps identify emerging opportunities in different areas of cities based on continuously updated market data. While not yet rolled out in Switzerland, the tool was originally developed in Denmark and stood out to Jochen as a promising forward-looking platform.

"Tembi allowed us to do predictions in areas based on logistics, different sectors, and growing patterns," Jochen shares. "I compared this with more traditional development tools, and what stood out was its ability to look forward by analyzing data such as employer growth, financial data, and sector movements."

From manual labor to scalable insights

Traditionally, site selection was a heavily manual task involving fragmented data sources. Jochen’s team would combine macroeconomic data with localized insights, looking at street-level factors, emissions, and building potential. External consultants were often brought in to help collect and validate this information. "The consistent approach is not easy to achieve," he admits.

With AI-driven tools like Tembi, however, the potential for change is clear. While still a work in progress, the promise lies in being able to access relevant data for hundreds or even thousands of locations more quickly than before. Jochen notes that with tools like Tembi, it's becoming increasingly feasible to explore broader market patterns and opportunities in a more scalable way.

Replicable patterns across borders

Jochen shared an example from Denmark: a promising opportunity in Odense. “I had never heard of the city before,” he laughs. “But by setting a few filters, we uncovered a significant movement in the city that revealed a growing need for hotels.”

With tools like Tembi, such discoveries become replicable. “You could look for similar movements in Sweden, Poland, or Belgium, just by changing the location input. That’s the power of structured data paired with AI.”

A shift in real estate mindset

The ability to anticipate development opportunities earlier in the cycle will give companies a strategic edge. "If we know an area is developing and we can suggest the right brand early on, we influence the project from the beginning," Jochen explains. "That positions us in a completely different way in the value chain."

Lowering the barrier to smart decisions

Perhaps one of the most powerful applications of AI, Jochen believes, is making complex data more accessible. "Think about someone running a 7-Eleven or Domino's Pizza franchise, they're not developers," he says. "But if AI can give them confidence in a location based on structured data, that opens up huge possibilities."

This democratization of insight, paired with AI’s ability to remove emotional bias from decisions, is transforming how Accor - and potentially the wider industry - approaches site selection.

Looking ahead

As AI continues to evolve, Jochen envisions a future where real estate teams can monitor hundreds of markets at once, identifying trends and acting faster than ever before. “You don’t have to focus on one area anymore, you can analyze 100 areas and synthesize it down to the two best opportunities. That’s game-changing.”

The intersection of human insight and machine intelligence is reshaping real estate development. For Jochen and the team at Accor, tools like Tembi have the potential to become more than just another platform - they could evolve into essential partners in strategic growth.

As this conversation shows, the integration of AI into real estate decision-making isn't just a technical evolution, it's a shift in mindset. By empowering teams with better tools, clearer data, and broader perspectives, platforms like Tembi can help companies like Accor stay ahead in an increasingly competitive and fast-moving market.

Stay tuned for more stories like this as we continue to explore the intersection of AI and real-world strategy across industries.