SEB survey: Young people in Baltic states favoring online shopping

TALLINN - SEB e-commerce survey conducted across the three Baltic countries for the first time revealed that 43 percent of Estonians shop online monthly.

Convenience and time savings were cited as the main motivators for e-shopping in all Baltic states, with younger people also valuing the broader selection of goods more than older generations.

The most purchased items include clothing, footwear, accessories, cosmetics, beauty, and health products. Latvians and Lithuanians are slightly more active monthly online shoppers at 46 percent, compared to 43 percent in Estonia. Among Estonian counties, Põlva County leads with 61 percent of monthly e-shoppers, followed by Lääne County, Hiiumaa island, and Jõgeva County, each at 50 percent.

In Estonia, 70 percent of online shoppers prefer paying with credit or debit cards, while 25 percent use mobile wallets like Google Pay and Apple Pay -- more than in Latvia and Lithuania. Mobile wallets are especially popular among Estonians in their 20s, with 57 percent favoring this payment method. Older shoppers use cards, bank links or PayPal.

Parcel lockers remain the most preferred delivery method for 93 percent of Estonians, while 36 percent opt for home delivery by courier.

"E-commerce statistics from the Estonian E-Commerce Association support this, showing that Estonians order 1.3 to 1.5 million parcels to lockers monthly, with annual growth often in double digits," said Christo Ojamaa, SEB's director of working capital and payment solutions.

The SEB e-commerce survey was conducted in fall 2024 in cooperation with pollster Norstat, involving 1,000 participants aged 18-74 from Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.