H&M, Zalando, Zara, leaders in cross-border fashion e-commerce in Europe

H&M, Zalando, Zara and Decathlon are among the most successful companies in terms of cross-border e-commerce in Europe, according to a recent report by Cross-Border Commerce Europe. FashionUnited takes a look.

The specialist company revealed its latest annual ranking of the top 500 European cross-border online shops in the seventh edition of its study, entitled ‘Top 500 B2C Cross-Border Retail Europe’. Fashion, jewellery and luxury brands are well-represented and appear to be the dominant category in the barometer, accounting for 43 percent of the market.

European B2C e-commerce represents 275.6 billion euros

In 2024, the EU's cross-border online market reached 275.6 billion euros (excluding travel). This figure represents 36 percent of the overall online market.

The total turnover of the 500 best-performing European cross-border B2C brands climbed last year to reach 69.5 billion euros, a 39 percent increase compared to 2023. These sales relate to the 15 countries of Western Europe, as well as Scandinavia and the UK.

In 2024, the top three European e-commerce retailers in terms of active countries, number of cross-border visitors and cross-border sales were Ikea, Lidl and H&M. Although the first two are not specialised in fashion, their activity has expanded to include clothing and accessories segments in recent years.

The rest of the ranking includes: Zalando, Jysk (furniture), Notino (beauty), Lego, Adidas, Decathlon and the fast fashion giant Zara, which comes in 10th place.

The cross-border online sales specialist indicates that cross-border e-commerce should continue its growth trajectory in the years to come, thanks in particular to the support of AI and the success of the resale market.