It is not a wondering fact that gambling is a fast-growing and developing industry that has become extremely popular worldwide. After the world met the problem of the global pandemic and many people have started to spend more time online, some countries decided to make gambling legal. Legalizing the gambling market has significantly impacted the European market and has started to influence the growth of the European e-commerce market in terms of its turnover.
In this article, we will touch on the topic of gambling from the perspective of its position in the e-commerce market in European countries. In addition, we will show you what the most popular payment methods are, and interesting statistics that depicts the shift from offline sales to online. However, before doing this, it is necessary to understand how big is the market of e-commerce in Europe at all.
How big is the e-commerce market in Europe?
The population of Europe is 746.4 million people, and 87% of this number is involved in online sales: some people just shop online, while some people prefer to put their money into entertainment, like making their bets in different casino games or predicting the results of different sports events. All these expenses and online sales form a complete picture of the European market of e-commerce.
In 2023, the total turnover from the European e-commerce market reached a record number – $732.12 billion (694,36 billion euros) (the data was taken from the German platform Statista). For sure, most of the revenue comes from fashion and food. However, 87.2 billion euros were generated by the gambling industry.
And it is interesting to highlight that the importance of the e-commerce market was clearly shown after the global pandemic started in 2019. In the graphic below, we indicate the progressive growth of the market.
You see that from 2017 to 2019, the market’s total revenue experienced an increase in terms of the total revenue, but this increase was insignificant. However, when the outbreak of COVID-19 has enveloped Europe, and more people have started to give their preferences to online sales, the situation in the market has changed dramatically. This change contributed to the market, and it was the first time in many years that the increase of the total market revenue jumped by 31%.
The situation in the gambling market took another turn – the global pandemic came unexpectedly, and nobody was ready for such a situation. As a result, the total gambling gross went down (from 100.6 billion euros in 2019 to 81.1 billion euros in 2020. This decrease was provoked by the restrictions and special applied measures that forced to cancel many outdoor sports events and close many land-based casinos. But many iGaming companies found a perfect solution – to go online rather than wait for the miracle. Thanks to this solution, the online segment of gambling has experienced growth (from 26.1 billion euros in 2019 to 30.05 billion in 2020).
The analysts from Statista make their bets that the increase will be even better in the upcoming years – from $480.56 billion (385,34 billion euros) in 2017 to $1.22 trillion (1.15 trillion euros) by 2025. And one of the reasons why the analysts are confident in this is internet users, to be precise – the increase in the number of online users.
More people go online and increase the total turnover of the e-commerce market
The global pandemic has opened the eyes of many people that there is a more convenient way to spend money, namely to do this online. Consequently, many people have changed their attitudes toward online sales in general.
As of 2017, the European e-commerce market counted around 226.5 million internet users involved in this market to some extent. In 2018, the number of users reached the point of 253.7 million people. The year ahead, and the data displays even a better increase – 285.4 million users. But, the most significant growth came in the year 2020, when the number of internet users was 320.9 million (it is almost half of the overall population of Europe). In the graphic below, you can see this significant increase of 12.4%.
This significant increase affected the overall e-commerce market turnover of Europe positively. Experts projected the increase of users by 46.2% by 2025, and the number of gamblers will also be higher as well.
Most European countries have legalized gambling
One more reason why the gambling market will feel itself confidence and strengthen its positions in the e-commerce market in the near future is the legalization of this business in European countries.
At the current moment, gambling is completely legalized in the following countries:
- The United Kingdom;
- France;
- Italy;
- Sweden;
- Germany;
- Switzerland;
- The Netherlands;
- Spain.
In the rest of the countries within Europe, the gambling industry obtains some restrictions, like partial legalization. However, their governments consider the softening of the law and further legalization of this extremely profitable niche.
Gambling took the first position in the e-commerce market in Spain in 2023
As you have seen that the number of internet users in Europe is going up from year to year, and this increase influences the gambling industry greatly. While in some European counties, the first places take the turnover from online sales in the categories of fashion and food, the gambling activity got the first position in the e-commerce market of Spain in 2023 for the first time in its history.
The National Commission on Markets and Competition of Spain has recently uploaded an annual report that clearly shows that gambling activity, including online casino gambling and sports betting, leads the market in terms of the total gross.
The report revealed that during the year (2023), there were made 284 million transactions. And this transaction helped add 4.9 million euros to the total sum. In comparison with the previous year, it was a 15.6% growth.
Considering the geographical segmentation, 44.6% was received inside the country, while 56.4% of the revenue came from outside.
And what are the most popular payment methods in the e-commerce market of Europe?
For most business owners of gambling businesses, it is always curious to know what payment methods predominated within the European market of e-commerce in 2023. The data provided by Statista indicates that the majority of internet users prefer to use digital wallets and credit cards. PayPal is also among the demanding methods to use. And there are a few more payment options that are worth considering because they have their share. You can see in the graph below what the most popular payment methods were in 2023.
It is also worth indicating that the situation in Spain is slightly different because citizens of this country gave their preference mostly for cards (debit and credit). Even though the cards are used by the majority within the frame of the e-commerce market, there are still many people who prefer digital wallets and the option of bank transfer. Thus, it is highly recommended that your iGaming business offer the payment methods mentioned above.
Conclusion
To conclude, gambling takes an important position in the European e-commerce market, especially in Spain. And it was for the first time that gambling overrun such categories of the e-commerce market as tourism and fashion in Spain. Based on this significant progress, many experts forecast the market’s growth and growth of the gambling business within the e-commerce sector in the upcoming years.
Read more: Best Gambling Payment Providers
