Online shopping in Austria: Alert rapidly rising fake shops!

Online shopping in Austria: Alert rapidly rising fake shops!

The latest results of an online shopping study created by the Institute for Trade, Paragraph and Marketing (IHAM) at the Johannes Kepler University Linz on behalf of the federal division trade of the Austria Chamber of Commerce (WKÖ) show a worrying development in the Austrian online trade. Rainer Treelik, chairman of the federal division trade in the WKÖ, discusses the declining number of online shoppers: inside in Austria.

The proportion of online shoppers: In the age of 16 to 74, in 2024, it dropped to 71 %, which is a slight decline compared to 2023 than the value was 72 %. In a European comparison, Austria is therefore below the EU average of 72 % and also behind Germany, where 78 % of the population shop online. The north-south gradient is particularly clear: in Ireland, the quota is 95 % and in the Netherlands at 94 %, while Italy lagging behind with 54 % and Bulgaria with 50 %.

popular product groups and return quote

The study also shows that 48 % of Austrian online shoppers: order clothing and shoes inside, while furniture and garden items are also in great demand. Food, on the other hand, is only for 11 % of this consumer: an issue inside. The preferred delivery options shows that 83 % of the shoppers: inside want the delivery home. In contrast, innovative service offers such as "Same-Day Delivery" have only a small target group, since only 3 % often and 8 % are interested in it every now and then.

A critical point that Treffelik and the industry overall is the return rate, which is 56 % in Austria in over half of the online shoppers: inside. For comparison: in Germany in 2020 the proportion of returns was 56 %, which is the highest value in Europe. These high return rates are not only an economic problem, but also have negative ecological consequences, which is why Treffelik urges measures to improve product information and uniform size. The best solutions could be legally required fees for returns to control the return behavior.

the rise of Asian platforms and was on the Internet

An alarming development is the increase in Asian online retailers: inside that make up 65 % of online editions in Austria. Young consumers in particular: Almost equally often buy from these platforms as with Amazon. In the past 12 months, 41 % of Austrians have made such a purchase inside. In addition, innovative sales formats such as social commerce and live stream shopping are still used in Austria-only 5 % of consumers have already gained experience here.

Another serious problem is the rapidly increasing number of fake shops. In the period from January 1 to April 30, 2025, 36,725 advertisements were switched in Austria with an intention to fraud, which led to 71 fake shops. These ads reached almost 30 million people in Austria and a total of 85.9 million in the EU. Trefelik therefore calls for a harder approach to such attempts to fraud, especially on platforms such as Facebook and Instagram.

The digital consumption habits also show a clear trend: While online trading continues to develop positively after Corona pandemic-77 % of the 16- to 74-year-old Internet users in the EU in 2024-Austria urgently has to fight against the stagnating values in order not to go back. The development in online editions, which rose to 10 % of the total retail expenses, is at least positive news, since it is above the level before the crisis when this proportion was 9.9 %.

Overall, it can be seen that the Austrian online trade faces major challenges. In addition to the need to promote innovative approaches, increased attention to security and standards is also necessary to regain the trust of consumers: to regain the inside and to secure competitiveness.