Luxembourg, e-commerce and logistics
Luxembourg may be small, but its economic impact is significant.
Read on to discover more about e-commerce in Europe’s second smallest country.
Why Luxembourg?
The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg is home to just over 659,000 residents, making it the second smallest state in the EU. To put that into perspective, Luxembourg is about 2,586 square kilometres – roughly the size of Greater Manchester. This results in population density of 254 inhabitants per square meter, which is similar to Germany.1
Luxembourg boasts the highest GDP per capita in the world, making it an attractive market for e-commerce companies. It also boasts an excellent employment rate, affluent population and a highly developed infrastructure.
Around 20% of the population – 140,000 people — reside in the capital city, also named Luxembourg. The country maintains close ties with its neighbours – Belgium, France and Germany. It is also one of the three Benelux states.
Luxembourg is a founding member of the European Union and was one of the first countries to adopt the euro in January 1999.
- 659,000
- Population
- 659,000
- 99%2
- E-commerce revenue
The e-commerce landscape
Luxembourg ranks among some of the leading countries for internet penetration at 99%. Over 80% of those going online do so to shop, which is above average. Between 2024 and 2028, the total of e-commerce shoppers is expected to rise by 25%.
Each year, the amount spent by each e-commerce buyer increases. It is expected to reach US$2,156 by 2028, a healthy increase from 2021 (during the pandemic) when it was US$1,754. As a result, the net worth of e-commerce is forecasted to be US$1.4 billion by 2025.
Right now, nearly a quarter of purchases are made using smart phones or tablets, with double-digit growth expected to increase this share in future years. This trend is aided by Luxembourg’s high smartphone penetration rates (93%), with half of all the mobile purchases being made through apps.3
Opportunities
To its credit, Luxembourg maintains close relations with its neighbouring countries and as a result faces few language barriers. Consequently, Luxembourgers are very open to shopping across borders. 96% of online buyers have made international purchases.
In fact, in 2022, 86% of e-commerce spending in Luxembourg was done via international online shops. This made Luxembourg the EU country with the highest ranking of cross-border commerce. They will most likely purchase from Germany, but France and Belgium are also popular destinations for e-commerce sites. Another reason for this could be that there are relatively few native e-commerce stores in Luxembourg.
There is no dedicated Amazon website for Luxembourg, so many turn to the Amazon.de website. Other popular ecommerce retailers in Luxembourg include: the Luxembourgish branch of the hardware store Hornbach.lu; the British clothing giant next.lu; and local electronics retailer hifi.lu.
96% of online buyers have made international purchases.
Logistics
Northern Luxembourg is extremely mountainous, yet this doesn’t seem to pose too many problems due to the fact that the country has excellent infrastructure. It also boasts several highways and a very good rail network. Notably, Luxembourg enjoys good cross-border connections to Germany via car and rail. As a result of all of this, national delivery times with Post Luxembourg are generally two to three days.
The largest postal service provider in Luxembourg is Post Luxembourg, which is publicly owned. Courier services such as FedEx and GLS also operate within Luxembourg.
Keep in mind
Due to its diverse history and central location in Europe, Luxembourg’s linguistic landscape is varied. Most Luxembourgers are multilingual and often speak up to four different languages. There is also a significant Portuguese community in Luxembourg.
Luxembourgish is commonly used in daily life. However, German is dominate in the print media, and French is the predominant language in business. This is also true of ecommerce. Although it is not necessary to translate your pages, a language toggle on your website would help navigate language complexities.
What our experts say:
“It may be easy to overlook Luxembourg as an ecommerce destination due to its small size. Look again. The strong economy and the fact that it is a country ready to trust foreign sellers is worth your consideration.”
Ben Bagnulo, CEO, SAMOS
To find out more about how SAMOS can help you achieve fast and cost- effective deliveries to Luxembourg get in touch today