Key Players in Spanish and Portuguese eCommerce – Strategies for Success

Iberian Top Online Stores: Key Insights

• Multichannel services, wide product ranges, environmental consciousness and affordability are key drivers of eCommerce success in Spain and Portugal.

• While some local brands, such as El Corté Ingles, Zara, and Continente generate consistent sales in Spain and Portugal, the influence of international eCommerce stores is indisputable. With Amazon by far the largest online store in both countries, China's presence in both markets is also growing, as evidenced by partnerships, such as Alibaba and El Corte Inglés, or the rise of online store Shein.

• Affordability is an important factor in both eCommerce markets, with a customer base that is largely influenced by economic uncertainty. However, premium brand Apple still makes the list of the top online stores in Spain, indicating a desire among Spanish consumers for high-end electronics.

Spain and Portugal, the two dominant countries on the Iberian Peninsula, are the 16th and 49th largest eCommerce markets in the world. Although Spain is the larger economy and therefore generates higher net sales in comparison to Portugal, the two markets are closely related due to their geographical proximity and shared culture, which can also be seen in the similarity of their top five online stores. 

But what are the top five online stores in Spain and Portugal? And how did they achieve their success? In reference to data recently published in our Markets section, here is an assessment of the Spanish and Portuguese eCommerce landscape in 2022.

Amazon Dominant in Both Spain and Portugal

In both countries, Amazon’s Spanish domain amazon.es takes the lead. The store’s 2022 net sales in Spain were US$5.3 billion, putting it well ahead of the second place, elcorteingles.es. This gap is less pronounced in Portugal: With net sales of US$214.6 million in 2022, amazon.es generated US$10.6 million more net sales than Portugal’s second-largest online retailer, elcorteingles.pt.

Other differences between the two countries can be seen in the proportion of local (i.e. Iberian) and international stores. In Spain, the only local store that makes the list of the top 5 online stores in the country is El Corte Inglés, while in Portugal, three out of the five displayed stores are regional brands, i.e. El Corte Inglés (based in Spain), Continente (a Portuguese retail store), and Zara (a Spanish fashion retailer). 

Meanwhile, China’s influence on Iberian eCommerce has been growing over the years, both through partnerships and through its own companies entering the market. For instance, China’s Alibaba has announced a close partnership with El Corte Inglés in 2018, while Shein is another China-based company that ranks 3rd in both Spain and Portugal.

In comparison, the U.S. is represented by two companies (Amazon and Apple) in Spain, as well as Amazon in Portugal. The only German company on this list is MediaMarkt, which ranks fourth in Spain with net revenues of US$671 million in 2022.

Below, we identify the core strategies of these key players, and what has made them successful in their respective eCommerce markets.

Large Product Range, Multichannel Services and Affordability Generate Success

This subsection presents four common strategies used by key players in Spanish and Portuguese eCommerce, ranging from product variety and multichannel services to environmental friendliness and affordability.

All-Round Online Stores Rank First and Second in Both Spain and Portugal

Both Amazon and El Corte Inglés offer consumers a wide variety of products across all categories. El Corte Inglés started out as a department store that already had an online strategy in the early 2000s. However, Amazon’s entry into the Spanish market in 2011 prompted El Corte Inglés to develop a more sophisticated online presence to rival its direct competitor online. This included lowering shipping costs, internationalizing the company, and continually launching its own products and brands to meet a wider variety of consumer needs.

Convenience and Accessibility Are Key Strategies for Most Top Players

To keep up with Amazon’s extensive network and express delivery service, El Corte Inglés adopted its own multichannel strategy in 2015. Another method the company is using to compete with the eCommerce giant is to offer a “Click & Express” service, which provides 2-hour-delivery in 54 cities, as of 2023. 

The following chart shows that 28% of consumers in Spain prefer express delivery when ordering an item, while a smaller share of 16% want to hold an item in their hands on the same day they buy it. 

Another key player in the region, MediaMarkt, is pursuing a strategy that includes direct home delivery, as well as offering customers assistance in setting up their new products at home and removing or recycling old products that they wish to return. In addition, the company’s partnership with XPO leverages digital last-mile technology to provide notifications on the whereabouts of their orders. 

Portugal’s fourth and fifth largest retailers, Continente and Zara, also use technology that provides real-time information on inventory data, to coordinate orders and warehouse shelves, ensuring efficiency and fast delivery options.

Supporting Renewable Energy Growth by Taking Advantage of Spanish and Portuguese Climate Conditions

Adhering to environmental values can have a myriad of advantages for a company, which includes gaining consumer trust, increasing productivity, and, of course, helping to alleviate some of the pressures of eCommerce activity on our shared planet. 

This is why Amazon and MediaMarkt are communicating environmentalism as a business strategy, which they are implementing in the Iberian Peninsula by subsidizing photovoltaic (i.e., solar energy) systems in these two countries, known for their sunny climate. Amazon goes a step further by banning the sale of single-use plastic products, such as straws, cutlery and drink stirrers on its Spanish domain. 

eCommerce generates an increasing amount of plastic waste, as shown in the chart below. Therefore, any effort to reduce this growing amount of environmental damage can make or break business success.

Offering Consumers Affordable Products Pays Off

The success of Shein (with 2022 net sales of US$858.2 million in Spain and US$176 million in Portugal), Zara (US$154.3 million in Portugal), and MediaMarkt (US$671 million in Spain) suggests that affordable pricing remains a critical factor in these markets. An OECD analysis of the economic conditions in Spain and Portugal shows that these two countries were particularly affected by the pandemic, which exacerbated structural challenges, reducing national income due to the loss of tourism and increasing unemployment.

As a result, Shein shines with strong supply chain and cost management integration, while Zara remains a top player in Portuguese eCommerce with its strategy of manufacturing in small batches, and MediaMarkt satisfies consumers’ craving for electronics with competitive pricing, contributing significantly to their considerable market shares. 

However, as Apple ranks fifth among the top sellers in Spanish eCommerce, there appear to be some products that consumers in Spain are willing to pay a higher price for. With 2022 net sales of US$597.4 million in Spain, the California-based high-end electronics brand managed to rank among the top-selling stores in the country, although it did not make the list in Portugal.

Key Players in Spain and Portugal Follow Multifaceted Strategies

Spain’s and Portugal’s eCommerce landscape is characterized by diverse strategies driving success. Dominant players, like Amazon and El Corte Inglés, attribute their position to extensive product ranges, swift multichannel services, and efforts to harmonize commercial success with environmental stewardship. 

Affordability, particularly amid pandemic-influenced economic strain, has been fundamental to companies like Shein, Zara, and Media Markt. An increasing Chinese influence is evidenced by the partnership which El Corte Inglés has announced with Chinese eCommerce marketplace Alibaba in 2018, as well as Shein’s success. The premium brand Apple, however, suggests that discerning Spanish consumers also value quality over price.