How Nordic consumers shop online in 2026

More than eight in ten Nordic consumers shopped online in the past month, according to PostNord's Spring 2026 edition of E-commerce in the Nordics.

The report was produced with HUI Research and based on surveys of 4,000 consumers across Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Norway in January and February 2026.

Online retail grew faster than total retail across all four countries in 2025 — 10% in Sweden, 7.3% in Denmark, 1.3% in Finland and 14% in Norway.

Online retail outpaced total retail across the Nordics

Online retail growth in 2025, by country

Data: PostNord, E-commerce in the Nordics — Spring 2026

Below, we'll break down the key findings on how Nordic shoppers buy, pay, and collect in 2026.

Norwegians lead on frequency

Norway recorded the sharpest year-on-year jump in online activity. 86% of Norwegian consumers shopped online in the past 30 days, up from 82% in 2025.

Strong household incomes and lower unemployment have insulated Norwegian spending despite higher inflation than its neighbours, PostNord notes. Sweden held steady at 88% — the highest absolute figure — while Denmark climbed to 85% and Finland reached 84%.

Service points pull ahead in Denmark

Service point pickup is now the most popular way to receive a parcel in Denmark, jumping to 51% in 2026 from 45% the year before.

In Finland 38% of consumers reported using lockers for their most recent delivery, the widest adoption in the region and growing fastest among 65–79-year-olds.

Sweden is the only Nordic market where home delivery leads on actual use. To-the-door delivery accounted for 28% of Swedes' most recent parcels — the largest single category — and combined home-delivery options (door, letterbox, signed-for) sit further ahead of service points.

Consumers will wait for greener deliveries but won't pay for them

Across the region, roughly half of Nordic consumers say they would wait longer for a sustainable delivery: 57% in Denmark, 54% in Finland, 53% in Norway and 52% in Sweden.

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Roughly half of Nordic consumers will wait for greener delivery

Share willing to wait longer for a more sustainable delivery option

Data: PostNord, E-commerce in the Nordics — Spring 2026

Between 25% and 29% of consumers in each country say they would pay more for a sustainable delivery option, but only 15–18% actually have.

Swish, Vipps and MobilePay take over

Swish, Vipps and MobilePay are collectively the most-used payment method across the Nordics for the first time, at 23%, overtaking credit cards.

Sweden leads the shift: Swish is now the most-used payment method in the country at 25%, up from 20% in 2025, and continues to gain share across every age group.

Vipps occupies the same position in Norway at 26%. Denmark still defaults to credit card (31%), though MobilePay is the most preferred option.

Cross-border shopping reshuffles

Nearly three-quarters (71%) of Nordic consumers bought from abroad in the past year, and China remains the single most common country of origin, climbing from 23% in 2024 to 27% in 2026. Other destinations are shifting around it: Sweden has overtaken China as the top international shopping origin for Norwegians, and Denmark has displaced the United States from Norway's top three.

Marketplace preferences are diverging by country, but Amazon, Temu and Zalando are the three platforms Nordic consumers buy from most. Amazon still leads in Sweden (33%), with Temu second (27%) and Zalando third (25%).

Zalando tops the Danish ranking at 36%, ahead of Temu (30%) and Amazon (20%). In Finland and Norway, Temu has moved into first place: 30% of Finnish consumers and 36% of Norwegians used it for their last cross-border purchase, with Zalando close behind in both markets and Amazon a distant third.

Temu and Zalando lead cross-border outside Sweden

Share of consumers' most recent cross-border purchase, 2026

Data: PostNord, E-commerce in the Nordics — Spring 2026

A clear generational split

Age is the sharpest dividing line in the data, with 18–29-year-olds driving cross-border activity, shopping more spontaneously, and gravitating toward platforms like Zalando and Amazon, where fast delivery, reviews and Prime-style loyalty programmes support frequent buying. They also return and abandon at higher rates: 44% of young Norwegians have returned a parcel in the past three months, and 18–29-year-olds are the group most likely to cancel a purchase at checkout in every market surveyed.

Older consumers behave differently. 65–79s typically shop online quarterly rather than monthly, plan their purchases more carefully, and show the strongest pull toward Temu among Nordic age groups.

Sweden's resale market keeps pulling ahead

Circular commerce is most established in Sweden, with 38% of Swedes reporting buying a second-hand item online in the past month — the highest share in the Nordics.

Clothes and footwear account for 60% of Swedish second-hand purchases, up from 56% a year earlier. Vinted also broke into Sweden's top 10 most-shopped sites in 2025.

However, sustainability has slipped as a reason to buy used in three of the four markets — down to 24% in Sweden (from 33% in 2024), 21% in Denmark (from 28%) and 21% in Norway (from 26%). "It was cheaper" now drives more than half of second-hand purchases across the region. Finland is the exception where environmental reasons rose from 22% in 2024 to 30% in 2026.