While online shopping has become a habit for many European consumers, it is nonetheless a source of frustration. A conducted by Eurostat on the use of information and communication technologies, published on 12 March 2025, revealed that a third (33.1%) of consumers who had made an online purchase in the EU--via website or app--in the previous last three months encountered problems with their transaction.

Luxembourg tops the list of countries with the most frequent complaints, with 55.5% of shoppers saying they encountered difficulties, closely followed by the Netherlands (55.2%) and Spain (49.7%). Conversely, Portugal (4.3%), Latvia (13.7%) and Cyprus (14.7%) have the lowest complaint rates.

Among the annoyances reported, slow deliveries are on top (18.7%), followed by problems with the ergonomics or malfunctioning of websites (10.8%). Receiving an incorrect or damaged product was the third most common problem (8.6%). Around 3% of respondents also reported problems with fraud and a final cost higher than initially indicated.

These figures echo the latest annual report from the European Consumer Centre (ECC) Luxembourg, published this week. The organisation reported that in 2024,  on consumers’ behalf. The ECC also reported that it handled 4,556 cases last year, 3,594 of which involved Luxembourg residents facing disputes with traders established in another EU country. Conversely, 962 European consumers reported a dispute with a seller established in Luxembourg.

This article in French.