Europe enters 2026 with inflation broadly stabilised, but households continue to feel the effects of several years of elevated prices. Official EU data suggest that financial pressure remains widespread.

According to Eurostat, nine per cent of people in the EU lived in households with arrears on mortgage, rent or utility bills in 2024, highlighting ongoing affordability challenges even as price growth slows.

Consumer sentiment reflects this caution. The European Commission’s Consumer Confidence Indicator remained firmly in negative territory throughout late 2025, signalling continued pessimism about household finances and future spending.

Together, these indicators point to a reality in which purchasing power has not fully recovered from the inflation shock of 2021-23. As a result, consumers are becoming more deliberate, prioritising value, predictability and affordability in their spending decisions.

E-commerce as a budgeting tool

Against this backdrop, e-commerce has become a central feature of household budgeting strategies. Eurostat data show that 77 per cent of internet users in the EU purchased goods or services online in 2024, the highest level recorded and a continuation of a decade-long upward trend in digital adoption.

Online retail increasingly enables consumers to compare prices, switch brands and adjust purchasing behaviour more rapidly than traditional retail allows. In an environment marked by uneven recovery and persistent cost pressures, digital marketplaces provide flexibility that many households now rely on as part of everyday consumption.

Consumer survey data from platforms such as AliExpress illustrate how this shift is playing out among price-sensitive online shoppers, particularly in cross-border contexts where price comparison and product choice are more pronounced.

This shift appears structural rather than temporary. E-commerce is no longer simply a convenience channel, but a mechanism through which consumers manage uncertainty and seek better value across borders and product categories.

Forming consumer expectations

Understanding what consumers expect from online marketplaces requires careful attribution. Official EU statistics capture broad adoption trends, but platform-specific expectations are best observed through targeted surveys.

Here, Censuswide research conducted in July 2025 among consumers who have previously shopped on AliExpress provides insight into how expectations evolve once engagement with a specific platform is established. Among respondents, affordability remains central, but it is closely tied to service quality, product availability and reliability.

Rather than defining universal expectations, these findings illustrate how value for money is understood within a large and established segment of cross-border e-commerce users.

Where AliExpress fits into the picture

Within Europe’s evolving retail landscape, AliExpress continues to attract a substantial user base, largely because its offer aligns with heightened price sensitivity and demand for range.

According to the July 2025 Censuswide survey of existing AliExpress shoppers, 86 per cent consider the platform affordable, while 77 per cent say their money goes further when shopping there.

Price remains a decisive factor. Separate Censuswide research conducted in November 2025 among online shoppers who use either AliExpress or Amazon shows that nearly half would shop on AliExpress specifically because of price, while 43 per cent say they would choose it over Amazon when looking for cheaper branded products.

Consumers in this broader November 2025 sample also expect to pay 22 per cent more for branded items on Amazon, a gap that widens to 34 per cent among Gen Z shoppers.

Range and discovery play an important role as well, with a majority of AliExpress shoppers recognising well-known brands on the platform, particularly in the UK and Spain.

Service factors further shape perceptions. Censuswide data from June 2025 indicate generally positive experiences with delivery speed, straightforward returns and customer service – elements that are increasingly critical as consumers assess not just prices, but overall reliability.

Frequency and repeat use also matter. The same June 2025 survey indicates that more than half of AliExpress shoppers across six surveyed markets use the platform often or sometimes, with particularly high engagement in the UK and Spain, suggesting that price-led adoption is increasingly associated with habitual use.

A retail environment shaped by caution

The cost-of-living squeeze has accelerated long-term changes in European consumption. Households are more price-aware, more digitally engaged and more inclined to reassess where and how they spend.

Even as inflation eases, the underlying drivers of this behaviour – housing costs, constrained budgets and fragile confidence – remain in place.

For policymakers and industry alike, the implications are clear. Europe’s retail landscape is becoming more competitive, more digital and more focused on value.

Platforms that combine affordability with trust, choice and transparent service standards are likely to shape consumer behaviour well beyond the current economic cycle.

[BM]