Executive Summary (E-Commerce International Pathfinder)

Key takeaways

The 10 countries under review registered Can$189 billion in packaged food and beverage sales through the e-commerce channel in 2020.

China is the largest e-commerce market overall with value sales of Can$77 billion in 2020 and lead in three of the four industry sectors under review (packaged food, alcoholic drinks, non-alcoholic beverages), owing to a large customer base and developed e-commerce giants such as Alibaba, JD.com, Tmall, Meituan, Pinduoduo, and others.

On an adult per capita basis, consumers in the United Kingdomspent the most on packaged food and beverage on e-commerce sites in 2020, at more than Can$460 per adult, while France is second (Can$335), and United States third ($264).

Canada's e-commerce packaged food and beverage market size was $3.0 billion in 2020, equal to 1.6% of the 10-country aggregate.

India (Can$1.5 billion) and Mexico (Can$1.1 billion) packaged food and beverage e-commerce were the smallest in 2020, but both have been growing tremendously at 63% and 41% 2015-2020 Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR), respectively, and are poised to be high performers in the years ahead.

At a sector level, Pet Food e-commerce sales have quintupled from 2015 (Can$4.1 billion) to 2020 ($20.0 billion) and the 49% review period CAGR is double that of the packaged food sector.

All countries represent export opportunities for Canadian producers, even if the country ranked poorly in the scorecard tool. For example, Germany is a very fragmented market across industry sectors; Japan is the third largest importer of Canadian food and beverage products; and South Korea is the most developed country of the 10 in terms of e-commerce share of total retail distribution.

Cross-country comparison

Understand the relative attractiveness and characteristics of the packaged food and beverage e-commerce landscape across the 10 countries included in the study

Packaged food

Combined Packaged Food e-commerce channel size for all 10 countries rose at a 25% CAGR from Can$38.3 billion in 2015 to Can$117.6 billion in 2020.

China and United States accounted for 68% of packaged food e-commerce channel size in 2020 among the 10 countries under review.

E-commerce channel share of distribution for packaged food is highest in South Korea, while per capita e-commerce spend on packaged food is greatest in the United Kingdom.

China's packaged food e-commerce channel share of distribution has grown the most in the past five years, while Canada registered highest CAGR for packaged food e-commerce.

Packaged food - Scorecard rankings
Rank Country Score
1 China 108
2 United States 104
2 United Kingdom 104
4 France 96
5 Canada 76
5 Japan 76
5 India 76
8 Germany 72
8 South Korea 72
10 Mexico 56
Note: Sector scorecard maximum score was 140 points per market
Size of packaged food e-commerce market across geographies (2015 to 2020; Can$ million)
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Market 2015 2020 Historic CAGR*
China $15,141 $44,981 23.2%
United States $6,004 $35,200 41.1%
United Kingdom $5,299 $11,494 15.7%
France $4,138 $8,720 15.0%
Japan $3,592 $6,691 12.2%
South Korea $3,150 $5,754 11.7%
Canada $149 $1,597 59.1%
Germany $598 $1,382 17.1%
India $124 $1,194 55.9%
Mexico $141 $621 33.2%

*CAGR: Compound Annual Growth Rate

Source: Euromonitor International Packaged Food Passport Database

Packaged food e-commerce channel size (2020; in Can$ billions)

Canada's packaged food e-commerce channel size of Can$1.6 billion is larger than Germany, India and Mexico.

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  1. Canada: 1.6
  2. China: 45.0
  3. United States: 35.2
  4. United Kingdom: 11.5
  5. France: 8.7
  6. Japan: 6.7
  7. South Korea: 5.8
  8. Germany: 1.4
  9. India: 1.2
  10. Mexico: 0.6

Source: Euromonitor International Packaged Food Passport Database

Company market share concentration - Packaged food (2020)

The three European markets have the largest share of sales for non-Top 5 companies.

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Market All Other Companies Top 5 Companies
Germany 90% 10%
France 87% 13%
United Kingdom 86% 14%
Japan 86% 14%
India 82% 19%
United States 81% 19%
China 81% 19%
Canada 78% 22%
Mexico 72% 28%
South Korea 69% 31%
Cross-country comparison of e-commerce development in packaged food (2020)
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Market Packaged food e-commerce channel per capita demand by value (2020; Can$) Packaged food e-commerce channel share (2020)
United Kingdom[1] 284.5 10%
France 231.6 7%
United States 174.9 6%
South Korea[2] 160.1 16%
Japan 93.9 3%
Canada 67.2 3%
China 47.9 12%
Germany 26.8 1%
Mexico 8 1%
India 1.4 1%

1: The average adult in the United Kingdom spent $285 on packaged food in the e-commerce channel in 2020 driven by Amazon, Ocado and websites of major grocery retailers (Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury's, etc.).

2: 16% of packaged food retail value sales in South Korea were sold in the e-commerce channel; the average South Korean adult spent $160 on packaged food in 2020.

Source: Euromonitor International Packaged Food Passport Database

Evolution of the e-commerce channel in packaged food (2015-2020)
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Market Compound annual growth rate in value of e-commerce sales (2015-2020) Growth of e-commerce as a share of distribution channels (2015-2020)
China[1] 23% 7%
India[2] 56% 1%
Japan 12% 1%
Korea 12% 6%
Mexico 33% 1%
Canada 59% 2%
United States 41% 4%
France 15% 3%
Germany 17% 1%
United Kingdom 16% 5%

1: E-commerce channel share in packaged food has grown from 4.9% in 2015 to 11.8% in 2020 in China.

2: Significant compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of e-commerce value sales from a small base in 2015, with countries such as India and Mexico poised to continue significant e-commerce channel development and growth.

Source: Euromonitor International Packaged Food Passport Database

Non-alcoholic beverages

Combined non-alcoholic beverages e-commerce channel size for all 10 countries posted a 17% CAGR from Can$8.8 billion in 2015 to Can$19.4 billion in 2020.

China accounted for 30% of e-commerce channel size in non-alcoholic beverages in 2020 across the 10 countries under review.

E-commerce channel share of distribution for non-alcoholic beverages is highest in South Korea, while per capita e-commerce spend for the industry is greatest in the United Kingdom.

South Korea's e-commerce channel share of distribution of non-alcoholic beverages has grown the most in the past five years, while Mexico had the highest channel CAGR.

Non-alcoholic beverages - Scorecard rankings
Rank Country Score
1 United Kingdom 116
1 China 116
3 South Korea 100
4 United States 96
5 Canada 80
6 France 72
7 Germany 68
7 Mexico 68
9 Japan 64
10 India 60
Note: Sector scorecard maximum score was 140 points per market
Size of non-alcoholic beverages e-commerce market across geographies (2015 to 2020; Can$ million)
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Market 2015 2020 Historic CAGR*
China $2,275 $5,768 19.3%
United States $1,490 $3,715 18.9%
Japan $1,913 $2,663 5.8%
United Kingdom $1,321 $2,591 13.3%
South Korea $457 $1,443 24.7%
France $723 $1,340 12.1%
Germany $383 $668 10.7%
Canada $203 $596 22.9%
Mexico $16 $293 77.2%
India $0 $293 Not available[1]
*CAGR: Compound Annual Growth Rate

1: India does not include CAGR as the database did not estimate any e-commerce sales in 2015.

Source: Euromonitor International Soft Drinks and Hot Drinks Passport Databases

Non-alcoholic beverages e-commerce channel size (2020; in Can$ billions)

Canada's non-alcoholic beverages e-commerce channel size of Can$0.6 billion is only larger than India and Mexico.

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  1. Canada: 0.6
  2. China: 5.8
  3. United States: 3.7
  4. United Kingdom: 2.6
  5. France: 1.3
  6. Japan: 2.7
  7. South Korea: 1.4
  8. Germany: 0.7
  9. India: 0.3
  10. Mexico: 0.3

Source: Euromonitor International Soft Drinks and Hot Drinks Passport Databases

Company market share concentration - Non-alcoholic beverages (2020)

China and Germany are the only markets where non-Top 5 companies account for over half of industry retail value sales

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Market All Other Companies Top 5 Companies
China 71% 29%
Germany 70% 30%
United Kingdom 49% 51%
United States 46% 54%
Canada 46% 54%
South Korea 46% 54%
India 45% 55%
France 34% 66%
Japan 33% 67%
Mexico 22% 78%

Source: Euromonitor International Soft Drinks and Hot Drinks Passport Databases

Cross-country comparison of e-commerce development in non-alcoholic beverages (2020)
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Market Non-alcoholic beverages e-commerce channel per capita demand by value (2020; Can$) Non-alcoholic beverage e-commerce channel share (2020)
United Kingdom[1] 64.1 11%
France 35.6 6%
United States 18.5 2%
South Korea[2] 40.1 14%
Japan 47.4 4%
Canada 25.1 4%
China 6.1 5%
Germany 13 2%
Mexico 3.8 1%
India 0.4 2%

1: The average adult in the United Kingdom spent $64 on non-alcoholic beverages in the e-commerce channel in 2020, led by hot drinks such as coffee and tea, that were increasingly purchased online for at-home consumption during COVID-19 lockdowns.

2: 14% of retail value sales of alcoholic beverages in South Korea were sold in the e-commerce channel through websites such as GMarket, Interpark and Tmon.

Source: Euromonitor International Soft Drinks and Hot Drinks Passport Databases

Evolution of e-commerce channel in non-alcoholic beverages (2015-2020)
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Market Compound annual growth rate in value of e-commerce sales (2015-2020) Growth of e-commerce as a share of distribution channels (2015-2020)
China 19% 3%
India Not available 2%
Japan 6% 1%
South Korea[1] 25% 9%
Mexico[2] 77% 1%
Canada 23% 3%
United States 19% 1%
France 12% 2%
Germany 11% 1%
United Kingdom 13% 5%

1: E-commerce channel share in non-alcoholic beverages has grown from 5.2% in 2015 to 13.7% in 2020 in South Korea.

2: Mexico registered a significant compound annual growth rate (CAGR) in e-commerce value sales from a small base in 2015, with non-alcoholic beverages stocked on websites such as Amazon, Chedraui, and La Comer en tu Casa.

Source: Euromonitor International Soft Drinks and Hot Drinks Passport Databases

Alcoholic drinks

Combined alcoholic drinks e-commerce channel size for all countries under review rose at a 12% CAGR from Can$20.1 billion in 2015 to Can$32.1 billion in 2020.

China accounted for two-thirds of e-commerce channel size in alcoholic drinks across the 10 countries under review.

E-commerce channel share of distribution for alcoholic drinks is highest in China, while per capita e-commerce spend on alcoholic drinks is greatest in the United Kingdom.

China's alcoholic drinks e-commerce channel share of distribution has grown the most over the past five years, and Mexico had the highest CAGR for alcoholic drinks e-commerce.

Alcoholic drinks - Scorecard rankings
Rank Country Score
1 China 120
2 United Kingdom 108
3 Germany 100
3 France 100
5 United States 96
6 Canada 88
7 Mexico 72
8 Japan 64
9 South Korea 48
10 India 48

Source: Euromonitor International Alcoholic Drinks Passport Database

Note: Sector scorecard maximum score was 140 points per market

Size of alcoholic drinks e-commerce market across geographies (2015 to 2020; Can$ million)
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Market 2015 2020 Historic CAGR*
China $12,540 $21,117 12.9%
United Kingdom $3,244 $3,737 2.7%
United States $1,618 $3,367 19.0%
France $1,210 $1,808 9.5%
Japan $1,150 $1,201 0.2%
Germany $266 $684 25.5%
Canada $68 $169 24.3%
Mexico $17 $46 27.0%
India $0 $0
South Korea[1] $0 $0

*CAGR: Compound Annual Growth Rate

1: Due to local regulatory conditions, no e-commerce size for alcoholic drinks in either India or South Korea.

Source: Euromonitor International Alcoholic Drinks Passport Database

Alcoholic drinks e-commerce channel size (2020; in Can$ billions)

Canada's alcoholic drinks e-commerce channel size of Can$0.2 billion is only larger than Mexico, India and South Korea

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  1. Canada: 0.2
  2. China: 21.1
  3. United States: 3.4
  4. United Kingdom: 3.7
  5. France: 1.8
  6. Japan: 1.2
  7. South Korea: 0.0
  8. Germany: 0.7
  9. India: 0.0
  10. Mexico: 0.0

Source: Euromonitor International Alcoholic Drinks Passport Database

Company market share concentration - Alcoholic drinks (2020)

China and Germany are the only markets where non-Top 5 companies account for over half of industry retail value sales

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Market All Other Companies Top 5 Companies
Germany 70% 30%
France 56% 44%
United Kingdom 49% 52%
Canada 40% 60%
China 40% 60%
India 32% 68%
United States 32% 69%
South Korea 25% 75%
Japan 21% 79%
Mexico 7% 94%

Source: Euromonitor International Alcoholic Drinks Passport Database

Cross-country comparison of e-commerce development in alcoholic drinks (2020)
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Market Alcoholic Drinks e-commerce channel per capita demand by value (2020; Can$) Alcoholic beverage e-commerce channel share (2020)
United Kingdom[1] 92.8 8%
France 47.9 6%
United States 16.7 2%
Japan 16.8 2%
Canada 7.1 1%
China[2] 22.4 9%
Germany 13.3 2%
Mexico 0.6 0%

1: The average adult in the United Kingdom spent Can$92 on alcoholic drinks in the e-commerce channel in 2020 with Amazon, Ocado and pure play specialists such as The Whiskey Exchange as leading websites for the purchase of wine, beer and spirits.

2: By volume, China has the largest spirits e-commerce market in the world, driven by low-cost local spirit baijiu. Overall, 9% of alcoholic drinks retail value sales in China were sold in the e-commerce channel.

Source: Euromonitor International Alcoholic Drinks Passport Database

Evolution of the e-commerce channel in alcoholic drinks (2015-2020)
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Market Compound annual growth rate in value of e-commerce sales (2015-2020) Growth of e-commerce as a share of distribution channels (2015-2020)
China[1] 13% 1.8%
Japan 0% −0.3%
Mexico 27% 0.1%
Canada 24% 0.3%
United States 19% 0.9%
France 10% 1.6%
Germany[2] 26% 1.3%
United Kingdom 3% 1.0%

1: E-commerce channel share in alcoholic drinks has grown from 7.0% in 2015 to 8.8% in 2020 in China.

2: Multiple pure play alcoholic drinks websites including MySpirits.eu, UrbanDrinks.de and Whisky.de have emerged in the past several years, driving growth in Germany.

Source: Euromonitor International Alcoholic Drinks Passport Database

Pet food

Combined 10-country pet food e-commerce channel size rose at a 49% CAGR from Can$4.1 billion in 2015 to Can$20.0 billion in 2020.

The United States accounted for over 54% of pet food e-commerce channel size in 2020 across all 10 countries under review.

E-commerce channel share of distribution for pet food is highest in South Korea, while per capita e-commerce spend on pet food is greatest in the US

Pet food e-commerce share of category distribution in China, the United States and South Korea have each increased more than 15% since 2015

Pet food - Scorecard rankings
Rank Country Score
1 China 124
2 United States 112
3 Canada 96
4 South Korea 92
5 France 88
6 Germany 80
7 United Kingdom 68
8 Mexico 64
8 India 64
10 Japan 52

Source: Euromonitor International Pet Care Passport Database

Note: Sector scorecard maximum score was 140 points per market

Size of pet food e-commerce market across geographies (2015 to 2020; Can$ million)
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Market 2015 2020 Historic CAGR*
United States $1,146 $10,826 55.2%
China $705 $4,644 44.4%
South Korea $363 $853 17.5%
France $255 $778 23.8%
United Kingdom $605 $771 4.0%
Canada $220 $676 24.0%
Germany $301 $644 15.4%
Japan $433 $640 7.1%
Mexico $19 $124 44.9%
India $8 $35 34.6%
*CAGR: Compound Annual Growth Rate

Source: Euromonitor International Pet Care Passport Database

Pet food e-commerce channel size (2020; in Can$ billions)

Canada's pet food e-commerce channel size of Can$0.7 billion is larger than Germany, Mexico and India

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  1. Canada: 0.7
  2. China: 4.6
  3. United States: 10.8
  4. United Kingdom: 0.8
  5. France: 0.8
  6. Japan: 0.6
  7. South Korea: 0.9
  8. Germany: 0.6
  9. India: 0.0
  10. Mexico: 0.1

Source: Euromonitor International Pet Care Passport Database

Company market share concentration - Pet food (2020)

China is the most fragmented market by split of pet food retail value sales from non-Top 5 companies

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Market All Other Companies Top 5 Companies
China 78% 23%
Germany 52% 48%
South Korea 51% 49%
Canada 49% 51%
Japan 46% 54%
United Kingdom 40% 60%
France 39% 61%
India 30% 70%
Mexico 28% 72%
United States 28% 72%

Source: Euromonitor International Pet Care Passport Database

Cross-country comparison of e-commerce development in pet food (2020)
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Market Pet food e-commerce channel per capita demand by value (2020; Can$) Pet food e-commerce channel share (2020)
United Kingdom 19.1 12%
France 20.7 14%
United States[1] 53.8 22%
South Korea[2] 23.7 60%
Japan 9 8%
Canada 28.4 16%
China 4.9 55%
Germany 12.5 12%
Mexico 1.6 5%
India 0.04 7%

1: The average adult in the United States spent Can$53 on pet food in the e-commerce channel in 2020 driven by Amazon, pure play website Chewy, and pet care specialists Petco and PetSmart.

2: 60% of pet food retail value sales in South Korea were sold in the e-commerce channel where leading websites GMarket, Interpark, and Tmon all stock over 100,000 SKUs of pet food.

Source: Euromonitor International Alcoholic Drinks Passport Database

Evolution of the e-commerce channel in pet food (2015-2020)
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Market Compound annual growth rate in value of e-commerce sales (2015-2020) Growth of e-commerce as a share of distribution channels (2015-2020)
China[1] 44% 23%
India 35% 4%
Japan 7% 2%
South Korea 18% 16%
Mexico 45% 4%
Canada 24% 10%
United States[2] 55% 19%
France 24% 9%
Germany 15% 5%
United Kingdom 4% 4%

1: E-commerce accounts for greater than 50% of category sales in Chain in 2020. Key pet food websites in China include JD.com, Tmall and Miscota.

2: E-commerce channel share in pet food has grown from 3.1% in 2015 to 22.2% in 2020 in United States.

Source: Euromonitor International Alcoholic Drinks Passport Database

Forecast growth

Looking ahead to 2025, it is forecast that the fastest e-commerce growth will come from markets that were fairly small in 2020, including Canada and India.

Food and Drink E-commerce Forecast Market Size to 2025 (Can$ billion)
Market 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2020-2025 Size Gain 2020-2025 CAGR*
China 75.26 90.53 99.85 111.37 123.86 137.15 150.89 60.40 10.80%
United States 46.13 102.15 111.25 108.21 105.56 121.93 142.23 40.10 6.80%
South Korea 18.81 22.44 23.71 25.05 26.4 27.78 29.18 6.70 5.40%
United Kingdom 14.06 25.27 23.93 25.93 27.72 28.98 30.17 4.90 3.60%
Japan 12.94 14.69 16.44 18.43 20.65 23.04 25.57 10.90 11.70%
France 11.87 16.21 18.17 19.53 20.72 21.71 22.96 6.80 7.20%
Germany 2.8 3.72 3.52 3.92 4.4 4.97 5.7 2.00 8.90%
India 1.96 3.56 5.71 8.7 12.68 17.76 23.98 20.40 46.40%
Canada 1.22 2.53 3.36 4.33 5.29 6.27 7.21 4.70 23.30%
Mexico 0.55 0.91 1.07 1.26 1.46 1.78 2.07 1.20 17.80%

Source: Euromonitor Retailing Database (E-Commerce by Product Category)

*CAGR: Compund Annual Growth Rate

Please note this forecast e-commerce data comes from a separate database than others used in the scope of the analysis and excludes Pet Food