Israeli Online Shopping Drops 12% in September Amid Holiday Season
Israeli e-commerce orders dropped 12% in September due to the holiday season as consumers turned to travel and physical stores. International platforms like AliExpress and Shein saw declines, while local retailers like Shufersal and Terminal X experienced shifts.
The Jewish holiday season in September, accompanied by numerous weekends and days off, led to a 12% decline in online orders by Israelis on leading e-commerce websites compared to the previous month. Rather than shopping online, many consumers preferred to travel domestically or abroad, or spend time and make purchases in physical retail stores.
"Traditionally, the overall volume of online transactions drops during the holiday period," explains Nati Jacoby, CEO of Shop Analytics. "We see that money and demand shift between categories and players. Alongside a slowdown among typically leading players, we observe growth in food, gifts, and fashion.
"This month, we also identify the continuation of the 'everyone sells everything' trend, which relies on a long digital shelf: Temu sells home styling products, iHerb sells nutritional supplements, KSP sells household cleaning products, Terminal X sells bedding and blankets, and Urbanica sells home decor products."
Reserving Options Abroad
A more significant decline of 14% was recorded in September in the number of orders on international websites. AliExpress continues to lead the market, but registered a decrease of about 20% in order volume compared to the previous month, as well as a slight drop compared to the same period last year.
Shein ranks second, also recording a decline of about 15% in monthly orders, alongside a minor decrease year-over-year. In contrast, Temu, which holds the third spot, maintained a stable number of orders similar to the previous month.
iHerb places fourth, having celebrated 30 years of operation in August with large-scale promotions that extended throughout September. As part of the celebrations, the site offered a 30% discount on a wide variety of hundreds of brands. The average basket on the site this month stood at ₪241.
The international top ten includes three travel and aviation players. Booking.com sits in fifth place, notable among other things for its free cancellation options. Data shows that about 31% of Israelis who booked a vacation during the month executed at least one cancellation.
It should be noted that canceling a booking does not necessarily indicate the cancellation of the vacation itself: in many cases, consumers pre-book more than one accommodation option, and sometimes even multiple hotels, subsequently canceling the unchosen options.
Local Retail and Fashion Trends
The number of orders on Israeli websites decreased by about 9% compared to the previous month. KSP continues to lead in first place, despite registering a 20% drop in order volume compared to August. The average basket on the site stands at ₪351, with a large portion of revenues coming from electrical appliances (LG and Siemens), air conditioners (Electra), and mobile phones (Samsung).
Shufersal climbs to second place this month, posting a 5% increase in orders amid the holiday period with an average basket of ₪737 (identical to the ₪736 average in the previous September). Notably, the food retailer has recently increased its activity in consumer clubs, offering vouchers via Hot Consumerism, Poalim Wonder, and Hi-Tech Zone.
Fashion retailer Terminal X, part of the Fox Group, ranks fifth with an 11% growth in orders and an average shopping basket of ₪415. The multi-brand site offers a vast selection of clothing, shoes, and accessories, alongside a lifestyle and home decor category.
