Brands selling to European shoppers are doing so at a challenging time. The geopolitical situation is volatile and inflation over recent years has shaken consumer confidence. Nevertheless, businesses operating in the EU, EEA plus the UK and Switzerland reach a market of more then 500mn consumers. The average per capita GDP (gross domestic product) across the region was €56.5k in 2024, forecast to rise to €57.9k in 2025. To put that into context, the UN predicts per capita GDP will far, from €21.1k in 2024, slightly to €20.0k in 2025.

These numbers explain in themselves why the European D2C market is so attractive to brands. Among the Largest500, most of these are based in Europe, with 21% hailing from the UK, 15% from France, and 8% from both Germany and Italy. However, US brands also exert a huge influence, with 15% of brands headquartered Stateside. Other countries have a smaller presence, but that doesn’t preclude brands being among the Largest50, for example, South Korea’s Samsung.

In this report, we look in detail at 12 of the brands that make up the Largest500. What is it that drives their success? What can be learnt from them? We also offer strategic insights into the overall D2C market, original ConsumerX research into shoppers’ attitudes on brands, and we explore such topics as the advent of AI – can agentic AI give brands an edge over marketplaces?

Key takeaways

• European consumers tend to shop for brands on marketplaces, but the rise of agentic AI, with its promise of taking consumers direct to the most appropriate deal, may disrupt the marketplaces’ business models.

• The lingering effects of inflation are having an effect on the Largest500 brands, which often have to work harder than pre-pandemic to persuade consumers to spend their disposable income.
• Access to first-party consumer data is only becoming more important to all kinds of retailers, including brands, because of the insights this offers.

• Fashion dominates the RetailX D2C Largest500, but hugely profitable companies can be found across different sectors.

• Despite worries over inflation, European consumers think brands’ sustainability initiatives are important and will pay extra for goods because of ethical considerations, especially in the luxury sector.

Key statistics

• 62.6% of Largest500 brands gain most of their web traffic from European countries.

• 55% of Largest500 brands have revenues of between €1bn and €10bn. Just 2% have revenues of more than €100bn.

• A bricks-and-mortar presence still matter to many retail brands. 24% of the Largest50 have 1,000 or more stores.

• Brands selling direct face huge competition from marketplaces. 43% of those surveyed in ConsumerX research say they shop online with a marketplace once a month. The equivalent figure of those shopping online with brands is 23%.

• A quarter of Britons expect their favourite brands to offer a virtual shopping assistant in the future.

• A third of Swedish consumers have a negative perception of the idea of AI chatbots influencing how they see brands, as compared to traditional search engines.

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