That trend seems to be most pronounced in Italy and Spain, where ecommerce had lagged behind markets such as France, Germany, and the UK. Amazon hasn’t been slow to recognize and respond to the opportunity. In Italy, for example, it reportedly plans to open two new fulfillment centers and seven delivery stations.

"The Western European countries that will see the highest growth in Instagram users in 2020 are those that have been hit particularly hard by the pandemic: France, Spain and Italy," said Jasmine Enberg, eMarketer senior analyst at Insider Intelligence.