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Ecommerce Statistics: Europe

Ecommerce statistics: a survey of ecommerce prospects in Europe, with references and information sources.

Background: Ecommerce in Europe

You'll find ecommerce statistics vital for doing business in Europe.

Though the region had the potential to reach $1.6 trillion in online trade by 2004, Forrester {1} estimated in 1999, Europe has been slow to adopt the necessary site personalization, channel integration and technology. {2} {3}

The best of European ecommerce sites have been as good as their American counterparts, but many — probably the majority — have lost money. Indeed, a recent check by the British Chamber of Commerce {4} reports that three-quarters of smaller firms and more than half of medium ones surveyed had seen no return on the £1,000 to £100,000 spent on their ecommerce site. As the table indicates {5}, only a tiny fraction of retail sales are currently made online, and many visitors are only window-shoppers.

country
ecommerce as % of total retail sales
country
% online window shopping
country
% of internet users buying online
Sweden
0.68
Finland
28
Sweden
27
UK
0.37
Netherlands
28
Norway
26
Netherlands
0.34
Sweden
23
UK
22
Germany
0.30
Norway
22
Germany
21
Belgium
0.16
Spain
16
Netherlands
18
France
0.14
France
14
Finland
16
Italy
0.09
Germany
14
France
8
Spain
0.06
Italy
14
Spain
8
Portugal
0.06
UK
13
Italy
7

Current problems include:

  • language barriers.{6}

  • multiple currencies, somewhat eased by adoption of the Euro.

  • differing tax and VAT regimes. {7}

  • uncertainty over and pending legislation on ecommerce taxation.{7} {8}

  • lack of cross-border logistical support.

  • poor IT infrastructure.

  • conservative banking attitudes

  • restricted choice of software, payment service providers and MAPs.

Prospects 2003-4

The July 2002 Economist Information Unit {9} ranks preparedness for ecommerce in Europe as follows (USA scoring 8.41)

country
Index
country
index
country
index
Netherlands
8.40
Norway
8.17
Greece
7.03
UK
8.38
Austria
8.10
Portugal
7.02
Switzerland
8.32
Ireland
8.02
Czech Republic
6.45
Sweden
8.32
Belgium
7.77
Hungary
6.05
Denmark
8.29
France
7.70
Poland
5.52
Germany
8.25
Italy
7.32
Slovakia
5.00
Finland
8.18
Spain
7.07
Romania
4.00

 

It's encouraging to note that Sweden, Netherlands, UK, Finland, Denmark and Germany score well, and businessmen in these countries generally understand English.{10} As always in business, openness to new ideas, deregulation, entrepreneurship, incisive thinking and planning are vital, suggesting an agile company will outperform the large corporation if strengths are recognized and played to.

Ecommerce is still being explored in Europe {11}, and even in the UK only 24% of companies have websites, with 10% taking orders online. {12}. Excellent prospects exist for the right strategies. {13} At a time of economic uncertainty {14} the market is still open, and success for smaller companies will go to those who can exploit local conditions and niche markets. The larger companies will continue to streamline purchasing, logistics and human resources, though in technology and implementation most still lag a year behind the US. {15} A recent T.N.S. study reports that security remains as a customer worry, particularly in Germany, and that online shopping has increased in France and Norway over the last year but fallen in Austria, Czech Republic and Finland. {16} Ecommerce is firmly established in the UK, with 10 million visiting ecommerce sites over the Christmas 2001 period, some 70% of the Internet population. {17} A 2002 eMarketer study estimated European ecommerce revenues at $980 billion in 2004, little more than half the earlier Forrester prediction, but still appreciable. {18} Finally, it's worth remembering that 75% of Internet users by 2005 will be located in Europe and Asia. {19}.

References and Sources

This page was written in 2003, and is now out of date. For a current picture, and full information sources, consider our ADVANCED GUIDE TO ECOMMERCE, now in its eleventh edition — concise, plainly-written and packed with information unavailable elsewhere.


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