by
Maarten Trautmann*
The European online revenue of business-to-consumer goods and services grew by 16% to €363.1 billion in 2013, according to Ecommerce Europe, the association for web merchants in Europe. The Europe B2C Ecommerce Report 2014 published an in depth study on the revenues and growth in European e-commerce, and was released during the Global Ecommerce Summit 2014 in Barcelona on 17 June.
The EU28 accounts for the major share of the revenues: € 276.5 billion, or 87.6%. This entailed a growth of 15% in comparison to 2012. The countries with the largest turnover remained unchanged from the year before: the list was topped by the United Kingdom (€107.1 billion), Germany (€63.4 billion) and France (€51.1 billion). This adds up to €221.6 billion, or 61% of the EU28. Europe’s e-commerce turnover ranks second in the world, after the Asia-Pacific region (€406.1 billion, 16.7% increase compared to 2012) and ahead of North America (€333.5 billion, with a 6% growth compared to 2012). Although the Middle East and North Africa have a significant smaller turnover compared to other regions (€11.9 billion), the growth was by far the largest, with an impressive 32.6% increase compared to 2012.
Wijnand Jongen, Chairman of Ecommerce Europe’s Executive Committee commented: “We expect and online revenue of €425.5 billion in 2014. And towards the end of 2016, we believe that the European B2C e-commerce turnover will have increased to around €625 billion. The growth forecast is enabled through the higher spending per e-shopper in mature countries as well as through an increase in the number of e-consumers in emerging countries.”
Ecommerce Europe estimates that the share of the European B2C Internet economy, also known as the eGDP index, is at 2.2%. Based on Wijnand Jongen’s quote, stated above, this percentage is set to double in 2016 and even to triple in 2020. E-commerce’s share in the European economy is growing, and is labeled to be a key driver for the European economy in the years to come. The number of websites has grown to 650.000 at the end of 2013, resulting in 2 million jobs in the same year. With the e-commerce industry growing, a major surge in the number of direct and indirect – think of parcel delivery, ICT jobs – is also expected.
No wonder that European policy makers are speaking out. During the pre-conferences of the Global Ecommerce Summit 2014, Digital Agenda Commissioner Neelie Kroes addressed the participants through video message as she called for tearing down the remaining obstacles in the Digital Single Market: “I would see the Digital Single Market as one of the top priorities for the next Commission; this is what I fought for as a Commissioner… It’s time for the EU to focus on what it does best. The Single Market is the EU’s grown jewel, and online is its natural new home. So let’s bring down those barriers. I hope we can work together to build that Digital Single Market.”
The pre-conferences of the Global Ecommerce Summit 2014 were dedicated to analysing the remaining barriers by giving a voice to European web shops. The e-retailers indicated that differences in interpretation of national legislation, lack of transparency in the market, and lack of pan-European services solutions are hindrances in reaching the full potential of the European e-commerce industry.
*Maarten Trautman is communication officer at Ecommerce Europe
By: N. Peter Kramer
