New report examines worldwide e-commerce potential
A new report has been published looking at the e-commerce potential for every region in the world.
The IMRG B2C Global e-Commerce Overview 2012 also focuses on 15 of the most developed and up-and-coming e-commerce countries, identifying trends, issues and opportunities in each.
IMRG said that total B2C e-commerce sales are estimated to have grown to £599 billion in 2011, an increase of nearly 20%. The company said this growth will continue in the coming years, passing the trillion-euro mark in 2013. This is a year earlier than forecast in the first edition of the report published last year.
The latest report found that the world leader in B2C e-commerce is still the USA, followed by the UK and Japan. Asia-Pacific continues to power ahead in terms of growth with China’s e-commerce market rising over 130% in 2011.
Never Miss a Retail Update!IMRG forecasts that the world’s mature markets such as the USA, UK and Japan will continue to grow at a slightly slower rate of between 10-15% and predicts that the fastest growing markets in Europe will be France, Italy, Spain, Russia, Turkey and Poland. In addition, IMRG is forecasting substantial growth in Latin America and the Middle East.
The research found that number of internet users at the end of 2011 was estimated to be around 2.2 billion and is forecast to reach close to 3.5 billion in just a couple of years, representing around 50% of the world’s population. As the number of internet users grows and users become more confident purchasing online, IMRG predicts that the number of e-shoppers will grow rapidly.
In addition to the well-established markets, the report examines the e-commerce potential in the BRICS countries (Brazil, China, India, Russia and South Africa) as well as the MIKT countries (Mexico, Indonesia, Korea and Turkey) which IMRG said will be among the leaders in internet and e-business in coming years. A separate report focusing solely on the BRICS countries will be published by IMRG later this month.
Aad Weening, head of international at IMRG and author of the report, said: “The future of e-retail is global and with the inevitable slowing of growth in several major markets in the likes of North America and Europe, it is important for businesses to understand where the future opportunities will be.
“The country profiles in this report take in to consideration a range of factors in assessment of the potential for the development of the e-commerce markets there; online is now becoming an integral part of any country’s economy and should be considered so. Worldwide we are increasingly seeing trust and confidence in purchasing online growing and government and private initiatives brought in to support the development of the global digital economy.”
