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B2C Global e-Commerce Overview 2011

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Executive Summary

This report focuses on trends, issues, data and forecasts concerning B2C e-commerce around the globe and the various regions and countries.  Total B2C e-commerce sales in 2010 are estimated to have grown to €591bn, an increase of close to 25%.  IMRWorld estimates that growth will continue in the coming years, passing the trillion-euro mark in 2013.  Between 2009 and 2013 sales in billion euro will double.

The world leader in e-commerce is the USA, followed by the UK and Japan.  In our view the biggest growth region will be the Asia-Pacific region in China, Japan, India and Australia.  The mature markets in the world such as USA, UK and Japan will continue to grow, but not as fast as countries in Southern and Eastern Europe.  We also forecast substantial growth in Latin America.  UK e-shoppers had the highest spend of over €1,300 per capita in 2010, followed by the Scandinavian countries.  We focus on the BRICI countries (Brazil, China, India, Russia and Indonesia), which have excellent economic futures and will in the coming years be leading in internet and e-business.

Issues of interest for the further development of internet and e-business are indicated: the digital agenda in Europe, and existing barriers in cross-border which make accessing new markets difficult for companies; the importance of a trust mark to increase consumer confidence; the breakthrough of m-commerce, the use of social networks as a means and a must these days to get closer to the consumer.  One particularly pressing issue is the national variations in measuring e-business as researchers, associations and official statisticians still use different definitions as to which figures or sectors are included and which not.  To counteract this, IMRG, the voice of online retail in the UK, has developed the Global E-commerce Measurement Standard (GEMS), which is modelled after the IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index.

We have focused in first instance on eleven countries we consider important for e-commerce: the top three : USA, UK and Japan, then Australia, Canada, France, Germany and the BRIC countries.  The country profiles contain an overview of B2C e-commerce, the economy, key data (population, currency, GDP, inflation and (un)employment), retail sales and a profile and the history of the country.  Not only will these profiles be brought up to date regularly, we also plan to introduce more country profiles.  

Last but not least we include quotes from politicians, experts and researchers on the increasing importance and impact of internet, e-commerce and online retail.  

This overview could not have been realised without consulting a great many sources around the globe.  We have done our utmost to carefully study the available data, making the necessary and hopefully right choices in which information to focus upon.