Western Europe: cross-border sales to double by 2018 - report

According to the European Multi-channel and Online Trade Association, cited by market research company eMarketer, in 2014 nondomestic business-to-consumer ecommerce sales in Europe are to amount to USD 74.67 billion, totaling 14% of all ecommerce sales.

Comparing the European domestic and the cross-border B2C ecommerce sales, the statistics released by eMarketer indicate not only a year-on-year increase in the amount of money spent, but also a clear difference between the sales value associated with domestic ecommerce, as compared to that for cross-border ecommerce at a European level. For instance, out of USD 402 billion predicted for 2014 in terms of ecommerce sales, only USD 56 billion are the result of cross-border sales.

This status is bound to change in 4-years-time, when it is estimated that, aside the fact that the value for B2C ecommerce sales will grow to about USD 578 billion, the value of cross-border sales will also more than double, reaching USD 116 billion.

Another report, released by PostNord, indicates that a majority of digital buyers ages 15 to 79 in all EU-5 countries had made a cross-border retail purchase in 2013, excluding services such as downloads, tickets, hotels and travel.

Out of these European countries, the highest concentration of cross-border buyers can be found in Italy and Spain, where the economic context has kept local retailers from investing in technology, design improvements and product ranges for their own online stores.

The value of merchants’ cross-border sales in these two countries was still lower than the level registered in the UK, Germany or France in 2013. According to consulting company Casaleggio Associati, one quarter of online retailers in Italy sold abroad, their top four external markets being France, Germany, the UK and the US.

There was also an imbalance in buying patterns in Italy, in what concerns supply and demand. While fashion, food and tourism were Italy’s top ecommerce exports for 2013, Italian digital buyers preferred discount air tickets as a cross-border category.

Check out our Cross-border Ecommerce Research section here for more info on country-specific ecommerce facts and figures, preferred payment methods, risk and fraud, as well as ecommerce legislation and regulation for mature and emerging markets.