Huge potential for online businesses at home and overseas as e-commerce market is predicted to double by 2018
The UK online retail market, along with other world leading e-commerce markets, looks set to double in size to £645bn by 2018, according to a new report conducted by PayPal, Google and OC&C Strategy Consultants.
The report revealed that British consumers spend on average £1 of every £5 on their online shopping with the majority (59%) of sales made through mobile devices.
The research was compiled using a combination of search trends and payment transactions, and indicates that the world’s largest e-commerce markets (UK, China, US and Germany) will increase by £320bn in the next three years as more businesses continue to invest in digital and smartphone use increases.
The report hightlighted opportunities for UK online businesses to capitalise on overseas shoppers with Britain named the most popular international e-commerce market for German and Chinese consumers, who spend approximately 2.7 times and 1.7 times more in each transaction respectively.
Overseas shoppers cited the quality, choice and price of British products as reasons for choosing UK businesses; however concerns raised included data security and the inability to return unwanted goods.
Google’s UK sales director, Martijn Bertisen, said:
“The number of people with internet access is growing fast, with many new consumers skipping the desktop phase entirely and only experiencing the web through a smartphone.
“Our study shows that this is increasingly translating into mobile transactions and that a mobile-first or even mobile-only strategy is now imperative to international success in retail.”
For tips and advice on selling online, check out our sister site Startups.co.uk’s e-commerce section here.
The post Online consumer spend to rise to £645bn appeared first on My Business.