Half of Europe’s spending power is now in the hands of people with access to the internet and of the 34% of Europeans who have used the internet 19 million buy online. New statistics released in the Datamonitor IMPACT survey have outlined huge possibilities for e-commerce in the future which may yet prove that the ill-fated boo.com was right to have expected success. If growth continues as expected, the number of “e-shoppers” could increase five-fold to 100 million by 2004. The report also predicts that 79% of Europeans will have interactive technology by this time, raising the size of potential markets for e-commerce if offerings can be made tempting enough. At the moment, 80% of European customers have browsed the net for information on products and services, but only 28% have ordered online and 15% paid online.
Europe still lags behind the United States when it comes to internet access. Across the Atlantic 57% of the population have been online. However, Datamonitor’s report claims that devices other than the PC which are now available to enable internet access, such as WAP phones, games consoles and interactive television are helping to close the gap. The WAP phone does not hold huge promise for would-be e-commerce millionaires. Although 59% of European mobile phones will be WAP enabled by 2004, 80% of the 48% of Europeans who own a mobile said they had no interest in using it for shopping.
In contrast, Datamonitor predicts “enormous opportunities” for interactive television. With 97% of Europeans owning a colour television and spending five times as long watching it than going on the internet, the survey predicts that within six months the interactive television platform will reach more consumers in Spain and the UK than the internet via PC. However, the survey also predicts that digital TV will not become a truly mass market platform until the second half of the decade, and points out that the online buying opportunities offered through interactive television are limited to walled gardens, rather than giving access to the whole net. Doug Wilson, director at Datamonitor said “An online and digital Europe is here to stay.”
