The proportion of European consumers using the internet to purchase goods and services is steadily increasing, despite an overall dip in optimism about the medium, according to a new report from Gfk Group‘s gfk-webgauge survey.
GfK E-Commerce Index, Summer 2002 | |||
Consumer mood | Purchase rate | Market volume | |
France | 116 | 78 | 75 |
Germany | 88 | 133 | 325 |
Netherlands/ Belgium | 74 | 106 | 200 |
Spain | 99 | 156 | 250 |
UK | 103 | 95 | 293 |
Total | 97 | 113 | 270 |
Source: gfk-webgauge, August 2002 |
The report, which covers France, Germany, Spain, the UK, the Netherlands and Belgium, found that two thirds of those surveyed believe that e-commerce will continue to grow despite the new media crisis and the weak economy.
The proportion of ‘e-consumers’ in Europe has risen from 27.7% in autumn 2001 to 31.4%, or 59 million adults, in summer 2002. This rise comes despite the pessimistic conditions that have swept the new media sector, not to mention a downturn in consumer spending generally across Europe and the US.
Volumes growth higher than users growth Whilst the proportion of people making purchases via the web increased moderately, the volume of sales grew at a higher rate. Online spend rose by 170% between autumn last year and spring 2002, from E4.2 billion to E11.5 billion.
While Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and the UK saw a significant increase in the e-commerce sales volume reported by e-consumers, with an index value of 75%, in France this figure was considerably down. In Belgium and the Netherlands, the sales volume doubled within six months; it rose by one and a half times in Spain and trebled in Germany and the UK.