Europe is all set to compete with the US for e-commerce supremacy, according to a new report from AOL Europe and RoperASW.
The second annual
Cyberstudy on E-Commerce surveyed home internet consumers in the UK, France, Germany, the US, Canada and Brazil. It found that online shoppers in the three European countries had spent an average of â‚Ź430 in the previous quarter. This compares with â‚Ź543 among US consumers while Canadians and Brazilians spent an average of â‚Ź185 and â‚Ź92 respectively.
Approximately one in five European internet shoppers claimed to have spent more than â‚Ź500 online in the past three months, up from 13% who said the same last year. In addition, 45% of European online consumers anticipate that their purchasing will increase in the next few years, compared with 41% of their US counterparts.
Philip Rowley, President and COO of AOL Europe commented: “The most striking thing about this study is that not only are online consumers spending more than â‚Ź400 in only a few months, but that almost 50% expect to increase their level of purchasing in the next few years. Shopping online is emerging as a truly mainstream activity in Europe.”
According to EITO, Western Europe’s ecommerce market was worth â‚Ź309 million in 2002 with the UK, France and Germany accounting for 60% of the total (see Western European Ecommerce Worth €309bn, Says EITO Report).
