Consumer confidence in the internet appears to have reached a new high with figures showing that Visa customers made more than â‚Ź2.5 billion worth of online purchases from European internet sites in the final quarter of 2002.
The credit card company claims that sales soared by 136% year on year with e-commerce transactions totalling 31 million, a rise of 40% on the previous three months. The strongest growth was seen in the travel and entertainment industry where sales increased fivefold as online bookings for tourist attractions, hotels and airline tickets went through the roof.
Despite widespread economic uncertainty, the retail sector also performed credibly with online sales up 112% on Q4 2001. Christmas shopping helped drive up sales of electrical goods by 114% and supermarket goods by 58% quarter on quarter.
Hugo Bottelier, vice president of Visa EU commented: “Our statistics prove that shopping online is continuing to grow in popularity, particularly in the peak season before Christmas, As well as sustained growth in sales, the e-commerce arena is becoming increasingly diverse with more and more sectors beginning to take advantage of the convenience and accessibility of the internet.”
The UK remains Europe’s leading e-commerce market and it is reckoned that 12.8 million Britons visited a shopping website during December 2002 (see UK Acclaimed As European ‘Capital Of E-Commerce’).
