European E-Commerce Sector Grows, Despite New Media Pessimism

European consumers are less optimistic about the development of e-commerce than they were only six months ago, according to a survey of the general mood, indexed at 100 for autumn 2001. Overall the mood index was down very slightly at 97 during summer 2002, although in the UK it had nudged up to 103. France is currently the most optimistic country when it comes to e-commerce, indexed at 116.

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.