Can you afford not to?

Feb 25, 2015

The retail industry in the US is undergoing significant change. Whilst there was an initial reluctance to embrace international eCommerce it is very difficult to ignore the opportunities that exist online. Online trade for six of the biggest eCommerce markets are set to grow fivefold to $130 billion in 2020 (source: Google search data / OC&C Analysis January 2014).

New retailers eBay, Amazon, Rakuten, Overstock and Zulily have virtually the same market cap as the old guard retailers Wal-Mart, Gap, Bestbuy and JCPenney (source: Yahoo and Google Finance).

Consumers are also leading the retailers; with 1 in 20 US retail dollars already being spent online (source: US Department of Commerce).
816 million people live in Europe, 565 million of whom use the internet and 264 million shop online. Sales in the 13 largest online markets in the EU are already estimated to be €200 billion and growing at just under 20 per cent per annum (source: Centre for Retail Research).

Captivated by the growth opportunities this trend brings many etailers have been quick to expand across Europe. The average annual B2C eCommerce spend per e-shopper in 2013 was $3585 in the UK compared to $2293 in the US. The UK is an eCommerce champion and is the world's leading exporter of goods purchased online with a trade surplus of over $1 billion on 2013. This is compared to $180 million in the US (source: OC&C Strategy Consultants).

So if you're not already playing in the international field can you afford not to?