Ecommerce ? EU sales growing fast

06/06/2008

A new report, called the 2008 IDATE DigiWorld Yearbook, has shown that online sales in the EU are growing, thanks mainly to social networking sites.

It says social networkers are "more inclined" to visit ecommerce sites and that revenues in Western Europe show more than a 40 per cent increase in 2007.

IDATE points to the EU market being worth £176.5 billion by 2010 with the three big markets, UK, France and Germany, continuing to dominate.

The UK is the largest market at the moment with annual sales in 2007 of more than £29.5 billion.

Social networks are expected to kick-start a massive growth in ecommerce after attracting over 114 million adult visitors in June 2007 and the study suggested the next step for social networks is to transform users into potential buyers.

Tickets, travel, home appliances, stereo equipment and cultural books are the top ecommerce sellers, but the food sector could catch up soon with 16 per cent of UK internet users using the web to shop for food.