The internet has created new opportunities for international trade. The geographical distance between buyer and seller has decreased in importance and has changed the way in which companies and individuals conduct business, trade and communicate.
The internet has changed how businesses and consumers compare, buy and sell both products and services, and how they search and manage information, deal with payments, and manage data. The internet has also opened up completely new sectors in the economy, by creating new products, new services, and business models that were not previously possible. International trade has been facilitated by these developments. E-commerce, that is to say, trade in goods and services that is conducted via electronic means, has grown exponentially, and businesses can today connect with consumers in foreign markets in ways that were not previously possible.
Small businesses in particular have gained from this, having, in the past, lacked the necessary resources in order to export to foreign markets.
Ecommerce Europe estimates the share of the European Internet economy in the GDP at 2.59%, a percentage that is set to nearly double by 2020. Online retail continues to grow significantly. The European-commerce turnover managed to increase 13.3%to €455.3 billion in 2015. Compared to the 1.0% growth of general retail in Europe, we can safely state that online trading is here to stay.
Overall growth
In 2015, 16% of all individuals in the EU28 purchased goods and/or services through the Internet from sellers outside their country of residence. But within the EU28, this is an increase of 33% compared to 2013. Popular reasons for shopping abroad were a more competitive price and a wider offer of goods and services available.
Challenges
Nearly all growth in retail comes from e-commerce. The e-commerce sector is booming. However the full potential of the European e-commerce market has not yet been reached. Today, 57% of European Internet users shop online, but only 16% of SMEs sell online – and less than half of those sell online across borders (7.5%).
Postal and private operators have reaped the fruits of the impressive growth over the past years of (B2C) e-commerce. Ecommerce Europe estimates the annual number of B2C parcels sent to customers domestically and cross-border to other (European) countries at 4.2 billion, a number that will certainly continue to grow as a result of the forecast increase for B2C e-commerce in Europe.
Source: "Breaking down Barriers to European: a brief introduction to the new European Policy and impact to China Cross-border E-commerce" by Betty Touzeau (Lengow Asia Director)
