We all realise the Internet has an important part to play in our lives, and this means big business for E-Commerce retailers. But how much is E-Commerce worth in the UK? Is it still growing, or has it reached a peak? The following statistics show that not only has online shopping taken almost a third of sales from the high street, but it looks set to pass the 50% mark within the next decade.
UK E-Commerce trends and statistics (provided by eCommera) shows that as a whole almost half (42.6 percent) of us purchase something online once a week or more, with a very substantial average order value of over seventy pounds.
The stats show the deciding factor for the majority (6 out of every 10 shoppers) was price, whereas 5 out of 10 went on delivery criteria.
Despite the importance of marketing and SEO, the decision on where to buy from came via recommendations, and this accounted for 71 percent of consumers. Almost half of online purchases were made due to the knowledge of a brand from the high street.
[IMRG] retail figures indicated a total spend of £4.4 billion for the month of June in the UK, up £0.7 billion on the year before. The total sales online for 2010 are now expected to top £56 billion.
The last 10 years of online sales (IMRG Capgemini) shows an average £25bn has been spent every year (in the UK). Back into 2001 and there were just six million people who bought anything on the Internet, spending less than £2bn. The total now is closer to thirty million e-commerce online shoppers.
The same survey offers a prediction of e-commerce retail reaching over £120bn in the next decade, meaning more than double the spend in 2010. At this point the market will be maturing, and growth is expected to slow to six percent per annum.
European figures released by CCR and Kelkoo suggest a 20 percent increase in 2010, totalling £241 billion. The percentage of all retail that e-commerce accounts for will be 5.5 percent.
The countries with the highest level of online retail growth are Spain, France and Poland. In Europe, the average spend per person is 871 Euros, with the British (highest) at 1240 Euros on average and Poland the lowest at 362.
An EConsultancy report suggests that 55 percent of consumers prefer to shop on the traditional high street, with 34 percent choosing to purchase online.
The biggest draw was free delivery, with more than 8 of 10 shoppers having this as the most important factor when making a decision. The next most popular criteria were guaranteed prices, different payment options and then product or service rating from other shoppers.
