February 01, 2010
By the ZippyCart Ecommerce Software Content Team
Shopping online has been becoming more popular in Europe over the past few years as they have been hit by an economic recession, which has forced many consumers to visit Internet retail sites for their purchases. In 2009, UK shoppers took the top spot for Europe as the country spending the most on retail online. UK consumers spent roughly £38 billion in 2009, which breaks down to just over £1,100 per UK consumer, as reported by the Centre for Retail Research (CRR). Overall online sales are now accounting for about 10% of total retail sales in the UK, with 2010 expected to see over a 10% increase in how much UK shoppers will spend on online retail. Many consumers in the U.S. have been hunting for deals online for years, but it is only now becoming more common in Europe as shoppers look to save some money by avoiding the pricey retail shops of the UK and other parts of the region. Overall for Europe, it is expected that online retail sales will jump almost 20%, most of which coming from countries catching the online shopping craze like Spain, France, and Poland. Shoppers in the UK are the most savvy and up-to-date of all of Europe so the other countries typically follow the lead of the UK.
As more consumers remain conscious of their budgets, it is likely that this online shopping trend will continue in Europe. This means that the brick and mortar retailers need to find a way to combat the shift towards online spending. If nothing else, every brick and mortar store should consider adding an online retail site to their portfolio to try and increase the likelihood that they will generate enough sales everyday. Investors and industry analysts in Europe will continue to watch this trend as it could alter the retail landscape in the region as consumers change their shopping methods.
The European Union is already considering a regulation change that would require online etailers in Europe to also own a brick and mortar store. This, they believe would cut down on the competition and pressure most brick and mortar stores are feeling from this new online shopping trend. Amazon is not responding favorably to this, as they wish to continue leading the way to ecommerce success in Europe.
Nick was born and raised in California, but has been working the dot com scene in Seattle for many years. He co-founded ZippyCart back in 2009, and now works here full-time. Nick wears many hats at ZippyCart, including producing content for our Ecommerce News blog. Nick loves photography and the outdoors, so when not working on ZippyCart you can find him out and about in Seattle.
