eMarketer’s May 2002 Europe eCommerce Report provides readers with a comprehensive overview of online retailing and ebusiness, in Europe, with a focus on the 12 countries eMarketer considers “core” to the region’s internet markets.
Whereas previous reports on Europe have included coverage of both internet usage and e-commerce, eMarketer feels that the market has developed to the point that each warrant separate, stand-alone reports.
Readers should consult both reports to get the most complete picture of the internet and e-business in Europe.
E-commerce in both the business and consumer segments has continued to advance in Europe despite the less-than-positive economic climate that prevailed across the region in the latter part of 2001 and the early months of 2002.
Positive figures from the 2001 holiday shopping season attest to the fact that online retailing remains alive and well in Europe.
Likewise, European businesses continue to invest in internet-enabled solutions in an effort to ,further automate and streamline their internal and external operations.
Moreover, despite the common perception that European businesses lag ,behind their North American counterparts in terms of technology adoption, several studies cited in the report have found that European companies are in fact closing the technology gap with the United States.
Drawing upon aggregated survey data, the report reveals that as with internet usage, a digital e-commerce divide continues to exist between the more developed countries of Western Europe and the emerging economies ,of Eastern Europe, borne out by the level of both technology investment and e-commerce spending by consumers and businesses.
Europe’s increasing economic unification is likely to facilitate cross-border ,e-commerce transactions for business and consumers, particularly those, in the Euro-zone.