Britain's lead in European e-commerce market projected to remain intact

Thursday, December 29, 2016 - 16:53 by Graham Miller

Analysts at Forrester have just published a new study in which they predict that consumers in the UK will spend the equivalent of £322 billion annually shopping online by 2021, according to Internet Retailing.

This represents an average 11 per cent increase in sales year on year over the next half decade, putting Britain ahead of all other European nations when it comes to e-commerce.

When France and Germany are factored into the equation along with the UK, almost three quarters of all the cash spent online will be accounted for, insiders estimate.

When looking at retail as a whole, 2021 will see Brits make up around 20 per cent of all sales by this point, meaning that both safe shopping online and the bricks and mortar market will be buoyant.

So-called ‘super shoppers’ who make use of both online and in-store retail opportunities account for 27 per cent of all consumers across the continent, with the report finding that people in this group spend up to a fifth more than their less savvy counterparts.

Report spokesperson, Michelle Beeson, said that the UK’s hunger for online shopping was in part being satisfied and also fuelled by the investments that retailers were making in enhanced e-commerce tech. This not only factors in things like easy to use, secure websites, but also a wealth of delivery options.

The UK may continue to lead the way in terms of raw sales, but the biggest growth in online shopping is forecast to occur in the south of Europe, with nations including Spain and Italy set to make up for their current low levels of e-commerce over the next five years.

The maturity of the UK’s e-commerce market seems not to have slowed growth, with the project for double digit sales increases year on year painting a reassuring picture.