Overseas shoppers bolster UK’s e-commerce market

Friday, July 29, 2016 - 13:39 by

Last month 27 per cent of products ordered via safe shopping online from sites operating in the UK were delivered to addresses in other nations, according to figures from IMRG.

This is the highest impact made by international consumers on the domestic e-commerce market in half a decade. And the Brexit vote, which resulted in the value of the pound tumbling against other currencies, is being strongly implicated as the reason for this rise.

The volume of products delivered in June rose by a tenth year on year, although the actual value of the goods shipped overseas was 13 per cent lower than in May, Internet Retailing reports.

IMRG spokesperson, Andrew Starkey, admitted that the figures for June should not be seen as evidence of a new, ongoing trend for the growing dominance of international orders in the UK’s e-commerce market.

He also said that while consumer confidence in Britain itself had taken a hit in the aftermath of the EU referendum result, retailers were now waiting to see how quickly it would be recovered in order to assess the long term impact of the vote.

In short, while analysts have found that there was a spike in international orders last month, they are unwilling to read too much into this revelation and are urging caution about coming to any firm conclusions about the future of safe shopping online in the UK.

Ultimately, it will be the trade deals that are negotiated with other nations, if and when the government chooses to trigger Article 50 and begin the process of leaving the EU, that determine how consumers from all countries can interact with the UK’s e-commerce market. And this is a process that will almost certainly take years to hammer out in a conclusive fashion.