Divided Opinion on Virtual Retailing in Europe

European consumers are less optimistic about the development of e-commerce than they were only six months ago. However, the number of e-consumers is still rising and so is the overall volume of online orders, as the findings of the third wave of gfk-webgauge, a survey carried out in six European countries, show.

The share of e-consumers, i.e. consumers who have ordered products or pay services online at least once in the last six months, continues to increase despite recent sobering developments in the New Economy and restrained consumer behaviour in Europe. The share of e-consumers was 27.7 per cent in autumn 2001, but had risen to 31.4 per cent in spring 2002. In absolute terms and in relation to the whole population, this means that of 187 million people aged 16 to 69 in Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and the UK almost 59 million people not only use the Internet to surf, but also to make private online purchases.

Overall, e-consumers expect e-commerce to continue to develop positively despite the New Economy crisis and a generally weak economy. Two in three Europeans believe this. Optimism is most prevalent in France and Spain, whereas people in Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands are less optimistic.

While the number of online shoppers rose only moderately, the volume of purchases reported by e-consumers increased overproportionally, which was contrary to the positive but nonetheless modest expectations with regard to future developments in e-commerce. In spring 2002, it was up 170 per cent on the autumn 2001 figure, rising from EUR 4.2 billion to EUR 11.5 billion in total.

Despite the growing number of e-shoppers and a significant increase in the volume of e-commerce, the general mood among e-consumers with regard to their own financial situation in future is rather cautious. In Belgium, France and the Netherlands, there has been a considerable fall in the number of e-consumers who anticipate a positive development in their own situation, while the share of those believing in such a positive development increased slightly in Spain and the UK.

While Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and the UK saw a significant increase in the e-commerce sales volume reported by e-consumers, with an index value of 75 per cent, in France this figure was considerably down. In Belgium and the Netherlands, the sales volume doubled within six months, rose by one and a half times in Spain and even trebled in Germany and the UK.

The attitude to e-commerce, however, developed very differently. While the index value was slightly up in France, i.e. the number of optimistic e-consumers in spring 2002 was higher than in the autumn of 2001, the index value remained unchanged for Spain and the UK and was lower for Germany and the Netherlands.

There are still considerable differences between the countries in terms of the change in purchase rate, i.e. the number of e-consumers. In France, the number of users fell by around 22 per cent, while it grew slightly in Belgium, the Netherlands and the UK and expanded considerably in both Germany and Spain.

All articles 2006-22 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas unless otherwise stated.

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