European e-commerce revenue to outstrip US

17 Nov 2004

European online sales during the holiday season are set to outpace the US by €3bn, according to Forrester Research.

European sales online are currently estimated at €13bn, with the UK making up 36 per cent of the total (€4.3bn). Germany is expected to account for 29 per cent of the total (€3.8bn) and France will take a nine per cent share (€1.1bn).

European e-commerce during the Christmas period will increase by 44 per cent compared to 2003, according to Forrester. It attributes this growth to more affluent online shoppers, an e-commerce push by traditional retailers and the aggressive promotion of online stores.

Many European retailers' offline revenues have declined as a result of customers purchasing online in greater numbers, while in the UK competition has increased, with companies such as Sainsbury's and Tesco battling it out for Christmas sales.

Leisure travel will form the largest portion of the market, at 21 per cent, closely followed by apparel sales, at 17 per cent.

Sources: Forrester Research, The Register

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