PRESS RELEASE September 17, 2015
Globale-commerce turnover grew by 24.0% to reach $1,943bn in 2014
PRESS RELEASE September 17, 2015
Global B2C e-commerce of goods and services continued to grow significantly last year. The actual growth rate amounted to 24.0% in 2014, which was in line with preceding years. As a result, B2C e-commerce sales reached$ 1,943bn. For 2015, the B2C e-commerce growth rate is expected to decline considerably, as the market is growing more and more mature. However, it will still grow by double digits (around 16%), resulting in a turnover of $ 2,251bn.
These figures come from the new Global B2C E-commerce Report 2015, which is created by the Ecommerce Foundation, in cooperation with Ecommerce Europe and GfK. In addition, the report is powered by GlobalCollect | Ingenico.
“Another interesting tool to measure theimportance of B2C e-commerce on a worldwide scale is the share of e-commerce in the Gross Domestic Product (GPD)”, says Jorij Abraham, Director of the Ecommerce Foundation. “In 2014, 2.64% of the world’s GDP was spent on purchasing goods and services online. At first glance, this does not seem as a lot, but this share has grown by more than 100% since 2010. This indicates the enormous growth of B2C e-commerce over the last few years.”
Asia-Pacific remains at the top
Figure 1: B2C e-commerce turnover, growth and market share per region
Just like in the preceding year, Asia-Pacific was the largest e-commerce market in the world in 2014. Its total B2C e-commerce turnover amounted to $ 770.0bn, which was higher than Europe’s ($ 567.0bn) and North America’s ($ 522.9bn). Asia-Pacific’s B2C e-commerce market even widened the gap as it is currently growing at a much faster pace than the others. In 2014, it grew by 44.3%, against 13.9% for Europe and 12.2% for North America.
These large differences are interesting, especially when considering the region’s Internet penetrations. Whereas in the more developed regions of Europe and North America, around 75% of the population is connected to the Internet, only 39% of the Asian-Pacific citizens is able to go online.In combination with the increasing income per capita and improving retail infrastructure, Asia-Pacific’s B2C e-commerce turnoveris expected torise even morestrongly in the near future.
Internet penetrationUp to 10%
Up to 20%
Up to 30%
Up to 40%
Up to 50%
More than 50%
Despite the low Internet penetration, Asia-Pacific still has the largest number of e-shoppers. This is because more than half of the world’s population lives in this region. In total, 523.1 million Asian-Pacific citizens purchased goods and/or services through the Internet. In Europe, this number amounted to 273.9 million e-shoppers and in North America to 195.5 million.
North Americans biggest online spenders
With regard to the average spending per e-shopper, North Americais clearly in the lead. On average, North American consumers spent $ 2,674 online in 2014, compared to $ 2,070 in Europe and $ 1,472 in Asia-Pacific. However, Asia-Pacific is closing the gap. Its average spending per e-shopper grew by more than26% last year, against single-digit growths in the other two regions.
China increased its lead
“Asian-Pacific’s strong e-commerce performance is mainly due to the unleashed Chinese e-commerce market,” says Abraham. “The online turnover of this e-commerce giant grew by 63.8% last year, and reached $ 538.1bn. With this, it increased its lead on the Americane-commerce market, which grewby 11.7% to $ 482.7bn.”
Behind these two major markets, the United Kingdom ranked third, with a B2C e-commerce turnover of $ 169.0bn. Yet, in terms of average spending per e-shopper, the UK leads the way. In 2014, British e-shoppers each spent $ 4,082 on average. American online shoppers ranked second with $ 2,888, followed by the French with $ 2,126. China is somewhat lagging behind, but at $ 1,703, the average spending per e-shopper increased by more than 55% in 2014. As a result, China is closing the gap here as well.
More worldwide e-commerce facts and figures can be obtained for free by downloadingthe light version of the Global B2C E-commerce Report 2015 and the free infographic. In addition, the complete report can be ordered through.
END OF PRESS RELEASE
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Research methods
The figures from our research have been compiled with the utmost care. To this end, we have used reliable sources, including Worldbank, Statista and World Factbook. In addition, the Ecommerce Foundation has used its own carefully calculated estimates, which are based on data found through its desk research.
About the Ecommerce Foundation
The Ecommerce Foundation is a non-profit organization that supports both companies and industries. Its mission is to help companiesexpand and improve their e-commerce activities with data that can only be obtained collectively, such as key market data, practical expert insights, cross-company benchmarking and studies.
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About Ecommerce Europe
Ecommerce Europe is the association representing 25,000+ companies selling goods and/or services online to consumers in Europe. Founded by leading national e-commerce associations, Ecommerce Europe is the voice of the e-commerce sector in Europe. Its mission is to stimulate cross-border e-commerce through lobbying for better or desired policy, by offering a European platform bringing the European e-commerce sector and other stakeholders together, and by providing in-depth research data about European markets.
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National associations which are members of Ecommerce Europe
Belgium / Becommerce /Czech Republic / APEK /
Denmark / FDIH /
Finland / Finnish Commerce Federation /
Finland / eCommerce Finland /
France / FEVAD /
Germany / Händlerbunde.V. /
Greece / GRECA /
Hungary / SzEK.org /
Ireland / Retail Excellence Ireland /
Italy / Netcomm /
The Netherlands / Thuiswinkel.org /
Norway / Virke /
Poland / e-Commerce Polska /
Portugal / ACEPI /
Spain / Adigital /
Switzerland / NetComm Suisse /
About GfK
GfK is the trusted source of relevant market and consumer information that enables its clients to make smarter decisions. More than 13,000 market research experts combine their passion with GfK’s 80 years of data science experience. By using innovative technologies and data sciences, GfK turns big data into smart data, enabling its clients to improve their competitive edge and enrich consumers’ experiences and choices.
About GlobalCollect | Ingenico
GlobalCollect | Ingenico is the most knowledgeable global Payment Service Provider in the world, processing international e-commerce payments for more than 600 of the world’s most recognized e-commerce brands in the digital goods and services, travel, retail and video gaming industries, among many others. GlobalCollect | Ingenico’s business intelligence tools, Managed Fraud Services and more than 400 payments experts help our clients elevate their payment strategies to become a strategic asset to their companies.