Against a background of economic uncertainty, UK business-to-consumer ecommerce sales including travel grew 14% in 2009, to £49.8 billion ($78.2 billion), according to the Interactive Media in Retail Group.

eMarketer forecasts that 26 million people ages 14 and older in the UK - 67.7% of internet users in that age group - will make at least one online purchase per month during 2010. The number of online buyers will grow by more than 4% each year through 2014, and the proportion of web users who buy online will also rise steadily, approaching 72% in 2014.

“Online sales growth will continue to outpace growth in overall retail sales in 2010 and 2011, as more shoppers use the web to save time, stretch their pennies and buy items not readily available in nearby physical stores,” said Karin von Abrams, eMarketer senior analyst and author of the new report “UK B2C Ecommerce: Consolidating the Gains.”



The UK’s online retailers are doing well but must keep pace with changing customer behavior. They must not rest on their laurels despite seeing online revenues rise strongly in recent months.

“UK internet users admit that the web has made them more demanding shoppers,” said von Abrams. “They want good, rapid service online and offline. They want a variety of delivery options. They also want promotions and other incentives.”

Mobile commerce is still an emerging channel, however, with less than four in 10 UK consumers having tried it in September 2009, according to ATG.



“UK retailers that could profitably sell via mobile should be aware that, collectively, they lag behind their counterparts in the US and Canada,” said von Abrams. “A multichannel retailing survey by BT Expedite noted that 23% of North American retailers had a mobile commerce presence in 2009, compared with 5% of UK merchants.”