Western Europe leads the world in retail e-commerce sales. The UK is the most mature market, but other countries increasingly contribute to the region’s online buying clout. Europe’s dominance will continue through 2012, according to Collins Stewart, when online retail sales will cross the $200 billion threshold.

“The population of online shoppers and buyers in the region is rising steadily,” said Karin von Abrams, eMarketer senior analyst and author of the new report “Retail E-Commerce in Western Europe.” “But there are key differences in these markets.”



This is chiefly the result of long-standing differences between Northern and Southern infrastructures and buying habits. France and Germany have shown much higher online sales and greater e-commerce activity among Web users than Italy and Spain, where the Internet still represents a fraction of total retail volume. In Germany, for example, Internet purchases accounted for 6.9% of retail sales in 2009, according to Kelkoo, while in Italy the Web claimed just 0.8% of the total.

“The recent economic downturn has compounded national differences,” said Ms. von Abrams. “In France and Germany, as in the UK, e-commerce was well established before the recession hit. Budget-conscious shoppers turned to the Internet in ever-larger numbers to compare products and prices and pick up deals.”



Online retailers may gain incremental revenue by appealing to buyers in the smaller European markets. One big opportunity lies in Spain, where the total number of online buyers is still relatively low. But roughly two-thirds of Internet users did buy something on the Web between July 2008 and July 2009, according to InSites Consulting.