SLI Systems has released a new whitepaper outlining mobile commerce strategies and best practices tips for creating an engaging and satisfying mobile search and shopping experience. Following its December 2012 eCommerce survey, which revealed that 40% of respondents planned to develop a mobile site in 2013, SLI Systems has continued to serve a growing number of online retailers wanting to address their mobile customers' needs.

Research shows that more and more people are using their smartphones to make purchases. According to Mobify, mobile devices generate 31% of site traffic in the UK, compared to 47% in Australia, 40% in Brazil, 34% in South Korea, 31% in the US and just 8% in France. Comscore also reported that one in five Brits used their smartphone to make a purchase in December 2012. And according to estimates, mobile sales will account for 24% of global eCommerce sales by 2017.

At the same time, eConsultancy recently reported that 37% of consumers think most mobile sites are difficult to navigate, and 38% said they'd abandon a mobile site if it's hard to use.

"With so much growth in mobile shopping it's critical that retailers create an optimal experience for customers using their mobile devices," said Terry Costa, vice president of marketing for SLI Systems. "Our own survey data from the end of 2012 showed that half of respondents had not yet embarked on a mobile commerce strategy, so we're working closely with clients to help them understand the importance of taking this necessary step as soon as possible – while delivering a site search solution that makes it really easy to find what they're looking for when they're using a smaller device."

This White Paper is available for download at http://sitesearch.sli-systems.com/Whitepaper-2013-03-28-Mobile-Whitepaper-UK-Registration-Page.html.  

Mobile ecommerce sales rose 31 percent in the first quarter of 2013 as tablet-fueled, couch commerce is rapidly becoming the most popular form of online shopping with the so-called multi-channel shopper.

Data from the IBM Online Retail Index and the U.S. Department of Commerce suggested that in-store retail sales grew 3.7 percent in the first quarter, overall ecommerce sales grew 20 percent in the first quarter, and mobile ecommerce grew the aforementioned 31 percent for the quarter. This data indicates that the growth of mobile ecommerce outpaced brick-and-mortar sales growth by nearly 10-to-1 and accounted for roughly 17.4 percent of all ecommerce sales, again according to IBM.

Total U.S. retail sales — excluding automobiles, auto parts, gasoline, travel, and food — were approximately $542.9 billion in the first quarter of 2013, according to the U.S. Commerce Department's Advance Monthly Sales report showing preliminary data.

Although official Commerce Department ecommerce data for the first quarter will not be available until May 31, the agency reported that ecommerce and mail order sales combined for about $117.75 billion. Some estimates place ecommerce sales — excluding catalogs and mail order — for the first three months of this year between $32.5 billion and, perhaps, $50 billion. If IBM's data — mentioned above — is correct about mobile commerce's share of online sales, tablet- and smartphone-based purchases may have reached between $5.7 billion and $8.75 billion in the first quarter.

Complete article at Practical eCommerce

According to eMarketer, the UK has adopted online grocery shopping faster than many other markets worldwide. Verdict Research found that in 2012, 4.9% of food and grocery sales in the UK were made online. This is a small share, but significantly higher than the 1% of US grocery sales Booz & Company estimated happened online in 2012.

In keeping with this growing comfort with online grocery shopping, a significant percentage of UK internet users reported an affinity for ordering groceries online and getting them delivered at home. Just under two-thirds of internet users surveyed told retail software company Symphony EYC in January 2013 that they favored this method of grocery shopping, a higher percentage than among internet users in Germany or France.

Other types of online ordering with various pick-up options got significantly less interest, suggesting that when UK consumers shop online, it is the at-home delivery that plays the trump card.

Similarly, the top two benefits of online grocery shopping according to UK internet users were avoiding waiting on lines and the quickness of online grocery shopping, cited by 70% and 39% of respondents, respectively. Better prices fell much farther down the list, cited by only 21% of internet users.

But while convenience is the one standout benefit to online grocery shopping, consumers in the UK said there were other options that would further improve the experience and provide an added incentive for online buying. The greatest percentage of respondents (50%) said they were interested in personalized promotions of favorite products. Offering price comparison services, being able to search for product availability based on current location, and the choice of different options for pick-up and delivery were also popular options.

When asked about what would make them consider grocery shopping on their mobile phone in particular, those between 18- to 34-years-old expressed the most interest in being able to price compare with other stores, using loyalty points and receiving personalized offers.

And as for privacy concerns that may arise when retailers contact consumers with offers based on their purchase history, there seemed to be very little wariness of online stores knowing too much. Over 60% of consumers across all age groups said that as long as their data was safe, it was fine for a grocery retailer to know about their habits and use that information to provide appropriate product suggestions.

Read more at http://www.emarketer.com/Article/UK-Online-Grocery-Shoppers-Prize-Convenience-Personalization/1009871#THVwzzRo6vREpe1v.99 

A study prepared by RichRelevance  of more than 1.5 billion online shopping sessions in the United States between November 20, 2012 and April 1, 2013 on pages recommended by the firm, shows the growing tendency of social networks like Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter to drive traffic to e-commerce websites.  While traffic on Twitter is still low, the numbers on Pinterest and Facebook are growing at a much faster rate.

However, a significant trend was also observed during the period analyzed.  While Facebook traffic in mid December 2012 was at 92%, that number dropped to 69% on Easter Sunday due to a considerable increase in traffic on Pinterest, which during that same period, went from 6% to 25%.

Furthermore, while orders from Facebook´s shoppers averaged between $75 and $100 at checkout, those of Pinterest shoppers were between $140 to $180.  And the week prior to Easter Week, they spent around $194, while Facebook shoppers spent $84 on average.

It seems then that Pinterest and the power of photos are a big incentive for e-commerce and that the company is making changes to add value to its services and internal data.  In fact, in March it introduced its web-based analysis tools to users, allowing them to see basic information about site visits.

The world's Internet denizens are increasingly embracing mobile computing. It's not hype. A growing body of evidence supports the notion that the mobile web will free us from the constraints of the desktop.

As more of our everyday online experiences - email, banking, shopping, networking - happen on mobile devices, it's becoming second nature to take care of our financial business while we're on the go. With that in mind, here are five mobile finance trends that will continue to grow this year according to OANDA Corporation:

*Cashless Payments

Though paper cash and coinage will not disappear anytime soon, the idea of living in a cashless society is gaining momentum. Smartphones are handier than searching for a bank machine. It'll be a slow creep but people are creatures of habit and they like convenience and security. Consider the 2012 Summer Olympics in the U.K. It was a beta test and a springboard for VISA's contactless payment technology. The push to encourage attendees to make routine payments with their mobile phones went over swimmingly.

*Social Media for Investors

Mobile technologies and social media are birds of a feather, which is driving flocks of developers to create apps for investors. StockTwits, for example, is a Twitter-inspired financial communications platform where investors can follow traders and markets that interest them while getting a personalized stream of news, charts, and ideas. The platform continues to attract users and content partners such as CNN Money, OANDA, and Yahoo! Finance.

*Currency Trading

Foreign exchange (forex) trading, as a complementary asset class to equities and fixed-income instruments, has been on a desktop growth spurt since the early 2000s thanks to the emergence of electronic market makers like OANDA. Now such innovative firms are bringing the desktop trading experience to smartphones and tablets, with mobile forex trading apps that give users the ability to track real-time exchange rate data, set price alerts and notifications, monitor news, and analyze technical charts while on the fly.

*Personal Finance

Smartphones and tablets put money management at your fingertips anytime, anywhere. Mobile apps from Mint, Pageonce, PocketMoney and others provide a dashboard view of all your financial stats in one place. They use charts, graphs, and message alerts to make it easy to track your spending, bill payments and budget issues, as well as monitor your investment goals.

*Travel Budgeting

When travelling for business or pleasure, it is much easier to keep expenditures in check with a mobile device in your pocket or purse. Tools like the popular mobile currency converter apps from OANDA help you quickly calculate foreign exchange rate conversions using the same daily filtered rates relied on by multinational corporations, auditing firms, and global banks.

According to  IMRG ,the industry association for online retail, and Capgemini consulting firm,  online sales of apparel were up 16% in March in the United Kingdom, while transactions at brick-and-mortar stores dropped 3,4% compared to 2012. On the other hand, purchases made on mobile devices were up 243% year-on-year, the highest it’s been in four months.

Experts maintain that bad weather was responsible for the decline in sales in brick-and-mortar stores.  The average 2.2ºC temperature, three degrees below the record low, kept shoppers away from  country´s big retail stores, to shop from home instead.  Furthermore, there were retailer discounts on overstock items, winter clothing sales, and to a lesser degree, sales of some spring apparel that shoppers purchased hoping for better weather.

Chris Webster, a consultant at Capgemini said “Normally what happens is that when the weather changes, people buy clothes for the new season.  But this year, sales promotions encouraged shoppers to buy, since the weather wasn´t having its usual effect.”

According to Google, 66% of online consumers of retail revenue need at least two web “steps” before purchasing a product. The data comes from “The Customer Journey to Online Purchase”, a web site were users can search for free information designed to show how online shoppers use web marketing.

The industries covered include retail,  automotive, consumer packaged goods and technology.

The findings there are based on online marketing data from more than 36,000 Google clients.

Source and complete article on Internet Retailer

According to an article that appeared today in The People´s Daily Online, and that echoed the statements of Li Shishi, director of the Standing Committee Legislative Affairs Commission of the National People´s Congress, the country´s highest legislature,  the Chinese government is considering amending the laws affecting e-commerce in the country, since the current consumer rights law, which dates back to 1933, does not provide specific protection for the rights of online shoppers.  

Widespread technology has favored the rapid growth of trade in media such as the Internet, television and telephone, but consumers, unable to  verify the authenticity of products, are susceptible to false advertising.  For that reason, the new amendments stipulate that vendors will have to provide authentic and complete details about their products and services to online customers, and that online shoppers can choose the vendors they want to do business with and they can return products within seven days for a refund.  

In addition, online shoppers can seek compensation from the e-commerce platform where they made the purchase in case the vendor no longer uses it.  In turn, the e-commerce platform can claim compensation from the vendor for the amount it had to pay out to the consumer.

The Airline eCommerce solution created by Indra, one of the leading multinational consulting and technology firms in Europe and Latin America, will be one of the solutions the company refers to when it participates in the E-Commerce Conference hosted by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) today, 30 April, in Miami. At the event, Indra will present the report titled ‘Best Practices on Airlines Websites’.

Experts from IATA and other industry companies will address the most relevant e-commerce solutions for airline companies, with representatives from American, Latin American and Caribbean airlines. Attendees will learn about trends and forecasts for the future, and also define the most appropriate business model for adding value to existing information channels. Another aspect that will be shown is how suitable e-commerce processes can help improve return on investment while reducing airline costs and optimising the possibility of obtaining new customers.

Indra will participate as a guest speaker in the conference, where it will present its global Airline eCommerce service platform. This system contains a package of comprehensive solutions aimed at airline websites. It addresses the items to be covered and the business needs derived from regular operations, as well as certain differentiating capabilities that add value to how companies manage the system and how the services are used by customers and users. eCommerce's design provides an improved purchasing experience and addresses the most cutting edge and innovative trends within the airline industry.

The Airline eCommerce applications include improvements to the booking engine, rates and price searches. Also, to reduce flight search costs as much as possible, the system offers a registry of prices based on the last flights found, while allowing content to be generated with price and destination information so travellers can search for tickets with lower costs.

In addition, Indra's solution offers consultancy for SEM (Search Engine Marketing) and SEO (Search Engine Optimization) online positioning methods, helping airline websites and platforms obtain the most relevant Internet positions so they may be accessed by potential customers in all online search engines, with preferential positioning, which increases the number of visits to their websites as well as the items processed in them.

The White House , through press secretary Jay Carney, has endorsed proposed legislation  to tax online retail businesses like Amazon and eBay in the United States.  The proposal, which will be debated today in the Senate, would generate up to $11 billion in annual tax revenue, according to a study by the University of Tennessee.

“We believe that this proposal will give everyone an equal opportunity” said White House press secretary Jay Carney, who explained that companies that do not collect taxes in states other than their own have an unfair advantage over SMEs.

This is because in the United States there is no federal value added tax; since each state can decide whether or not to apply a sales tax, companies set up their headquarters in one state or another to avoid those taxes.  This proposal would do away with such distinctions.

A newly released study by the Hamburg based secondary research company yStats points to trends expected to affect the B2C E-Commerce market in the coming years. Online shopping is likely to become more personalized, with retailers customizing their services and integrating online sales channels such as websites and social networks on any device that will connect to the Internet.

M-Commerce is expected to play an ever larger role in the future, with over half a billion customers following the trend to shop via mobile devices by 2016. Moreover, throughout the world, online shoppers are forecasted to increasingly prefer to pay online when buying over the Internet, causing the online and mobile payment markets to grow strongly, especially in Asia.

As current trends continue, Asia-Pacific is expected to overtake North America as the region with the highest B2C E-Commerce sales in 2013 and to account for over a third of global B2C E-Commerce revenues. By 2016, the Asia-Pacific region’s share is likely to increase further, while the North America and Western Europe shares of world total B2C E-Commerce are expected to steadily erode. Still, in 2013 USA is projected to remain by far the largest B2C E-Commerce market worldwide.

One of the major trends there is expected to be growth of M-Commerce, reflected in triple-digit growth rates of mobile payments in the years to 2016.

The Asia-Pacific region’s growth is expected to be led by China, with the number of online shoppers there projected to reach almost 2.5 times the number in the USA by 2016. M-Commerce is gaining popularity in China as well, with mobile sales on total B2C E-Commerce sales projected to triple by 2015. The online sales of luxury goods such as health and beauty products, apparel and watches has led the recent surge in B2C E-Commerce in China. New delivery systems and payment methods are being implemented in that country as well, helping to tap into the great potential for online commerce.

The other BRIC countries, Brazil, Russia and India, are also projected to see their B2C E-Commerce markets boom in the coming years. In India B2C E-Commerce is expected to see intense growth as soon as the payment environment is improved, since the current cash-on-delivery method of payment is seen as a hindrance to growth.

The growth of Russian B2C E-Commerce is driven by the increasing Internet audience, already the largest in Europe, and increased online sales are anticipated as the challenge of product fulfillment is overcome.

In Brazil online shopping benefits from growing mobile Internet penetration and social commerce. In Mexico B2C E-Commerce is forecasted to grow at double-digit rates in the years to 2015, with online travel sales leading the market.

Another emerging B2C E-Commerce market is Africa. Growing smartphone penetration, especially in South Africa, is expected to boost M-Commerce and mobile payment markets on the continent. 

Another trend influencing worldwide growth in online sales is the concept of group buying. In the Middle East particularly, group buying and daily deals websites have boosted B2C E-Commerce. Sales of Groupon in one nation in the region were so strong last year that the vendor could not keep up with the demand.

Among other trends highlighted in the yStats report, social media are forecasted to play an increasing role in the travel segment of the global B2C E-Commerce market, by helping customers research information for a trip. Moreover, the demand for travel arrangements adjusted for use on smartphones is likely to grow.

Another market segment, online gambling, is expected to undergo a change in the years to 2015, with sports betting losing some of its share to lottery and casino.

According to the specialized portal Nokaut.pl, e-commerce in Poland was 23% to 25% in 2012, to 5.2 billion Euros.  The outlook for this year is also very positive, indicating  a possible additional 20% increase.

E-commerce has been well received by Polish web surfers, and 70% of them have already shopped online;  60% make more than one purchase a year, while 20% buy more than one product a month. Among the reasons given for these numbers is the perception that prices are cheaper and shopping online is faster than at brick and mortar stores.

The most sought after items are books, CDs, apparel and accessories, jewelry and computers.

According to the experts, m-commerce (mobile commerce) will experience the highest growth due to the boom in smart phones and tablets.

According to a new market report published by Transparency Market Research  "Mobile Wallet Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth and Forecast, 2012 - 2018," the global mobile wallet market is expected to reach USD 1,602.4 billion by 2018, growing at a CAGR of 30.7% from 2012 to 2018. EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa) is expected to be the largest market for the mobile wallet industry in 2018.

The surge in the demand for mobile wallets can be attributed mainly to the global increase in Smartphone penetration. The advent of affordable options such as budget smartphones and the facilitation of NFC (Near Field Communication) technology both in the user's device as well as in Point of Sale (POS) terminals are expected to drive this market over the next few years. However, lack of awareness regarding the functioning of mobile wallets as well as considerable concerns among users about security and privacy are a few factors that may hinder market growth. Stakeholders in the mobile wallet ecosystem are attempting to alleviate these concerns and aiming to provide complete safety of personal and financial information.

Retail formed the largest application of mobile wallets and was valued at USD 144.8 billion in 2011. This trend is expected to continue owing to the ease of payment using smartphones at these locations, as well as initiatives undertaken to equip POS devices in convenience stores. Vending machines are a niche but significant application of the mobile wallet technology and are expected to enjoy considerable support from stakeholders. They provide flexible payment services to users along with better brand recall value, thus benefitting merchants and payment providers alike.

The EMEA region accounted for over 40% of the global revenue share in 2011, due to the dense population in Africa, and widespread public acceptance of mobile wallets in Europe. The Asia Pacific region is expected to witness the fastest growth in terms of revenue over the forecast period, and the market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 31.0% from 2012 to 2018 in this geography.

There are a number of players in the mobile wallet industry and they can be differentiated on the basis of their role in the ecosystem. Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) are expected to pivot the mobile payment process, with payment networks and merchants also attempting to occupy market share. Key participants include Visa Inc., MasterCard, American Express Inc., PayPal Inc., Google, ISIS, Square Inc. and so on. This study provides a competitive landscape and detailed company share analysis, as well as profiles of companies mentioned above. 

Full report: http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/mobile-wallet.html

The Argentine consulting firm P&C  did a study on the penetration of e-commerce among small and medium sized enterprises in Argentina.  The study, which was released by the Argentine Chamber of Electronic Commerce (CACE), concluded that 31.8% of SMEs and 35.4% of large businesses use B2B e-commerce.  Online revenue from this segment amounted to 180,000 pesos (€ 27.3 billion) in 2012, or 17% of total B2B sales.

On the other hand, consulting firm RGX also did a study based on interviews with SMEs from Latin America (Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Chile, Mexico, Panama, Peru and the Dominican Republic) to determine the level of use of new technologies as international sales and promotion tools. The results of the survey, released by SAP, indicate that only 3 out of 10 use third-party websites or portals to sell their products online and 14% have a virtual store on their own web page.

Although things have improved since 2011, few companies have made an effort to use the online channel, and most do not take advantage of other online platforms like B2B e-marketplaces or auction sites to market their products, thereby missing the opportunity to do business though a developing channel, thanks to the impact of end users.  

As far as social networking is concerned, 54% of SME exporters surveyed indicate they  do not use them or do not know if their companies use them.  Those that do use social networking, do so mainly to promote their products and communicate with customers,  but not to source suppliers, employees or innovation trends.

Source and full article in télam 

A report on global online consumer behavior underscores the significant role mcommerce plays in the Asia-Pacific region. The study of over 152,000 internet users in 31 markets, conducted by GlobalWebIndex, found that 55% of internet users in China made a purchase via a mobile phone in Q4 2012, making China the country with the world’s highest mobile purchase penetration rate.

For an idea of just how dominant the mobile purchase channel is in Asia, consider the case of North America. There, just 19% of US internet users and 13% of internet users in Canada made a mobile purchase in Q4. In other words, China’s mobile purchase penetration rate is nearly triple that of the US.

eMarketer estimates that 270.9 million internet users in China will make an online purchase this year—counting purchases made through mobile devices. By 2016, eMarketer projects that number to rise to 423.4 million, and mobile will clearly play a significant role in that transition.

A similar dynamic is playing out across Asia. In South Korea, where 37% of internet users made a mobile purchase in Q4, the rate of mobile purchase adoption was nearly double the rate in the US. Internet users in India, Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand and Japan were all more likely than those in the US to rely on mobile purchasing.

Given that higher percentages of internet users in Asia-Pacific countries are buying via mobile devices relative to their counterparts around the world, it stands to reason that they are more reliant on mobile shopping as well. A separate study of smartphone users worldwide, conducted by Nielsen, confirmed this conclusion.

From mobile shopping to mobile banking to mobile wallets, Nielsen found that smartphone users in China and South Korea were significantly more likely to engage in a variety of mcommerce activities than smartphone users in any other country it studied in 2012.

Read more at eMarketer  

According to e-Bit, the consulting firm specializing in electronic commerce, e-commerce revenue in Brazil reached 22.5 billion reais in 2012 (€ 8.76 billion), up 20% from 2011 and three times that of 2008. According to the Brazilian research firm, the main reason for the favorable increase in numbers is access to the Internet by a growing middle class.

Last year, 42.2 million consumers in Brazil shopped online and 10.3 million made purchases over the Internet for the first time.

The consulting firm, which bases its study solely on consumer goods data, predicts a 25% increase in e-commerce revenue in Brazil in 2013, thanks to the Confederations Cup that will take place in June 2013, and the 2014 World Cup, which will motivate Brazilians to buy new TVs to watch those events.  

According to El Economista.mx, during a news conference on March 20,  e-Bit director Pedro Guasti said that by 2013 there will be more than 50 million Internet users.

Source and completed article at El Economista.mx

Last year, 42.2 million consumers in Brazil shopped online and 10.3 million made purchases over the Internet for the first time.

The consulting firm, which bases its study solely on consumer goods data, predicts a 25% increase in e-commerce revenue in Brazil in 2013, thanks to the Confederations Cup that will take place in June 2013, and the 2014 World Cup, which will motivate Brazilians to buy new TVs to watch those events.  

According to El Economista.mx, during a news conference on March 20,  e-Bit director Pedro Guasti said that by 2013 there will be more than 50 million Internet users.

Source and completed article at El Economista.mx

According to e-Bit, the consulting firm specializing in electronic commerce, e-commerce revenue in Brazil reached 22.5 billion reais in 2012 (€ 8.76 billion), up 20% from 2011 and three times that of 2008. According to the Brazilian research firm, the main reason for the favorable increase in numbers is access to the Internet by a growing middle class.

Last year, 42.2 million consumers in Brazil shopped online and 10.3 million made purchases over the Internet for the first time.

The consulting firm, which bases its study solely on consumer goods data, predicts a 25% increase in e-commerce revenue in Brazil in 2013, thanks to the Confederations Cup that will take place in June 2013, and the 2014 World Cup, which will motivate Brazilians to buy new TVs to watch those events.  

According to El Economista.mx, during a news conference on March 20,  e-Bit director Pedro Guasti said that by 2013 there will be more than 50 million Internet users.

Source and completed article at El Economista.mx

The recent "Global B2C E-Commerce Market Report 2013" by Hamburg-based secondary market research company yStats.com provides information about the global B2C E-Commerce market. Among the many findings disclosed in the report is that the region of Asia is set to overtake North America in terms of total online sales.

According to this new report, Internet users now account for one-third of the world population and one billion persons are expected to make a purchase online in 2013. Globally, the leading product categories for online purchases are apparel and accessories, books and travel reservations. In addition to these findings about the global picture, the report provides details about the development of B2C E-Commerce in single countries and regions.

In the United States, a growing trend is M-Commerce, shopping online through the use of mobile phones and tablet computers. The product categories most purchased online in the USA are books, movies and music, and apparel and fashion accessories.

Canadian B2C E-Commerce has seen strong growth in recent years, fueled by online coupons and discounts. Double-digit growth is expected in the Canadian market over the next years.

Because of the recent run-up in Internet use and online purchases in Brazil, future year-on-year growth rates are expected to decline. By 2015, it is likely that nearly 40% of Internet users will also shop online. Leading B2C E-Commerce players in Brazil are mass merchants CompraFacil, B2W and Nova Pontocom. Meanwhile, in neighboring Argentina, growth rates of B2C E-Commerce sales are also expected to decline.

In Chile, a regional leader in terms of per capita spending online, the purchase of travel services and the use of coupons are important trends. E-Commerce is growing rapidly in Colombia, as reflected in the increasing number of Internet users as well as the amount spent online per capita. In 2012, mass merchants Melocompro.com.co and Megastore.com.co were leading players in B2C E-Commerce in Colombia.

In Mexico, low credit card penetration has been a challenge for B2C E-Commerce. However, new payment options are helping consumers in Mexico to buy online, so double-digit growth rates are expected for the future.

In the UK, the share of online sales on total retail sales exceeded 10% in 2012, even though the year-on-year growth rates are expected to decline from 2013 onwards. Amazon.co.uk, Argos.co.uk and Tesco.com are leading B2C E-Commerce players in the UK.

Led by online sales giants Amazon.de and Otto.de, B2C E-Commerce revenues in Germany increased by double-digit growth rates in recent years. The leading product categories for online sales are apparel and media, music and pictures.

Similar to other major markets, online sales in France are expected to face decreasing growth rates, as more than three quarters of Internet users have already shopped online, especially for travel services.

The B2C E-Commerce market in Italy grew by more than 20% in 2012, but future growth rates are expected to be lower.

Spain continues to see growth in online sales, with revenues of more than 20 million Euros expected in 2016. Holiday accommodation and travel services are among the most popular product categories for Spanish online shoppers.

Led by furniture online shop Ikea.com and mass merchant Ellos.se, B2C E-Commerce sales in Sweden have increased at double-digit growth rates in recent years.

While Russia has the largest number of Internet users in Europe, the share of online sales on total retail sales remains a low single-digit percentage. Many foreign companies and investors have entered the Russian E-Commerce market in recent years, but mass merchant Ozon.ru and food and drug online retailer Utkonos.ru were the leading players in terms of online sales.

Mass merchants such as Alza.cz, Mall.cz and Kasa.ca likewise dominate the B2C E-Commerce market in the Czech Republic, where “Clothes and Footwear” and “Tickets” were leading online product categories.

“Clothing and Footwear” also was a leading online product category in 2012 in Poland, where price comparison sites, sites with user opinions and group-buying sites are trends among online shoppers.

In Turkey, where nearly half of the population accessed the Internet in 2012, the online market is led by mass merchant Hepsiburada.com, private shopping website Markafoni.com, and consumer electronics online shop Teknosa.com.

Despite recent growth, potential remains for B2C E-Commerce expansion in Asia-Pacific

Decreasing growth rates for B2C E-Commerce are expected in Japan through 2016, and consumers are increasingly using smartphones for purchases. Mass merchants Rakuten.co.jp, Amazon.co.jp and Nissen.co.jp are leading online shops in Japan.

Meanwhile, in South Korea, the share of B2C E-Commerce on total retail sales has reached 6%, with “Travel Services” and ‘Clothes and Fashion” categories leading, through mass merchants such as Gmarket.co.kr and 11st.co.kr.

Seeing remaining potential in China, foreign online retailers entered the E-Commerce market in 2012, but Chinese companies remain in the lead. By 2016, it is expected that more than 700 million people, half the population of China, will access the Internet, and the number of internet shoppers will grow.

In India, B2C E-Commerce sales are expected to grow by more than +20% annually within the next years. However, B2C E-Commerce only accounts for less than 1% of total retail sales there.

In 2012, more than 80% of the population of Australia used the Internet, and more than 50% of Australian consumers made a purchase online. Double-digit annual growth rates in online sales are forecasted through 2016.

Internet use and confidence in online shopping is increasing in Saudi Arabia. In the nearby UAE, online shoppers are increasingly purchasing from regional websites, using credit and debit cards as the most popular payment methods.

At one point in 2012, a survey showed that more than 20% of Internet users in Egypt also pay bills or shop online. In Morocco, more than half the population used the Internet in 2012. Moreover, Internet use by one third of the population of Nigeria is forecasted for 2013, with wireless broadband spreading in the country by 2015.

Finally, the new yStats.com report shows that B2C E-Commerce is on the rise in South Africa, with coupon websites and travel being especially popular.

According to Forrester's "European Online Retail Forecast, 2012 To 2017" report, by 2017, Europeans will spend more than €191 billion online on retail products, and online retail growth will continue to outpace offline growth. As wallet share gradually shifts toward the Web, online sales will become a critical part of the retail economy of many European countries.

While most countries will see double-digit growth, some countries, particularly in Northern Europe, will see web sales growth rates slow as online sales in categories like music and movies approach saturation.

Spain with 18% growth per year and Italy with 16% will become the countries with the best perform, reaching 9,1 billion euros and 8,3 billion euros respectively.

eBusiness executives in the latter group of countries will enter a new era of competitive tension. They must become more aggressive in developing strategies to secure growth, identifying new sources of competitive advantage and differentiation as they optimize their businesses to serve increasingly web-savvy shoppers in a very crowded market. In this report,

Forrester examines the growth rates and underlying drivers of growth across retail eCommerce in Europe from 2012 to 2017.

According to a PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) study, Russian e-commerce has practically tripled, from 3.5 billion dollars in 2008 to 10.4 billion in 2012. The number of Internet uses in Russia reached 68 million in December, 2012.  Of those, 11 million shopped online.

The market share of online sales compared to the total Russian retail market was up 2.2% in 2012.  Between 2008 and 2012, the share grew 0.2 to 0.3 percentage points annually, according to the study.  However, if we compare these figures with those of other countries, we see that annual growth in China was between 0.7 and 1.5 percentage points.

Most transactions were markedly centralized: 45% of all online shopping took place in the Moscow region, and 11% in the region of Leningrad (Saint Petersburg).

It is still difficult to expand e-commerce services to Russian regions due to poor logistic infrastructure and the lack of popularity of those services among the population.

According to a Forrester study, by 2017 Europeans will spend more than 191 billion Euros in online retail shopping, which will continue to surpass shopping offline.  While the percentage of total online spending  is gaining fuel, e-commerce sales are becoming critical to retail in many European countries.

As far as Spain is concerned, Forrester says that a large part of the European growth in online sales will be attributed to the Spanish and Italian markets. Spain is the country that will grow the most by 2017, an average 18% a year to 9.1 billion Euros.  Italy will rank second with a 16% annual rate of growth up to 8.3 billion Euros.

While many countries will experience double digit growth, some, especially in Northern Europe, will see the rate of growth of online sales categories like music and films slowing down to reach the saturation point.

E-business executives in counties at the bottom of the list will live in an era of increased competitive pressure.  They will have to become more aggressive in developing strategies for assured growth  by identifying new sources in order to gain a competitive advantage and differentiation while optimizing their business to serve consumers in a very saturated market that are more and more accustomed to the Internet.

According to Xinhua news agency, Chinese Minister of Commerce, Chen Deming announced on Friday, March 8, that in 2012, eCommerce revenue in China could be around 1.1 trillion Yuan (€ 133.6 billion). The Chinese minister added that “online shopping is changing people´s lifestyle and consumer habits, taking advantage of the enormous potential of China´s industrialization and urbanization.”

If those figures are confirmed, China would rank second in the world in e-commerce revenue, only behind the United States, which in 2012 recorded $ 186.1 billion (over € 143 billion); and according to a statement that same day from Li Jinqi, director of the Department  of Electronic Commerce and Information Technology at the Ministry of Commerce, in 2013, it could take the lead. Which isn´t surprising as the industry´s annual growth since 2007 is higher than 30%, while in the United States the trend veers increasingly towards single digits (15% in 2012).

According to the Argentine Chamber of Electronic Commerce (CACE), in the last five years both B2C and C2C e-commerce in Argentina recorded an annual increase of 40.3%, which means that the accumulated growth from 2007 to 2012 is 539%.

Taking into account telecommunications, Internet and computer related products and services, online sales represent 16.7% of the country´s total information and communications technology market, which according to November predictions  amounted to $ 100 billion in 2012.  With regard to the rest of the countries in Latin America and the Caribbean,  Argentina represents 8.7% of e-commerce revenue in all of the region.

CACE also pointed out that the Internet has had an impact on users, and that 72.2% consult the Internet to research products prior to shopping, making decisions online even if they shop offline. This behavior makes the Internet´s impact ten times that of direct e-commerce.

The "Global Online Payment Methods 2012" report by yStats.com – Hamburg-based secondary market research specialist – analyzes recent developments in E-Commerce payment methods, first on a global scale and then separately for more than 50 regions and countries worldwide. Additionally, the report features the most important trends and the latest news for more than 40 payment companies in these markets.

The average global online shopper uses only a small number of payment methods, with a preference for familiar systems. Not only the online payment segment but also mobile payment methods show a steady growth in 2012. The transaction volume for mobile payments is forecasted to increase by approximately 75% worldwide compared to 2011. In response to this trend, PayPal has launched its PayPal Mobile service. The company expects further growth for 2012 and plans to enter the markets of Russia, China, India and the Middle East. 

In 2011, the market share for credit card payments in online shopping was approximately 40% in the USA. This figure is set to slightly increase until 2016 despite data safety concerns voiced by consumers. In March 2012, Western Union launched a digital payment platform called WU Pay, offering bank transfer and cash-based payment options for online shoppers.

Despite the continued growth of B2C E-Commerce in Latin America, approximately half of all online shoppers still continued to use cash as the preferred payment method. In 2011, credit cards were online shoppers' preferred payment method in Brazil and Mexico. In 2012, credit cards replaced cash as the preferred online payment method in Argentina, where the transaction volume for the online payment systems DineroMail and MercadoPago experienced strong growth. 

In Europe, where credit cards are still the most popular E-Commerce payment option, new regulations and the SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area) initiative have been introduced to make online payments within Europe easier. In the UK, credit cards were the most frequently used online payment option in 2012, followed by debit cards. In France, credit and debit cards were generally preferred, while payment on invoice was the number one payment method in Germany. The company Visa plans to launch "V.me", its mobile payment service, in the fall of 2012 in the UK, France and Spain - where in 2011 Internet users' preferred payment option was credit cards as well - as the first European markets. 

Even though in Eastern Europe payment via Cash-o-Delivery (COD) was previously widespread, other payment methods have also increased in popularity. In Russia, the number of E-wallets increased slightly, but their transaction volume very strongly between 2010 and 2011, while in Romania, credit cards were used in the first nine months of 2011 by nearly 15% more than in the same period the previous year. In this context, Yandex.Money, the leading E-wallet service in Russia, and Earthport announced their partnership in 2012.

In Scandinavia, online payment method preferences vary. While online shoppers in Sweden and Finland preferred payment by invoice in 2011, in Denmark and Norway credit card payments dominated in E-Commerce transactions, clearly ahead of other payment options. 

With the exception of China and Thailand, in 2012, credit cards were the most popular payment method in the Asia-Pacific region. In Japan, every resident had on average more than six credit cards in 2011. So-called third-party payments, where a third party acts as a middleman, are especially popular in China, where in the first quarter of 2012, more than 750 billion CNY in trade volume were generated with this method. Conversely, in 2011, credit cards were the most frequently used E-Commerce payment method in South Korea. Since July 2012, PayPal has also been active in Malaysia, where the company offered mobile payment options in cooperation with Malaysia Airlines for flight bookings. In Australia, PayPal was the most popular online payment method in 2011, ahead of credit card payments. 

Mobile Payment Methods especially popular in Africa
The "Global Online Payment Methods 2012" report by yStats.com clearly shows that less traditional markets such as the Middle East and Africa also show potential for online payment methods. In July 2011, Visa and Mastercard payments were the most popular E-Commerce payment methods in the United Arab Emirates, while mobile payment options were preferred in Africa, where many consumers use mobile Internet due to lower costs. Mastercard started to cooperate with Oltio to offer Mastercard Mobile in South Africa.

When it comes to global payment trends in E-Commerce, credit cards appear to be the most popular method, replacing cash payments more and more, while mobile payment options also show high potential. 

According to The Guardian, shopping for food online currently brings in  5.6 million  pounds in revenue (over 6.3 billion Euros) or 3.6% of total market sales, which amount to 156.8 billion pounds (more than 12.6 billion Euros). The same source says that in the United Kingdom, the branch of retail experiencing the largest growth is online shopping , which in 2018 will account for 11.1 billion pounds (over 12.6 billion Euros).

Big British supermarkets have created their own online stores to satisfy their customers, who are becoming more and more familiar with shopping over the Internet.

According to a survey conducted by the consulting firm Kantar, Tesco supermarkets lead in online sales.  Last month, Tesco opened its fifth warehouse devoted exclusively to online shopping orders.

Asda has a 33% share of this online shopping market and Sainsbury, 18%. The latter has opted for another way of ordering online, through its own stores rather than specialized warehouses.   Lastly, Ocado, the first online supermarket without brick and mortar stores, has a 5% share of the market.

yStats.com, a Hamburg-based secondary research company, has released the “Russia Clothing B2C E-Commerce Report 2013”, a study covering online shopping regarding clothing in Russia. The study shows a marked increase in internet purchases, with clothing sales showing the greatest growth. Nearly half of online shoppers in Russia purchased clothing, shoes and accessories over the Internet in 2012, double the 2011 figure.

The B2C E-Commerce market of clothing has surged the past few years according to the yStats.com study. Though sales of clothing and shoes has recently been the third largest product category in B2C E-Commerce in Russia in terms of revenue, following consumer electronics and household appliances, the pace of growth of the apparel category exceeds that of the current leaders. Almost one third of all clothing purchases are conducted online.

The yStats.com study found that the online apparel and accessories market in Russia is dominated by a handful of companies. Ten online clothing companies account for almost 50% of all clothing B2C E-Commerce sales. The most popular companies for online shoppers are Quelle.ru, Otto.ru and Kupivip.ru, but other companies such as Wildberries.ru, and Laredoute.ru are also benefitting from the growth of sales in the sector. Quelle.ru sells European brands such as NEXT, Esprit, Lascana, s.Oliver, and others. Wildberries.ru has overcome one of the barriers to online clothing shopping by opening a hundred try-on stations in regions of Russia, and processes about 350,000 orders each month.

Investments and mergers in the sector
Recent rapid growth and perceived potential for further expansion of the online apparel sector has attracted large investments from Russian venture capital companies as well as from abroad. Kupivip.ru, a private shopping club, has attracted over 100 million Euros in total investment, and Lamoda.ru, a project of venture capital company Rocket Internet, received substantial funding from such investors as JP Morgan and PPR Holding. Both clothing shops utilized the funding to expand their market presence, opening new online shops and broadening their apparel offerings. Kupivip.ru may be one of the first Russian online shops to conduct an IPO at some time in the future. Several international players in the online clothing market have also established their presence in Russia. Laredoute.ru, a member of the PPR Group, is one of the popular shops. Otto.ru, is one of the fastest growing subsidiaries of the Otto Group. Also, the Otto Group recently acquired Quelle.ru. In another merger and acquisition within the Russian B2C E-Commerce market, Sapato.ru was taken over by Russian E-Commerce giant Ozon.

For more information, visit: http://ystats.com/en/reports/preview.php?reportId=1019

Third quarter 2012 e-commerce turnover in Spain amounted to € 2.7 billion, 11% more than the same period in 2011, and another record breaker according to the latest CMT Report on electronic commerce through payment institutions.  Similar to the previous quarter,  3Q 2012  recorded a total 36.8 million transactions, representing a year-on-year increase of 12.8%.

The increases in volume of business were distributed mainly between travel agencies and tour operators (16.2%) and air transport (13.1%),  followed by direct marketing (6%), passenger ground transportation (4.5%), performing arts, sports and recreation (3%), advertising (2.8%) and  gaming and betting (2.6%).

Transactions:  origins and destinations

In 3Q 2012, the year-on-year increase in volume of business was seen in the three geographic areas studied:  from Spain abroad (+10.9%), with Spain from abroad (+16.9%) and within Spain (+10.7%).  Transactions with Spain from abroad are somewhat more than 15% of the total, at  € 407.9 million.  The tourism industry (travel agencies, tour operators, air transport, hotels, etc) represents a little more than 60% of earnings with Spain from abroad.

On the other hand, earnings from online transactions in goods and services from Spain abroad amounted to € 1.13 billion , representing 41.8% of the total.  E-commerce within Spain also grew, taking in € 1.16 billion or 43.1%.

Despite advances in e-commerce in Spanish online stores,  the trade balance (foreigners shopping at Spanish stores compared to Spaniards shopping abroad) is still negative;  the deficit reached € 723.5 million this quarter.

By geographic area, the European Union continues to be the preferred destination for online shopping outside of Spain, with € 1.02 billion or 90.4% of the total, while the United States remains the second option, with 4.3% of the total.  The areas that did the largest amount of online shopping in Spain were the European Union with 77.1% of the total, and Latin America with 6.7%.

comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released its Full Year and Q4 2012 U.S. travel e-commerce sales estimates. For the full 2012 year, U.S. travel e-commerce sales reached $103 billion, an increase of 9 percent versus the prior year. Air Travel accounted for nearly two-thirds of all travel spending while growing 10 percent vs. year ago.

 “Travel is a leading online commerce category, and despite being a pioneer in the sector 15 years ago it is still growing at nearly double-digit growth rates and remains very competitive,” said John Mangano, VP of comScore Marketing Solutions for Retail and Travel. “With the online channel driving such a high percentage of dollars within the broader travel industry, understanding the competitive landscape is essential to determining the most effective sales and marketing strategies.”

Top Airline Sites in 2012

Once again, Southwest Airlines led all airline sites in 2012 with 20 percent of category page views, up slightly from the prior year. Delta Airlines ranked second at 15.5 percent of page views, followed by United Airlines at 14.7 percent (up 4.9 percentage points), American Airlines at 13.2 percent and US Airways at 3.4 percent.

*Continental Airlines began re-directing traffic to United Airlines in early 2012, accounting for much of the gains at United Airlines and much of the declines at Continental over the past year.

Top Online Travel Agent Sites in 2012

Expedia Inc. (which includes Hotwire) ranked as the top property in the Online Travel Agents category with 31.6 percent of all category page views, followed by Priceline.com Inc. (17.3 percent) and Orbitz Worldwide (12.9 percent). Fareportal Media Group, which includes CheapoAir, ranked fourth at 9.2 percent, while Travelocity rounded out the top five at 7.6 percent. Recent 2012 IPO Kayak.com was one of the biggest share gainers in the category, jumping 2.2 percentage points to 6.9 percent share of all page views.

Top Hotel & Resort Sites in 2012

Marriott led the Hotels & Resorts category in 2012 with 11.7 percent of all category page views, roughly on par with its share in 2011. InterContinental Hotels Group ranked second with 7.9 percent share (up 3.5 points), followed by Wyndham Worldwide at 7.5 percent. Hilton Hotels (7.0 percent) and VRBO.com (6.5 percent) rounded out the top five.

“Interestingly, not all sites are equally effective in turning page views into transactions,” added Mangano. “In some instances we see that sites require greater engagement to get to a booking, while others serve more as a venue for comparison pricing but lose out on the sale as their visitors go to other sites to book. So while winning the traffic battle is an important part of customer acquisition, travel companies who optimize their strategies at other phases of the funnel are the ones who ultimately drive the greatest conversion.”

The new report “Tiger Countries B2C E-Commerce Report 2013” by Hamburg-based secondary market research company yStats.com presents the current situation of the B2C E-Commerce markets in the four Tiger countries South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan. Besides trends, the report also contains sales, the share of B2C E-Commerce on total retail sales, product categories, Internet users and Internet shoppers as well as information about leading competitors.

The “Tiger Countries B2C E-Commerce Report 2013” by yStats.com shows both the similarities among and the differences between the Internet and E-Commerce markets in the four Asian Tiger countries. Here, South Korea and Hong Kong experience high growth rates, especially in mobile online retail, while general B2C E-Commerce in Singapore continues to increase by mid to high range double-digit percentages. Only Taiwan is less developed regarding B2C ECommerce, but a low double-digit percentage growth in online retail sales is forecasted here, too. 

After double-digit growth rates in recent years, B2C E-Commerce sales in South Korea reached more than 10 billion EUR. Furthermore, more online purchases were conducted using smartphones than using notebooks in South Korea. Besides Mobile Commerce, Social Commerce was also a growing trend in South Korean online retail. Generally, especially much money was spent online in the second quarter of 2012, buying travel arrangements and reservations as well as clothing and fashion-related goods. Leading companies and websites in South Korean B2C E-Commerce with regard to the number of unique visitors in 2012 were Gmarket, 11st, Shopping.Naver, Interpark, and Cjmall, all of which are mass merchants.

In 2012, more than half of all Internet users in Hong Kong conducted online purchases, with women shopping online more often than men. M-Commerce sales in Hong Kong are expected to increase notably more between 2011 and 2015 than general B2C E-Commerce sales. Average mobile expenditure per online shopper in Hong Kong reached nearly 600 EUR in mid-2012, constituting an increase of more than 40 percent compared to the previous year. Besides M-Commerce, group shopping is a major trend in online retail in Hong Kong. Within only two years, approximately 70 daily
deal websites were launched there. Attracted by the upward trend of B2C E-Commerce, US fashion retailer American Apparel launched an online shop in Hong Kong in 2012.

According to forecasts, B2C E-Commerce sales in Singapore will increase by almost 50 percent
between 2011 and 2015. In relation to this as well as based on the growing number of online orders, pick up stations are planned to be set up in Singapore starting in 2013. Travel reservations and entertainment tickets, followed by computer and game software as well as apparel, accessories, shoes and jewelry were the product categories to be purchased online most often by Internet
shoppers in Singapore in February 2012. Mobile online retail plays an increasingly large role in
Singapore, as well. The share of mobile online orders on total online orders increased to almost a quarter in the last few years.

 
The number of Internet users in Taiwan rises continuously, but more than half of them experienced problems with unstable connections and poor Internet quality in 2012. Slow download and upload speeds represented further difficulties during Internet usage in Taiwan. The number of mobile Internet
users is on the rise as well, but it is used by less than 10 percent of users to conduct mobile online purchases. However, total online retail sales in Taiwan are projected to increase by a small doubledigit percentage figure annually between 2012 and 2015. Among the leading players in Taiwanese B2C E-Commerce are Yahoo! Shopping, Books.com.tw and PCHome Shopping.

For further information, see: 
http://ystats.com/en/reports/preview.php?reportId=1016

According to a survey by the Mexican Internet Association (AMIPCI), at least 48% of web surfers in Mexico shop online on national and foreign web- sites, which suggests an 18% increase over last year.  E-commerce in 2011 accounted for 54.5 billion pesos in earnings (more than 3.2 billion Euros) with a 46% increase in 2012 to 79.6 billion pesos (over 4.7 billion Euros).

The most sought after products include airline and bus tickets, hotel reservations, music and films, show tickets, books and magazines, computers, electronic devices, clothing and accessories, software and finally, cell phones.

Six in every ten Mexicans say they shop online because they prefer  no- interest installment payments, followed by discounts and free delivery.   The average amount spent by 28% of users on each item purchased is between 1,000 and 3,000 pesos.

Sixty percent use credit cards to pay, followed by branch deposits (31%) and PayPal (28%).

Among the main reasons for not shopping over the Internet are, the lack of information on companies, problems with the buying process, limited choice in payment options, and lack of trust in the web pages they visit.  In addition, 68% of those surveyed do not know how to shop over the Internet, 57% do not have a credit card, 10% do not believe that the product will be delivered, and 1% cannot find what they want online.  However despite skepticism towards online shopping, according to AMIPCI, 97% of the people that have made purchases over the Internet will do it again.

Just as consumer confidence has increased, the number of companies that sell online has also increased and more than 60% of the businesses surveyed by AMIPCI are satisfied with the results that e-commerce has yielded.

Habits of Internet Users

In 2012, Mexicans spent an average of four hours and nine minutes a day on the Internet, 47 minutes more than in 2011; and they spent more time online on Mondays and Fridays.   AMIPCI also points out that the main reason web surfers use the Internet is for e-mail, followed by social networking, sourcing information, instant messaging, online banking, shopping and job hunting.  Nine in every ten web surfers use social networking as a form of entertainment.

The devices used to access the Internet include PCs, laptops, smart phones, cell phones, mobile devices, video game consoles, tablets and electronic  devices.  Forty-seven percent of Internet users have shopped using a mobile device, with iTunes and Android Market as the sites most in demand.

Many small businesses are already using some form of content marketing to promote themselves—74% as of a January survey of US small businesses by BusinessBolts.com. It’s a tactic that must be paying off, because three-quarters of small businesses also said they planned to do more content marketing this year than last—and just 4% said they had no plans to do any content marketing at all.

Articles and blog posts were the type of content most favored by small businesses—74% have promoted their business using articles, and 64% through blog posts. Slightly under half were publishing social media content and about two out of five used email newsletters.

Small businesses spent an average of 6.9% of their annual marketing budgets on content marketing last year, according to a November study conducted by Ad-ology Research.

Ad-ology found that US small businesses were spending a greater share of their budgets on content marketing than on social media advertising. This suggests that small businesses may be more focused on using social sites to publish owned content rather than paying for advertising on the networks—a trend at some larger businesses as well.

But small businesses in particular seem to rely on content marketing because it can be extremely cost effective. A majority of the small businesses surveyed by BusinessBolts.com estimated they spent less than $100 on content marketing per month; just 11% spent more than $500.

Content that is narrative and shareable appears to be a particular small business focus for the coming year, according to the study. More than half of respondents cited articles, social media content, blog posts and video as likely to play a larger role in 2013. Less emphasized were more informative or instructional content such as tutorials, infographics and white papers.

Complete article at eMarketer

The German Trade Association (HDE) says that the slowest year-on-year growth in online retail over the past eight years was 8.2% (in the depths of the financial crisis). Such figures have not gone unnoticed in the logistics industry, where more and more companies are now looking to enter into co-operative and complementing working relationships; Hermes and TNT are the latest to announce a new joint initiative which will expand each other's service.

"The e-commerce trade is thriving, which means more B2C deliveries and more logistical bottlenecks to solve," said Alexander Gentscheff, Manager of Investor Consulting Logistics at Germany Trade and Invest.

"Online retail grew 13% in 2012, and is predicted to grow by 12% in 2013," continued Gentscheff. "There is still room for more. Germany lags behind many countries in terms of pure e-commerce turnover despite the catch-up growth, many customers still preferring to go to shops themselves. But concepts such as same-day delivery, already available in many German cities, will only lead to fresh investment in this burgeoning industry."

Germany Trade & Invest is the foreign trade and inward investment promotion agency of the Federal Republic of Germany. The organization advises foreign companies looking to expand their business activities in the German market. It provides information on foreign trade to German companies that seek to enter foreign markets.

Although the ongoing study by The Integer Group^® has shown an increase in online shopping over the last three years in U.S., the latest study is showing online shopping overall has leveled out. Even though online shopping is steady, Boomers are continuing to increase their online purchases (up 4.5 percent since 2011) and Millennials who said they are purchasing more online is down 7 percent from 2011. This was revealed in the latest issue of The Checkout , an ongoing shopper behavior study conducted by Integer ^® and M/A/R/C Research.

"Millennials may be feeling the pinch of a still-slow economy and making the decision to watch spending more closely. It could also be that we are starting to reach a plateau in online-shopping adoption," saidCraig Elston, senior vice president, Insight & Strategy at The Integer Group.

Even though many shoppers in the survey noted that they are shopping about the same amount online as they were three months ago, there are some interesting shifts in purchase categories. Since the January 2012 issue of The Checkout, online purchase of health and beauty has increased significantly among shoppers aged 50 to 64, growing nearly 12 percent. The percentage of 18- to 24-year-olds who say they've purchased any products online, even once, has dropped in all categories except books, music, and tickets. Overall, none of these categories saw major growth from 2011 to 2012.

Data for The Checkout comes from a national survey conducted by Integer and M/A/R/C where consumers are asked about their shopping attitudes, shopping behaviors, and economic outlook. Topics range from criteria shoppers use to select retailers, to which in-store stimulus is most likely to drive purchase, to factors that might lead shoppers to leave an aisle empty-handed. The Checkout is available for download at Integer's blog ShopperCulture.com.

Hamburg-based secondary market research company yStats.com provides a comprehensive analysis of B2C E-Commerce trends in Europe in its latest "Europe B2C E-Commerce Report 2012". The report covers a total of 35 countries throughout Europe and it also includes information on the European region as a whole. Aside from trends and revenue figures, it lists product categories and leading players in the online retail markets of the included countries. 

Between 2011 and 2016, an annual increase of B2C E-Commerce revenues of more than 10 percent is expected for the entire European region. Cross-border B2C E-Commerce is also thriving. In 2011, a low double-digit percentage of all online shoppers in Europe bought products or services online from outside of their own country. Sweden and Norway had the largest Internet penetration rate in 2011, while Norway also had the highest online shopper rate, followed by Great Britain and Sweden. 

While B2C E-Commerce revenue growth in Central European countries like Austria and Switzerland is less strong than in previous years, it remains strong in Scandinavian countries such as Sweden. Group shopping and coupon websites are spurring the number of online shoppers in Eastern European countries like Poland and Hungary, while in Western European countries such as France, Italy and Spain especially travel and holiday accommodation are bought online. 

Central Europe
B2C E-Commerce Growth in Austria and Switzerland is slowing down, but is still soaring in Germany, where online revenues continuously grew by a slightly increasing percentage figure between 2009 and expectedly 2012. In 2011, Internet pure players recorded the largest share of B2C E-Commerce revenues in Germany, with "fashion, textiles, shoes" and "media, images, sound" as the product categories with the highest online revenues. The online retailer with the highest revenue in Germany was Amazon.de, clearly ahead of Otto.de in second place.

In Austria, half of all online orders were conducted from foreign websites, most of which were based in Germany. Forecasts predict that B2C E-Commerce growth in the product sector will slow in the years following 2011. While online revenue still grew by more than one third annually between 2007 and 2011, between 2011 and 2016 it is predicted to increase by less than 10 percent annually.

B2C E-Commerce growth in Switzerland continues to slow down too. In January 2012, Swiss residents conducted most of their online purchases from the product categories "travel and hotels" and "books and magazines".

Western Europe
Travel and Accommodation are popular Online Purchases in Western Europe. In Great Britain, the growing popularity of B2C E-Commerce is expected to force a considerable number of traditional retailers to close their businesses. Online spending in the UK is projected to grow by more than +10% in 2012 as compared to 2011 and the share of online sales made through mobile devices increased from less than 1% in 2009 to more than 5% in 2011. In 2011, especially "fashion and sporting goods" and "travel and holiday accommodation" were frequently ordered online. In May 2012, the leading online retailers in terms of unique visitor numbers were Amazon.co.uk, Argos.co.uk and Tesco.com.

In French B2C E-Commerce, in January 2012, just below 100 Euro were spent on average per online order. In 2011, the highest online revenues were generated by travel website Voyage-sncf.com, followed by the online shop of mail-order company 3 Suisses.

In 2011, holiday accommodation was the most frequently purchased online product category in Italy and Spain. B2C E-Commerce sales in Spain increased by more than +20% between 2010 and 2011. Besides, the number of B2C E-Commerce transactions also grew strongly.

Online revenues continue to grow in the Netherlands, even if at a slower rate than in previous years. Between 2010 and 2011, online revenues from products grew more than online revenues from services.

In 2011, the online shopper rate in Portugal was slightly higher in the male than the female population and overall the age group of 25 to 34 had the highest online shopper penetration rate. 

Eastern Europe
Group Shopping and Coupon Websites continue to increase in Popularity in Eastern Europe.
In 2011, the increasing number of Internet users in Russia was one of the main reasons for the growth of B2C E-Commerce there, which rose by nearly a third compared to 2010. The highest online revenue figures were recorded in the categories "consumer electronics and household appliances" and "computers".

B2C E-Commerce revenues continue to grow at a low to mid-size double digit percentage figure in Poland as well. In 2011, price comparison, user rating and group shopping websites were especially popular there.

Categories that were most frequently ordered online in the Czech Republic in 2011 were "fashion and shoes" and "tickets". The leading online shops in terms of revenue were Alza.cz and Mall.cz.

Online coupon sites mark a growing trend in Hungary, where their number grew from less than 10 to almost 60 in barely a year. Online shops of this kind were the ones prompting more individuals in Hungary to shop online. 

Scandinavia
Aside from traditional B2C E-Commerce Mobile Shopping is very popular in Scandinavia. In Sweden, B2C E-Commerce revenues continue to grow constantly by a low double-digit percentage. Furniture retailer Ikea's online shop had the highest number of unique visitors there in May 2012, followed by mass merchant Ellos.

In 2011, approximately three million online shoppers in Denmark conducted more than 70 million online purchases. "Fashion and shoes" and "computer hardware and consumer electronics" were the most frequently ordered product categories.

In Finland, "fashion and sporting goods" and "event tickets" were the product categories that were most frequently purchased online. In May 2012, the highest numbers of unique visitors were recorded by fashion online shop Lindex.com and furniture retailer Ikea.com.

More males than females conducted mobile purchases in Norway in 2011, with mobile shoppers conducting an average of almost six mobile purchases in the six months leading up to September 2012.

More information and complete report at yStats.com

According to a eMarketer study, in 2012, B2C ecommerce sales grew 21.1% to top $1 trillion for the first time, according to new global estimates by eMarketer.

This year, sales will grow 18.3% to $1.298 trillion worldwide, eMarketer estimates, as Asia-Pacific surpasses North America to become the world's No. 1 market for B2C ecommerce sales.

Sales in North America grew 13.9% to a world-leading $364.66 billion in 2012—a figure expected to increase 12.2% to $409.05 billion this year—as more consumers shifted spending from physical stores to retail and travel websites thanks to lower prices, greater convenience, broader selection and richer product information. But despite strong growth, North America’s share of global sales will drop from 33.5% last year to 31.5% in 2013 as Asia-Pacific surges ahead.

B2C ecommerce sales in Asia-Pacific grew more than 33% to $332.46 billion in 2012. This year, the region will see sales increase by more than 30% to over $433 billion—or more than one-third of all global B2C ecommerce sales.

The rapid growth in Asia-Pacific sales is a result of several factors. Three Asia-Pacific markets—China, India and Indonesia—will see faster B2C ecommerce sales growth than all other markets worldwide this year, while Japan will continue to take a large share of global sales.

China, unsurprisingly, is the primary driver of growth in the region. The country will surpass Japan as the world’s second-largest B2C ecommerce market this year, taking an estimated 14% share of global sales, as its total reaches $181.62 billion, up 65% from $110.04 billion in 2012.

The US will remain the single country with the largest share of worldwide B2C ecommerce spending, at 29.6% in 2013—down from 31.5% in 2012 despite relatively strong growth. This will continue throughout the forecast period, though China is closing the gap fast. In 2016, China will have 22.6% of the worldwide market, vs. 26.5% in the US.

China also boasts the highest number of people who buy goods online in the world—nearly 220 million in 2012, according to eMarketer—a result of increasing internet penetration; a burgeoning middle class with growing trust in online shopping; government-driven campaigns to promote consumerism; as well as improved infrastructure, product selection and services offered by online sellers and retailers.

According to eMarketer, B2C ecommerce sales in the US will grow 12% to $384.80 billion in 2013—after growing 13.8% to $343.43 billion last year—as average B2C ecommerce sales per user reach $2,466 this year among those who buy goods online in the US.

Average spending per user is lower in China—set to reach just $670 this year, eMarketer estimates—but the sheer growth in China’s digital buyers is staggering. The country will nearly double the number of people who buy goods online between 2012 and 2016, eMarketer estimates, resulting in considerable upside for B2C ecommerce sales in China through the forecast period.

Complete article at eMarketer

According to a study published by Fevad, the French Federation of Mail Order Companies, and presented by Sylvia Pinel,  Minister of Crafts, Trade and Tourism, online sales amounted to € 45 billion in 2012. The study, whose methodology and data processing are validated by KPMG, collects data from major sellers by taking the aggregate amount of transactions made through the leading payment platforms for more than 117,000 Internet sites.

In 2012, Internet sales were up by 19% to € 45billion.  This increase confirms the global growth in online sales even in a climate of financial crisis.  Internet sales in the fourth quarter reached € 13.1 billion.  Sales during the November/December holiday season, which at € 9 billion represent 20% of the year´s total, were 19% more than in the same period in  2011.  

The number of online payments continued its high rate of growth in the fourth quarter (+25%) and with respect to 2012 (+28%).  Therefore, despite a decline in the average cost per transaction, which also occurred in  the fourth quarter, the online purchase price continued to increase by 24% in 2012.

As the average cost of a transaction, which is customarily low in the fourth quarter due to multiple gift buying at Christmas time, did not fall below 1% in 4Q 2012, it reached its lowest limit ever recorded at € 85.

However, the decline was compensated by an increase in the number of transactions and amount spent by buyers each quarter.  In the fourth quarter, the average amount spent on six purchases per buyer was more than € 500, which represents an annual spending per buyer of € 1,400 .

In addition, the Mediametrie Internet Use Observatory showed that in October/November 2012, 31.7 million Internet users shopped online, which suggests an annual 5% increase.

Acording to eCommerceBytes, India enjoyed triple digit growth in 2012 according to BGR (citing Google), a great opportunity for investment. But India has a severe limitation on outside investors in the ecommerce industry, in spite business to business sellers have no problem in India accepting foreign investment. 

Assocham, India's body of the Chambers and Commerce and Industry of India, wants the government to back away from this ban. More of the country would be able to become sellers in what has been forecast as a sector generating $15 billion in revenue by 2015.

Assocham cited growth potential throughout the support chain, with estimated job creation for services associated with ecommerce approaching one million jobs by 2021 according to the group.

Article by eCommerceBytes

In 2012 in Germany, sales of clothing, footwear and accessories over the Internet have picked up for the second consecutive year, increasing its market share compared to other sales channels.  

The combined market share in 2012 of clothing, textile, footwear and accessories retailers that sell online will be up by about 23% according to Market Research Institute of Nuremberg estimates for the first nine months of the year.

According to Hendrik Meyer, the Institute´s marketing consultant for Fashion and Lifestyle, “participants in the survey report an accumulated 9% increase in business during the period January – September compared to the same period the year before.  And, an additional boost in sales during the Christmas season should also be taken into account.

According to eCommerce Aerocasilla and Trans Express, e-commerce in El Salvador has increased by more than 100% from 2006 to 2012.  Technology equipment and fashion accessory imports were important in driving the growth, but the influence of mature markets like the U.S., where most Salvadoran  online purchases originate and are discovered through social media and “word of mouth” recommendations, also had a positive impact.

According to published data from americaeconomica.com, four years ago, shipments of online orders barely averaged 500 packages a month, while in 2012 the monthly average was 5,000 to 6,000, and in peak season 8,000, which suggests an average of $250,000 to $350,000 a month.

Products most in demand vary between the sexes, as men largely purchase technology related products and spare parts for cars, while women lean more towards clothing, accessories and household appliances.

According to e-bit, the specialized consultancy, electronic commerce in Brazil will grow by around 25% in 2013, to 28 billion BRL (more than € 10.2 billion).

Some of the reasons for this increase include a growing economic recovery, rapid sale of mobile devices like smart phones and tablets, and the rise of the socio-economic group C (lower middle class, which Brazil calls the “new middle class”), with more than 50% of consumers going online.

Thanks to the 2013 Confederation Cup and the 2014 Soccer World Cup, televisions are expected to be the most widely sold product online.

According to the Brazilian Association of Electronic Commerce (ABComm) in 2012, purchases made over the Internet in Brazil were up 29% to 24.1 billion BRL (around € 8.85 billion).

Fashion, accessories and cosmetics, sporting goods and products for the home and decorative items were the most prominent categories.  

The tendency to shop online has reached the German  furniture and home furnishings industry.  According to the Institute for Trade Research (IfH), distance selling in the furniture industry was up by 6% in 2011 to € 1.7 billion, two-thirds of which was e-commerce.  

On the other hand, 2012 was also important for the furniture and home furnishings industry in Germany and, according to the latest IfH data, online revenue for the furniture industry increased by 13%.

Wayra, Telephonica´s global startup accelerator, and PayPal, a world  leader in online payments, have signed an agreement to promote actions that will support startups and entrepreneurial accelerators and provide better ways for all accelerator startups to use the payment gateway.  

The agreement stipulates that Wayra accelerator startups worldwide (already more than 180 companies in 11 countries) will benefit from better PayPal rates and exclusive commissions for one year.  Therefore, they will be able to reinforce the online payment methods and options essential to charging clients for products and/or services.  

Gonzalo Martin-Villa, CEO at Wayra said that the agreement “is a step further in our efforts to provide more and better tools to undertake, and in this case, charge for the services and applications that startups develop. PayPal will provide valuable assistance in monetizing their products.”   Estanis Martin de Nicolas,  director general at PayPal Spain and Portugal added that “innovation is what drives PayPal and therefore, we are very pleased to contribute to promoting young, innovative companies through Wayra.  We are convinced that the results will be very positive, since it assists the progress of e-commerce (including the fast growing area of mobile payments) through favorable conditions for implementing our online payment system, which is in 190 country with 123 million active user accounts.”

This agreement between PayPal and Wayra is global and could benefit more than 180 accelerator startups in 11 countries as well as new Wayra accelerator startup projects for 2013 in Europe and Latin America.

According to the Cámara Argentina de Comercio Electrónico – CACE annual report prepared by the consulting firm Prince & Cooke,   E-commerce in Argentina was up 44% in 2012 compared to the previous year.  The study shows that e-commerce sales in 2012 amounted to 16.7 billion pesos excluding VAT (more than € 2.5 billion), 15.3 billion (€ 2.3 billion) in B2C e-commerce and 1.4 billion pesos  (around € 213 million) in C2C transactions.

In 2012, online shoppers accounted for 32.4% of Internet users, that is, 10 million people.  It is important to note that in addition to online sales, more than 72.2% of Internet users regularly go online to see their options in the “real world”, deciding online in many instances whether to buy a product or service, even though the purchase is made at a brick and mortar store.

Among the factors driving e-commerce in the country is the continuing rise in total number of  Internet users (from 3.7 million in 2001 to 31.1 million at the close of 2012); and sustained growth in proportion of Internet users that shop online (around 10% in 2001 to 32.4% in 2012, when 10 million people made online purchases).

The number of companies that sell on the Web is also on the rise: more than 31.8% of SMEs do business online compared with  a few dozen less than ten years ago.  The variety of sectors, products and services offered has surged, and the amount of items sold online has also increased – in 2012, companies in the survey sold on average, 2.55 million items online, compared to 1.48 million in 2011.

Another factor is the major increase in Internet connections: from 130,000 in 2001 to 6.5 million in 2012.  The number of mobile broadband connections was also up by the end of 2012, to more than 1.8 million; and WiFi access in bars, hotels, etc. as well as  other private and/or public, free or paid ways to connect, continue to grow.

Improved confidence and perceived security by Internet users of their online transactions, as well as satisfaction with online purchases, are other factors that contributed to the growth of e-commerce during that period.

Card payments continue to grow (57.3% of those surveyed said that their online purchases are paid with a card)  not only because there are still interest free installment plans with attractive discounts, but also because shopping sites have increased security  (only 18.4% of those surveyed consider card payments a disadvantage and are worried about payment security and data protection).  Card payments are also on the rise due to the positive experience curve effect that has  increased the level of user confidence; banking has grown 14% to 16%, and card usage is up between 12% and 14% annually.

Finally,  there are a growing number of  online discount companies and buying clubs that promote themselves not only to new online shoppers, but also to SMEs and businesses (restaurant, clothing, beverage, etc.) that hadn´t sold their products and services online.

According to Patricia Jebsen, president of CACE, “e-commerce in Argentina continues to grow at a high rate, 44% in value with sales amounting to 16.7 billion pesos.  The total direct and indirect effect of the Internet on business in the country is around 7.4% of the GNP; and between the number of people employed directly by online sales companies and those hired by online resellers, there are about 120,000 people or 1.1% of the economically active population working in this industry”.

Smartphone owners in France use their phones for a variety of activities whilst in a physical retail store. As the main sales period in France has just kicked off, we looked at which of these activities experienced the most growth in the 3 month average ending November 2011 compared to November 2012.

Sending pictures of a product to family/friends comes up top with a 35 percent increase from 2.4 million users to 3.7 million users. The second favourite activity of French smartphone owners while in a retail store was taking a picture of a product (6.3 million smartphone owners). Compared to November 2011 this activity experienced a 33 percent growth over the year.

Other activities that experienced large increases in France were researching product features, comparing product prices and texting or calling friends/family about a product. These all achieved a growth rate of 31 percent between November 2011 and November 2012.

At the close of 2013, China´s advertising  market will have made more than 100 billion RMB in sales (approximately € 12 billion) according to a report by Data Center China Internet (DCCI). The increase in web page sales has spurred big investments in online advertising. 

According to the DCCI report, in 2013 total online ad revenue will increase by 46.8%, from 70.3 billion RMB (€ 8.45 billion) in 2012 to nearly 103.3 billion RMB (€ 12.6 billion).  E-commerce advertising is expected to contribute 17.5% to online ad sales, while ad spending for online search engines will account for 39.3%.

The same report says that “2013 will be a good year for the advertising market,  and as business places more trust in the economy, larger sums of money will move from advertising in traditional media to advertising online”.  In fact, the search engine Baidu is expected to surpass China Central Television (CCTV) in advertising sales.

In 2012 Baidu´s revenue from online advertising was 22.9 billion RMB (€ 2.8 billion), while e-commerce giant Alibaba made 21.5 billion (€ 2.6 billion) from ads in its online stores and Tmall.

Source: China Daily

Intel Corporation released a groundbreaking report on “Women and the Web,” unveiling concrete data on the enormous Internet gender gap in the developing world and the social and economic benefits of securing Internet access for women. To better understand the gender gap, Intel commissioned this study and consulted with the U.S. State Department’s Office of Global Women’s Issues, UN Women and World Pulse, a global network for women. The report issues a call to action to double the number of women and girls online in developing countries from 600 million today to 1.2 billion in 3 years.

On average, across the developing world nearly 25 percent fewer women than men have access to the Internet, and the gender gap soars to nearly 45 percent in regions such as sub-Saharan Africa, according to the report. Further, the study found that one in five women in India and Egypt believes the Internet is not appropriate for them.

“This study demonstrates the enormity of the global Internet gender gap and more importantly, identifies specific ways the public, private and civil society sectors can work together to dramatically increase Internet access for women and girls,” said Shelly Esque, vice president of Intel's Corporate Affairs Group and president of the Intel Foundation. “Intel has worked for decades to improve education around the world. If we can empower women and girls with the tools, resources and opportunities they need to succeed, we will transform their lives and the lives of everyone they touch.”

Seeing another 600 million women online would mean that 40 percent of women and girls in developing countries -nearly double the share today- would have access to the transformative power of the Internet. This goal, if realized, could potentially contribute an estimated US $13 billion to $18 billion to annual GDP across 144 developing countries.

"With the powerful capabilities the Internet enables -to connect, to learn, to engage, to increase productivity, and to find opportunities- women’s lack of access is giving rise to a second digital divide, one where women and girls risk being left further and further behind." said Melanne Verveer, ambassador-at-large for Global Women’s Issues at the U.S. Department of State."My hope is that this report will catalyze action to close the Internet gender gap. This will require knowledge, leadership, determination and collaboration among governments, public institutions, corporations, and civil society to tackle the wide range of gender-specific barriers to Internet access."

“There is wide acknowledgement around the globe that women’s empowerment is a basic issue of social and economic justice and also essential to wider social progress and sustainable development,” said Michelle Bachelet, under-secretary-general and executive director, UN Women. “This report demonstrates that expanding access to the Internet and technology for women and girls is critical to their improved education, increased opportunity and ability to foster entrepreneurship in countries around the world.”

The report’s findings are based on interviews and surveys of 2,200 women and girls living in urban and peri-urban areas of four focus countries: Egypt, India, Mexico and Uganda, as well as analyses of global databases. The findings were unveiled during a panel discussion today in Washington, D.C. as part of the 2-day international working forum on women, ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) and development hosted by the State Department and UN Women.

Support for the study is part of Intel’s commitment to bridge this gender gap and empower people through innovation and education. Through access to technology, scholarships and community learning programs, Intel provides girls and women with opportunities for quality education and personal growth. Intel's programs equip women with access to information needed to excel.

Key highlights from the report:

• Gender barriers are real. One in five women in India and Egypt believes the Internet is not “appropriate” for them. On average across the developing world, nearly 25 percent fewer women than men have access to the Internet, and the gender gap soars to nearly 45 percent in regions such as sub-Saharan Africa.

Bridging the Internet gender gap:

• Boosts women’s income and income potential. Across the surveyed countries, nearly half of respondents used the Web to search for and apply for a job, and 30 percent had used the Internet to earn additional income.
• Increases women’s sense of empowerment. More than 70 percent of Internet users considered the Internet “liberating” and 85 percent said it “provides more freedom.”
• Enabling Internet access for more women and girls in developing countries promises immediate, and immense, benefits. Seeing another 600 million women online would mean that 40 percent of women and girls in developing countries, nearly double the share today, would have access to the transformative power of the Internet. And, it could potentially contribute an estimated US$13 billion to $18 billion to annual GDP across 144 developing countries.

The full report can be viewed at http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/technology-in-education/women-in-the-web.html.

The European leader in the online flash sales industry, vente-privee.com now provides brands with its research expertise. On the strength of a database of more than 15 million active e-shoppers in Europe, organising thousands of multi-sectoral events each year, with more than 3000 partners, through Survey Lab, vente-privee.com now presents itself as a centre for the study of trends and offers to regularly share its insights on markets and on European active e-shoppers.

For their first issue, Survey Lab proposes to share a survey of e-shopping trends in Europe.

Concerning future of shopping over the Internet, 1 out of 4 Europeans think they will shop more often over the Internet than they do today, and 3 out of 4 Europeans as much as they do today.

Therefore, there is no intention to reduce shopping over the Internet. European e-shoppers think that in the future they will shop across all sectors, with 5 priority sectors: Ready-to-wear, Travel, Cultural goods, High Tech, and Shoes.

1 out of 3 European e-shoppers think they will shop from their mobile in the future.

Q. In the future, do you think that you will shop through your mobile telephone?

Definitely  5 %

Probably  18 %

Probably not  30 %

Definitely not  27 %

I don’t know  21 %

Q. In the future, do you think that you will shop directly through your mobile telephone?

More often than today  34 %

As often as today  45 %

Less often than today  4 %

I don’t know 17 % 

Men, under the age of 35, and households without children are more are willing to try the experiment of shopping through their mobile, or have already tried it and are willing to increase their «m-shopping».

Southern European e-shoppers are more likely to report wanting to shop through their mobile in the future more often than today.

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) created the Support for E-Commerce Development Project ATN/ME 9031-GU which aims to encourage trust in e-commerce and in e-signature. Rodrigo Ortiz Rimola, E-signature manager explained to ITNOW that “this project was designed to streamline public spending and to increase the productivity of companies that do business through e-commerce”.

An electronic signature is a data algorithm, in this case, from the Guatemala Chamber of Commerce, that fully identifies an individual in the electronic media by encrypting data and protecting it with password.  Depending on the specific needs of each person or company, there are several kinds of e-signature certificates.  There is an e-signature for a licensed professional, individual person, legal entity, public official, company agent and legal representative.  

With this project, Guatemala becomes the first recorded entity in Central America to meet the international technical and legal standards in this field.  E-signature uses the same standards as Europe, Canada and Asia; and all infrastructure is outside the country since, as Ortiz Rimola explains,  “a data-center with the safety levels required by Guatemalan law doesn´t exist in Central America.” An investment of nearly $ 1 million was required to implement this initiative in Guatemala.

E-signature reduces the risks of sending electronic messages says Ortiz Rimola, and saves up to 20% in administrative costs.  It can also be a huge asset in growing e-commerce and e-government, because “we cannot talk about e-government without e-signature, since any transaction requiring a signature could not be carried out.”

According to Stephan Tromp, Executive Vicepresident at German Association of Merchants (HDE), German consumers have spent , approximately, one out of every ten Euros in online shopping during this Chistmas hollidays. 

The HDE expects that in Germany turnover from electronic commerce in November and December will have amounted to €120 millions per day; that is, Germans have been spending five million euros per hour in online shopping.

Experian Hitwise, the global information services company has revealed online retail figures for Boxing Day, 26th of December. Insights taken from the Experian Hitwise online competitive intelligence tool, show that Boxing Day 2012 was the biggest and busiest ever for online retailers in the UK.

New records had already been set for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day as consumers went online in their droves to buy last minute Christmas gifts and take advantage of early discounting.  UK Internet users made 84 million visits to retail websites on Christmas Eve and 107 million visits on Christmas Day up an astonishing 86% and 71% respectively compared to the same days in December 2011.

UK consumers spent 14 hours online and made an astonishing 113 million visits to online retail sites the BoxingDay, a 17% increase from last year, however 13 million visits lower than previously predicted. The ‘sales creep’ and early discounting in some of Britain’s major stores can be attributed to an increase in visits on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day impacting yesterday’s online visit numbers.

High volumes of visits ahead of Boxing Day can also be attributed to consumers becoming savvier in their sales shopping strategies, using the internet to research the best deals before heading to the high street to purchase.

James Murray, Digital Insight Manager at Experian Marketing Services commented; “Boxing Day set a new British record for online shopping with 113 million visits going to retail websites in a single day. However, with a number of the major retailers bringing their sales forward to Christmas Eve, the impact of that was that Boxing Day was slightly muted and not as prolific as we forecast. Christmas Eve has traditionally been one of the poorest performing days of December for online retailers, but this year there were 84 million visits – on a par with last year’s Cyber Monday. The UK ‘sales creep’ continues to advance so that now the post-Christmas sales are starting before Christmas! 5 years ago we called it the January sales, before it became the Boxing Day sales, now retailers have to call it the winter sales as discounting starts earlier to encourage higher spending. “

Overall this is still the biggest Christmas online ever and should finish 30% ahead of last Christmas in terms of visits.

comScore (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today reported the final 2012 holiday season retail e-commerce spending totals. $42.3 billionwas spent online during the entire November-December holiday shopping season, marking a 14-percent increase from 2011. The latter portion of the season saw several days with particularly strong growth, including Free Shipping Day on Monday, Dec. 17 (up 76 percent to $1.013 billion) and Christmas Day (up 36 percent to 288 million), but they could not make up for the spending growth shortfall earlier in the month. While the holiday season started off with strong growth rates on the upper end of the mid-teens through the heavy promotional period, a December swoon in consumer confidence gave way to softer than expected buying during the critical shopping weeks in early to mid-December, from which growth rates never fully recovered.

*Individual day comparisons based on corresponding shopping days, not corresponding calendar dates 
**Free Shipping Day comparison based on corresponding shopping day in 2011 (Mon., Dec. 19) and not Free Shipping Day 2011, which occurred on Fri., Dec. 16.

"The 2012 online holiday season was once again a very strong season with growth rates in the mid-teens as we reached record-setting spending levels," said comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni. "This year's growth rate is essentially on a par with last year's. But despite many positives for the online sector, this year's season did not quite perform up to our initial expectation for growth rates in excess of 16 percent as we fell a billion dollars short of our expected total of $43.4 billion. While November started out at a very healthy 16-percent growth rate through the promotional period of Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday, consumers almost immediately pulled back on spending, apparently due to concerns over the looming fiscal cliff and what that might mean for their household budgets in 2013. With Congress deadlocked throughout December, growth rates softened even further and never quite made up enough ground to reach our original expectation."

Weekly Holiday Spending Reveals Softening Growth Rates in December Despite Climbing Sales 
An analysis of weekly online holiday spending totals demonstrates clearly how spending growth softened during the three most important spending weeks of the holiday season. Following four weeks of growth in the mid-to-high teens, each of the next three weeks failed to surpass a 12 percent growth rate despite their record-setting spending totals (including the first ever $7 billion week for the week ending Dec. 16). The highly variable growth rates in the final two weeks (extremely high in the penultimate week and extremely low in the final week) are primarily a function of the way the calendar fell in relation to Christmas.

"While it is typical to see growth rates subside slightly during the week after Thanksgiving, the amplified and sustained lull this year came as something of a surprise. As it turns out, this December swoon coincided closely with a significant decline in the University of Michigan consumer sentiment index that was attributed  in large part to consumers' fiscal cliff concerns. You might say that had it not been for Congress, every other indicator suggested it would have been an even merrier Christmas for online retailers. While growth in the mid-teens for the season is still very encouraging – and certainly many times better than brick-and-mortar – it was perhaps a slightly disappointing result given the initial expectations."

Top 10 Heaviest Online Spending Days in 2012 
The top ten heaviest days for online spending in 2012 all occurred during the holiday shopping period. The season was once again led by Cyber Monday (Nov. 26) with a record $1.465 billion in spending, followed by Tuesday, Dec. 4 with $1.362 billion and Green Monday (Dec. 10) with $1.275 billion. The 2012 holiday season saw 12 days with more than $1 billion spending, comfortably surpassing last year's total of 10 individual days.

The search for the best value explains the increase in the importance of e-commerce, according to data obtained by the recently launched e-lab vente-privee.com trends, 80% of Europeans use the Internet to compare prices before purchasing.

Among the data in the report, particularly the price, convenience and access to a range of brands appear as primary motivations for online shopping. In Spain, convenience is the most important factor and Spanish buyers perceive the digital channel as a dimension of lifestyle and entertainment. Regarding gender preference, women rely more on sensorial and aesthetic reasons, while men do on rational criteria and practical when going to the net to buy. "Being able to buy a particular product at the best price" is the main reason for 79% of European online buyers.

Along with convenience, the study identifies the product range category as a determining factor when choosing the online or offline channel. Europeans flock to the Internet to book their trips three times more than to tradicional travel agency. Tech gadgets, appliances and cultural services are also Internet best sellers. Shopping for clothes and accessories, meanwhile, is performed in the same proportion as in the offline channel. Instead, foodstuffs is sold in stores 6 times more than through the Internet.

Amazon's score of 88 was again about 100, while the webs Fingerhut.com and Gilt.com shared the lowest score with 72. In the second place ranking is LLBean.com with 85, four more than last year. Meanwhile, JC Penney score fell to 78 compared to 83 a year ago.

Other online retailers such as Apple lost points, from 83 to 80, due to a decline in functionality in their web browsing, and Dell, who lowered his score to 77 points compared to 80 achieved a year ago. Meanwhile, the number one retailer in the United States, Wal-Mart Stores, which is currently trying to improve their sales through this channel, obtained with their web www.walmart.com a score of 78, compared to 79 of 2011.

The 2012 ForeSee report is based on surveys collected over 24,000 visitors to web pages of the top 100 U.S. online retailers from Thanksgiving until Christmas.

According to the report released by the Interbank Services Company (SIBS), the Portuguese spent 678 million euros on purchases made over the Internet in a total of 8.4 million transactions.

Electronic commerce inPortugalaffects largely to cultural products and purchases music website represent 8.1% of the transactions.

The document, prepared by the company "Sibs Market Report" shows that the average value of purchases "on line" is more than twice the average value of purchases offline due to many transactions are the travel industry and tourism programs.

 According to the report, most of the shopping is done in foreign websites, especially Anglo-Saxon countries such as theUK,U.S.andIrelandandLuxembourg, where Internet sales leaders have their headquarters.

This amount would represent an increase of 100% compared to online billing registered during the same period of 2011. This increase may be due, largely thanks to the nearly 300 new ecommerce sites that have started business this year.

"People who purchase products and services online for this season is between 18 and 44 years old. These are people who come to the site to book their holidays, buy gifts for their family and purchase personal items such as clothing or technology, "said Martin Schrimpff, director of Business Development Pagosonline.

Cities with more activity online during this Christmas are Bogotá and Medellín, with a share of approximately 35% and 25% respectively, while the payment method used most often in this season is the credit card.

Under the data obtained in the study prepared by AMIPCI Electronic Commerce, at the end of 2011, online sales of the Aztec nation reached 4.201 million dollars and this year this amount is expected to grow by 46%, achieving overcome the 6.167 million.

Among the sectors with the highest growth of online sales include the sale of airline tickets and bus (64%), followed by the sale of theater tickets (34%) and hotel bookings (37%). Meanwhile, purchases of electronics, clothing and accessories reached 23%.

Mexico currently has 40.6 million Internet users, of which 36% have made at least one purchase online, representing a fifth of users of other Latin American countries as in the case of Brazil.

The brand continues its growth plans, after the brand landed in America with its first store in Santiago de Chile in October. The opening in the Chilean capital of Munich is the second outside Spain. The company, which distributes in Japan, Portugal, Italy, France and Germany, has a dozen stores in the Spanish market.

Founded in 1939, Munich ended the year 2011 with a growth of 18% over 2010, when the company reported sales of 28 million euros.

Carolina Forero, Visa´s director of e-commerce for Latin America and the Caribbean, presented the “Report on e-Commerce in Latin America” during e-Commerce Day Peru. The event was organized by the Latin American Institute for e-Commerce in collaboration with its local counterparts. According to the report, the volume of e-commerce transactions last year amounted to $ 43.2 billion, more than double 2009´s $ 21.8 billion. In addition, it is estimated that 2012 will see $ 54.5 billion and next year, the number will reach $ 69.9 billion.

However, all of the countries are not progressing at the same pace.  Brazil accounts for a little more than half (59.1%) of e-Commerce revenue in Latin America, followed by Mexico (14.2%), the Caribbean (6.4%), Argentina (6.2%), Chile (3.5%), Venezuela (3.3%), Central America (2.4%), Colombia (2.3%), Peru (1.4%), and the remaining countries, 1.21%.  Forero  stressed that according to a CIO Peru article, “Brazil represents 35% of the population in the region, but its role in e-commerce is higher than that”.

In regional terms, e-commerce sales are mainly in retail (49%), travel (38%), international shopping (7%), C2C transactions (4%) and tax payments (2%).

The report also includes data from the region´s e-Readiness index, an indicator that comprises five factors: market volume, infrastructure, the banking system, technology adaptation, and value of the offer; and that indicates Latin America´s readiness to adopt e-commerce with reference to Spain, which is at 1.0.  According to data from Visa, it went from 0.62 in 2009 to 0.80 in 2011.  While the parameters are very high when it comes to market volume, and surpass those of Spain (1.15), the level of value of offer is still very low  despite having increased from 0.22 to 0.30 since the last measurement.  Technology adaptation saw the highest growth, from 0.41 to 0.86.

Regarding Peru,  where the event took place, e-commerce has grown significantly in the last two years, up 43.12% in sales (from $276 million to $ 611 million) and with and estimated turnover of $773.9 million in 2012, and $929 million next year.

Sage Pay, Europe's leading payment provider today launched in the Spanish market providing online payment solutions for small to medium sized (SMB) businesses.

Sage Pay currently has over 40,000 customers in the UK, Ireland and Germany, and the move into the Spanish market underscores Sage Pay's strategy to support SMB growth across Europe.  

E-commerce provides Spanish retailers with an efficient way to open shop to a new global customer base, without the traditional trade boundaries.  During the UK recession, there was a large increase in e-commerce sign ups, with thousands setting up their own home based online business and a significant number becoming successful. With no physical premises needed and cost effective bulk buying, selling online is the easiest way to begin trading.  With the difficult economic situation in Spain, Sage Pay is confident that this trading pattern will be repeated and aim to support businesses to achieve their potential growth and become successful, giving the economy a welcome boost.

Sage Pay's expansion offers retailers a refreshing choice, as a fully independent e-commerce expert located directly within the Spanish marketplace.  Until now businesses had limited options through either banks, local gateways with very limited functionality or payment providers located in other countries with little specialist knowledge of the market.

Simon Black, CEO of Sage Pay, commented, "We're really excited about launching in Spain where there is a huge opportunity for businesses to expand both their domestic and international audiences through e-commerce. We're providing a locally based choice for retailers and a comprehensive, secure solution with unrivalled 24 x 7 telephone support."

"Since our launch 11 years ago we've helped our customers grow from small start-ups to multi-million pound enterprises. We are passionate about the opportunity to support Spanish businesses getting online and advising them on the latest trends and innovations," explained Jorge Sorial, Director of Business Development at Sage Pay in Spain.

Sage Pay's launch into the Spanish market also provides opportunity for UK businesses to expand their offering to a new customer base.

A new survey of online shoppers revealed consumers have higher expectations of online shopping than ever before. ShopRunner, which brings together a network of retailers to deliver powerful shopping services, conducted the survey to understand today's online shopping drivers and found that consumers are not concerned solely about free shipping on purchases, but free return shipping is increasingly at the forefront of their needs.

The survey, commissioned by ShopRunner and conducted online by Harris Interactive, polled 3,036 adults in the United States ages 18 or over in December 2012 (2,839 of which indicated they shop online).  The results revealed negative economic consequences for retailers not offering free return shipping with 81% of online shoppers saying they are not likely to make additional purchases from websites that charge shipping on returns and 69% feeling that returning items purchased online is a complicated process.

This follows on the findings of a compelling recent September 2012 study from Washington and Lee University, "Return Shipping Policies of Online Retailers: Normative Assumptions and the Long-Term Consequences of Fee and Free Returns," which contrasted the effect of paid or free return shipping on consumer behavior. Researchers tracked actual consumer spending over the course of four years and found that retailers' return shipping policies greatly affected customer spending and loyalty. Customers paying for their own returns universally decreased their spending, between 75% and 100% at that retailer by the end of two years after the return. In contrast, customers who received free return shipping universally increased their spending with that retailer between 158% and 457%.

Aside from consumer demands around returns, with the increasing prevalence of mobile devices, the ShopRunner survey also found that 67% of online shoppers would purchase more online from their mobile device or computer if they could use the same secure, easy check-out procedure across all websites.

With respect to choosing to buy online versus in retail stores, these shoppers showed that they value fast delivery and 77% would spend more online and less in stores if free 1-2 day shipping was offered.  Additionally, having more faster free shipping options would drive 65% of shoppers to procrastinate and put off making purchases longer than usual.

"These results demonstrate a huge opportunity for retailers to increase sales by meeting the increasing consumer demands for online shopping including free and easy returns, fast delivery, and streamlined checkout," said Fiona Dias, chief strategy officer of ShopRunner. "The bar has been raised by competitors, but it is challenging for most retailers to cost-effectively offer these shopping benefits on their own. With ShopRunner's unique network solution, participating retailers can offer compelling shopping services in an economically viable way and profitably grow their businesses."

With its expanding suite of services, ShopRunner helps retailers address online shopping pain points by leveraging the power of a cooperative network of 70 retailers.  Recently, ShopRunner has expanded its online shopping services beyond its initial offering of fast, free unlimited 2-day shipping. ReturnRunner offers consumers free return shipping and a simple way to return products using consumers' own mailboxes. Additional services include PayRunner, a fast and secure two click checkout process, and ShopRunner PickupPoints™ which gives consumers the option of picking up online purchases at nearby convenient retail locations.

Zanox, the leading marketing network, has released its 2012 Mobile Performance Barometer. This second edition of the indicator of m-commerce develoments is based on IAB Europe data from January to July 2012 from more than 1,000 advertisers in the primary European markets.  Among the conclusions drawn from this indicator, the 152% increase in revenue from e-commerce via mobile devices and 182% increase in number of transactions stand out.

The iPad has become the driving force behind m-commerce, representing 53.9% of all revenue generated by mobile devices through July 2012, more than the average made from m-commerce and e-commerce in general.

With regards to operating systems, Apple´s iOS lost market share but retained its lead, going from 81.2% in July 2011 to nearly 75% of m-commerce revenue generated in July 2012.  Of the Apple devices, the iPhone suffered the greatest loss – from 36.1% in July of last year to 19.1% in July 2012.  Google´s Android operating system increased its market share by more than 10 percentage points (from 14.2% to 24.9%) and leads in two of the markets in the report, Spain and Poland.

Scandinavia, with 7.88% generated is the most m-commerce revenue and the second highest rate of year-on-year growth (267%).  The Benelux countries and Spain follow in percentage of m-commerce revenue.

The Retail & Shopping industry has the highest m-commerce sales in terms of absolute numbers.  However, regarding year-on-year growth, the highest sales of the year were in the financial services industry, which has become the leader in Europe.

For further information, visit the report data or the Pinterest Infographic report.

According to a survey prepared by research firm Vanson Bourne for NetSuite, the web-based software provider, consumers in the UK will shop more online than in stores this Christmas.  Consumers are planning to do 57% of their Christmas shopping over the Internet while the other 43% will shop in stores;  and according to this online survey of 2,000 shoppers, 68% expect to spend more time online than in stores.

The greater part of those polled, 24%, plan to shop in stores as well as online, and 0% are planning to do their Christmas shopping only in stores.  In addition, 7% plan to do 90% of their shopping online and only 10% in stores, while 3% will do just the opposite – 90% will shop in stores and 10% online.

Mobile commerce, which is very strong in the United States, will also be significant in the United Kingdom.  Approximately 20% of those polled say that they plan to shop with a mobile device and one out of every ten people under 35 say that it will be the main instrument they use when it  comes to Christmas shopping.

While only 39% of Christmas shopping in the United States is expected to be done online according to a survey prepared by Shop.org, a division of the National Retail Federation, it seems like the British will buy more gifts over the Internet.

Source: Internet Retailer

New study by digital ad-tech firm SocialVibe highlights impact of in-store shopping, technology, mobile phone optimization and uneven economy on consumer purchases this year.

SocialVibe, the pioneer in engagement advertising, released key findings from its first Holiday Season Retail Research Study today, citing four consumer attitude and behavioral trends for the 2012 holiday season including a continued focus on deals and savings, the importance of in-store shopping experiences, a preference for electronics and media over apparel-related gifts, and the use of smart phones to optimize the shopping experience.

The SocialVibe survey was designed to gauge seasonal holiday shopping attitudes and behaviors and to identify and measure holiday shopping trends. The study revealed four key trends driving consumer purchases in 2012:

1. Attitudes toward holiday shopping remain focused on deals and savings

While shoppers are almost always sales, promotion and deal-focused during the holidays, the SocialVibe study underscored the lingering impact of an uneven economy on consumer purchases this year.

When shopping for the holidays, 41 percent of those surveyed said they will look for big deals and promotions, 36 percent will search for a better price before they buy and 22 percent said low price is more important than brand name. Only 17 percent said they would pay more for higher quality this year.

Cost-conscious behavior also drives where consumers will shop this holiday season. Among those surveyed, 43 percent said they expected to visit more big discounters like Wal-Mart, Target and Kmart for their in-store purchases this year as compared to last year. This sentiment translated to online purchases, with 24 percent of consumers saying they would shop online retailers known for deals and discounts such as Amazon, eBay and Zappos.

“With the economy not fully recovered, it’s not a complete surprise that consumers remain very sales and deal-focused this year,” said Jamie Auslander, SocialVibe’s director of research. “We hear a lot about shoppers seeking deals on Back Friday and Cyber Monday but we see that trend continuing right up to and through the holidays.”

2. Mobile phones will optimize holiday shopping experiences

Consumers say they plan to use their mobile phones as a key tool to aid them in both in-store and online shopping far more this holiday season.

Among those surveyed, 36 percent said they will save pictures of potential gift items on their phones to use as reminders, 28 percent will rely on their phone to create shopping lists and to help them stay organized, and 27 percent will use their mobile phone for price checking or showrooming--checking out products in brick-and-mortar stores before going online to find the best price.

Posting social updates, checking-in, and mobile coupon use will be more common than mobile loyalty app usage, mobile payments and mobile purchases. Among those surveyed, 19 percent said they will use their mobile phones to post social updates and 11 percent will use their phone to post location check-in while shopping.

Eleven percent of consumers said they will use their phones to redeem mobile coupons, but only 6 percent will pay with a mobile phone app or wallet and just 3 percent said they will make online purchases via their mobile phone.

“Advertisers now need to look at new ways to reach consumers during the retail experience with the rise of mobile phone usage to aid the shopping experience,” said John Capano, chief marketing officer at SocialVibe. “We expect the most successful retailers to begin designing in-store experiences and implementing pricing policies to directly combat the consumer’s new found ability to price check while on the go.”

3. The majority of consumers will shop for the holidays both in-store and online

Combined brick-and-mortar and online shopping is the new normal among consumers, although brick-and-mortar still has a strong hold with 96 percent of those surveyed saying they plan to shop in-store. Among those surveyed, 69 percent said they will buy online and at brick-and-mortar stores and shops, with only 27 percent saying they will completely skip online channels in favor of an in-store only experience. Four percent said they will do their holiday shopping exclusively online.

Beyond deals and savings, 36 percent of shoppers see the holiday shopping season as fun and entertaining and the majority indicated that they will shop for holiday gifts both in-store and online.

“The fact that the majority of consumers see the in-store experience as an important aspect of their retail experience is something advertisers can really look to maximize,” said John Capano, chief marketing officer at SocialVibe. “It is important for retailers to create marketing and promotional strategies that combine in-store and online. The days of having online and brick and mortar in silos doesn’t work anymore because consumers are no longer experiencing retail in silos.”

4. Consumers will buy even more electronics and media this season

In general, the majority of consumers expect to shift their category purchases from last year. Specifically, 27 percent of consumers surveyed said they plan to purchase more electronics during the 2012 holiday season, while 17 percent will purchase more media including movies, music and video games and 11 percent will purchase more books this year, as compared to last year.

Interestingly, purchases of apparel and related items are expected to remain flat over last year. Only 1 percent of those surveyed said they plan to purchase more clothing, accessories and shoes this holiday season.

“This finding goes hand-in-hand with the increases we’ve seen in electronics sales for Black Friday and Cyber Monday,” Auslander said. “The lower price for flat screen TVs, new smart phone models and the proliferation and consumer adoption of tablet computers are all driving this trend.”

Article published by Business Wire 

Google recently announced two new features, Communities and Photos. Google debuted the Snapseed app to Google Play and Apple's App Store, app that provides tools for photo editing on mobile phones, which have gained increasingly better built-in cameras.

The Communities feature provides Google Plus users with the ability to create or join public or private groups focused on a point of interest. They will be tied in to Google's "+1" button to make it easy for Plus users to connect content they find online with the community they've joined.

On Google's official blog the company said that communities will alow to create discussion categories to find the conversations you care about most, the option to start hangouts and plan events with community members and the ability to share with your community from any +1 button across the web.

People have more ways to connect and do so on a daily basis. Everyone has their niche, and that's also true with successful ecommerce initiatives. 

Source and complete article on eCommerceBytes

In its "Poland B2C E-Commerce Report 2012", Hamburg-based secondary market research company yStats.com has compiled information about B2C E-Commerce in Poland. The report covers online revenue, trends, successful product categories and the share of B2C E-Commerce total retail sales as well as facts and figures about leading online retailers. 

The significance of B2C E-Commerce in Poland continues to grow. However, the share of online shoppers in Poland only reached one third in 2011, which was below the European average of approximately 40 percent. 
In 2011, M-Commerce grew more than sevenfold in Poland compared to the previous year. The number of mobile online orders is growing considerably, as is M-Commerce revenue. 

B2C E-Commerce continues to grow, but only accounts for a small Share of Retail Sales 
In 2012, B2C E-Commerce was expected to grow by approximately 25% in Poland, which is nevertheless a lower growth rate than in previous years. In June 2012, the most purchased products in B2C E-Commerce in Poland were clothing/shoes, followed by household appliances/consumer electronics/digital media. The most widely offered product categories were home/garden, followed by sports/hobbies and clothing/shoes.

In 2011, B2C E-Commerce accounted for approximately 3 percent of all retail sales in Poland, which is more than in Italy (approx. one percent), but considerably less than in Great Britain (more than 10 percent).

Bank transfer was the most commonly used payment method, followed by payment on invoice. PayU S.A. was more frequently used as an online payment method than Polish PayPal. The products reached the Internet users via parcel delivery or self-pick up. 

Groupon is almost as popular as Allegro
Price comparison sites, some of which feature user ratings, were especially popular among Poles in 2011. Internet users most frequently visit the shopping site of mass merchant Allegro.pl, followed by Groupon.pl. In terms of revenue, Allegro.pl was also the leading website in Polish B2C E-Commerce in 2011, with 40 million users in Poland and a 50 percent annual revenue increase in April 2012 compared to the previous year.

Groupon planned to send out personalized newsletters in Poland, so-called Smart Deals, and to expand its customer service by the end of 2012.

Other retailers also benefit from B2C E-Commerce. On Neo24.pl, an online shop for computer and consumer electronics, the most frequently ordered products were TVs and consumer electronics, on Merlin.pl more than 200.000 products were offered. The website has one million registered users. 

Even though the share of online shoppers continues to grow in Poland, as shown by Hamburg-based secondary market research company yStats.com in its "Poland B2C E-Commerce Report 2012", it still lags behind in a Europe-wide comparison. 


In 2012, the most offered product category among online shops in Poland was “Home/Garden”, followed by “Sport/Hobby” and “Clothing/Shoes”.

Read more on Poland B2C E-Commerce Report 2012

comScore (NASDAQ : SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today reported holiday season U.S. retail e-commerce spending for the first 26 days of the November-December 2012 holiday season. For the holiday season-to-date, $16.4 billion has been spent online, marking a 16-percent increase versus the corresponding days last year. Cyber Monday reached $1.465 billion in online spending, up 17 percent versus year ago, representing the heaviest online spending day in history and the second day this season (in addition to Black Friday) to surpass $1 billion in sales.                         

*Corresponding days based on corresponding shopping days (November 3 thru November 28, 2011)

“Despite some news reports suggesting that Cyber Monday might be declining in importance, the day has once again set an online spending record at nearly $1.5 billion,” said comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni. “However, it is also clear that the holiday promotional period has begun even earlier this year, with strong online sales occurring on Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday. Now, we shall see the extent to which continuing and attractive retailer promotions are able to boost sales for the remainder of the week.”

Digital Content & Subscriptions and Consumer Electronics Post Strongest Cyber Monday Gains

Cyber Monday saw Digital Content & Subscriptions continue to set the pace among product categories with a year-over-year growth rate of 28 percent. Consumer Electronics, buoyed by gains in smartphone sales, ranked second at 24 percent, while tablet sales helped the Computer Hardware category post a 22-percent growth rate. Video Games, Consoles & Accessories (up 18 percent) and Jewelry & Watches (up 17 percent) rounded out the top five.

Shopping at Work Accounts for Nearly Half of Cyber Monday Spending

Nearly half of dollars spent online at U.S. websites originated from work computers (47.1 percent), down slightly from last year. Buying from home comprised the majority of the remaining share (47.2 percent) while buying at U.S. websites from international locations accounted for 5.7 percent of sales.

“The term ‘Cyber Monday’ was coined by Shop.org in 2005 to refer to the significant jump in e-commerce spending that occurred following the Thanksgiving holiday weekend as consumers got back to sitting in front of computer screens at work,” added Mr. Fulgoni. “At the time and for several years afterward, Cyber Monday was often misconstrued as the heaviest online spending day of the year, when in fact it barely cracked the top ten days of the season. However, with the passage of time, the day grew in importance as a result of an increasing number of retailers offering very attractive deals on the day and extensive digital media coverage making sure that consumers were aware of them.  As a result, Cyber Monday has assumed the mantle of top online spending day for the past two years – a trend we expect to hold once again in 2012.”

Weekly Online Holiday Retail Sales

Product review and recommendation site ConsumerSearch found in an October 2012 panel-based study that reviews were the primary way US internet users would be using social media this holiday season for gift ideas. Just over four in 10 respondents chose reviews; wish lists were about half as popular.

Truly “social” functions, like talking to online friends about gift items, looking at trending items or discussing gift ideas with friends of the recipient were fairly uncommon, all clocking in at under 10% of internet users.

A September survey by Deloitte found even more US internet users planned to use reviews in their holiday shopping, at 47%. This research did not find reviews on top, however. Looking for discounts and sales was more popular, an option that wasn’t included in the ConsumerSearch survey, nor was the general “research gift ideas” response.

Reviews may also be popular among the mobile shopping set. Q2 2012 research from mobile ad network Greystripe found that US mobile shoppers were more keen than in-store shoppers equipped with a mobile phone to write reviews, at 49% vs. 31%. Earlier research has also shown that reviews are key to gaining trust among consumers, who are more likely to believe their peers than retailers pushing products.

comScore (NASDAQ : SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, has reported U.S. retail e-commerce spending for the first 23 days of the November – December 2012 holiday season. For the holiday season-to-date, $13.7 billion has been spent online, marking a 16-percent increase versus the corresponding days last year.

Black Friday (November 23) saw $1.042 billion in online sales, making it the heaviest online spending day to date in 2012 and representing a 26-percent increase versus Black Friday 2011. Thanksgiving Day (November 22), while traditionally a lighter day for online holiday spending, achieved a strong 32-percent increase to $633 million.

Related to mobile shopping, PayPal saw a 173% percent increase in the number of customers shopping through mobile on Black Friday 2012 compared to 2011, and saw a 193% percent increase in mobile payment volume, compared to last year.

57.3million Americans visited online retail sites on Black Friday, representing an increase of 18 percent versus year ago. Amazon ranked as the most visited online retail site on Black Friday while also posting the highest year-over-year visitor growth rate among the top five retailers.

Top Growing Product Categories for Holiday Season-to-Date

PayPal says that electronics, jewelry and apparel are generally the top categories on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, but according to ComScore data, for the holiday season-to-date, Digital Content & Subscriptions is leading the way as the top-growing online retail product category (up 29 percent versus year ago) as the rapid adoption of smartphones, tablets and e-readers continues to drive demand for digital books, audio and video content. Toys are also performing well online thus far with a gain of 27 percent, followed by Consumer Packaged Goods (up 23 percent), Video Game Consoles & Accessories (up 18 percent) and Consumer Electronics (up 18 percent).

*Corresponding days based on corresponding shopping days (November 3 thru November 25, 2011)

The Apparel & Accessories category had a very strong Black Friday to rank as the #1 category for online spending on that day, accounting for more than a quarter of all dollars spent. The category has historically ranked #2 behind Computer Hardware, as it did on Black Friday 2011.

Sources: eCommerceBytes and ComScore

Pickture team has announce the long-awaited launch of Pickture eMarketplace, a social network that allows to share the things you love with other users and find the best prices for products via a browser plug-in.

Even before the official launch, Pickture has attracted the attention of a community of bloggers and companies thanks to its innovative concept. What makes this concept unique is that it unites a social-network with a shopping platform, in a simple, user-friendly layout. Users bookmark the products they like via an add-on, organize them into wish-lists and then share their lists with other users. The product page allows users to not only "like"/"dislike" and comment on a product but also to purchase it directly from the retailer's website. In addition, thanks to the personalised suggestions of lists, Pickture helps users discover new trends and the latest products.

"Picking" and following

Pickture is a great place to discover innovative products across numerous categories: fashion, beauty, home, kids, high-tech, animals, art&culture, travel, office, DIY and more. Users have the option of adding or "picking" the products uploaded by other users or to upload products themselves. The "picked" products are then organised into lists that can be set as 'private' or 'visible' to all users. Furthermore, a user can follow either all or selected lists created by other users, bloggers and/or brands. Lists can also be shared on other social networks including Twitter and Facebook.

The Pickture add-on is a free, installable extension that is available for all web browsers at the Google Chrome Webapp store. Once installed, the add-on allows users to add ("pick") products from websites to add to their Pickture profile. The add-on also acts as a price comparison that displays directly on the product page while browsing.

The Pickture team is currently developing further functionalities to help users find and compare the best deals on the products they love, and share their finds with other users. 

Satisfaction with online apparel retailers In U.S. is significantly lower among online shoppers between the ages of 18 and 24 than among those 55 years of age and older, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2012 Online Apparel Retailer Satisfaction Report^SM released today.

Overall satisfaction with online apparel retailers varies widely across age groups. Satisfaction among online shoppers between the ages of 18 and 24 is 795 (on a 1,000-point scale), compared with 825 among those 55 years of age and older, and is significantly lower than the report average of 812.

The report examines satisfaction with online apparel retailers among consumers who have completed an apparel purchase online in the past 12 months. Overall satisfaction is measured across seven factors (in order of importance): online store services and delivery; website/online store; usefulness of information; in-stock availability of merchandise; competitiveness of pricing; variety of merchandise offered; and contact with customer service. The relative importance of customer service is low, as only 18 percent of online consumers indicate that they contacted customer service; however, among those who contacted customer service, this becomes the most important factor.

According to findings from the report, younger consumers (18-24 years old) who shop online for apparel rely predominantly on price (63%) when selecting an apparel retailer. Notably, a significantly higher proportion of these young consumers use positive reviews of the brand (27%) and recommendations from family, friends or colleagues (19%) when selecting an online apparel retailer than the report average of 19 percent and 15 percent, respectively. Conversely, older consumers (55-plus) who shop online for apparel use past experience with a brand (77%) as their primary reason for selecting a retailer, while only 16 percent use positive reviews of the brand and 11 percent use recommendations from family, friends or colleagues.

"Younger shoppers, while being driven primarily by price, consider the experiences shared by others more than do consumers in any other age group," said Sara Wong Hilton, director at J.D. Power and Associates. "As their brand opinions are still being formed, they rely on input from both people they trust and those who have already used that same online retailer."

The report finds that, on an annual basis, consumers visit their primary online apparel retailer's website an average of 30 times and make an average of five purchases. However, younger consumers visit their primary apparel retailer's website and purchase from that retailer online significantly more often, averaging 42 visits annually and seven purchases. Conversely, older consumers visit their primary online apparel retailer's website an average of 18 times and make an average of four purchases annually.

"The disparate shopping numbers reflect that younger consumers are more comfortable shopping for and purchasing apparel online, while consumers in the 55-plus age group are less comfortable, preferring more traditional methods, such as shopping and making purchases in-store, via catalog or over the telephone," said Hilton.

Online Apparel Satisfaction Rankings

LLBean.com ranks highest among online apparel retailers with a score of 830. LandsEnd.com ranks second (829), while Forever21.com ranks third (824).

J.D. Power and Associates offers the following tips to online apparel shoppers:

• Read the user or consumer reviews and feedback for the apparel retailer website for positive comments, information and insight from other users.
• Many online apparel retailers have loyalty or rewards programs that offer significant savings, special incentives or rebates for consumers who frequently shop those sites.
• Some online apparel retailers provide free shipping, or a reduced or flat rate fee, on orders that reach a specified dollar threshold. This is an especially attractive benefit, as shipping costs add up quickly, depending on the total price, and how quickly you want the item(s) delivered. However, be mindful that you may end up spending more than you originally intended simply to qualify for free shipping.
• Before buying, check the retailer's return policy. Some retailers only accept returns within a certain number of days following the purchase, while others may charge a restocking fee, which usually is a percentage of the original purchase price.

The 2012 Online Apparel Retailer Satisfaction Report is based on responses from 2,399 consumers who made an online purchase from an apparel retailer in the past 12 months. Invitations to participate in the online survey were sent via email to online panelists in October and November 2012.  J.D. Power and Associates received completed questionnaires through November 10, 2012.

Forecast Based on Adobe Marketing Cloud Analysis of More than 150 Billion Online Visits to Retail Websites in the U.S. and Europe.

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today released its Adobe® Digital Index 2012 Online Shopping Forecast focused on the 2012 holiday shopping season in the U.S. and Europe. The Digital Index analyzed more than 150 billion website visits to more than 500 Adobe retail customers over the past six years in order to forecast sales growth figures and online shopping spikes for the upcoming season. Using predictive analytics technology, the Adobe Marketing Cloud can sift through massive amounts of historical data from the Web’s top retailers to identify patterns and algorithmically predict future results.

Adobe expects Cyber Monday 2012 online revenue for the retail sector to reach $2 billion, growing by 18 percent year-over-year. The company’s data analysis also predicts strong purchasing activity from mobile devices, with mobile representing 21 percent of total online sales this holiday, an increase of 110 percent over last year. Adobe’s online shopping predictions and actual results will also be available on an ongoing basis via a new interactive website that will continuously monitor and update online purchasing data as-it-happens throughout the season. The Adobe Digital Index 2012 Online Shopping Forecast infographic and interactive website can be accessed at http://adobe.com/go/onlineshopping.

Key Digital Index Predictive Analyses for the 2012 Holiday Shopping Season

Biggest Online Shopping Days

• Online retail sales are expected to reach a record $2 billion on Cyber Monday (November 26), the biggest online shopping day of the year in the U.S., representing a growth of 18 percent, year-over-year.
• Black Friday (November 23) is expected to be the second largest online sales day of 2012 when retailers will see a sales increase of 12 percent, year-over-year.
• While all retailers benefit from increased Cyber Monday traffic, Brick-and-Click retailers are the segment expected to see the largest spike on Cyber Monday, bringing in nearly 540 percent more than what they do on an average day in 2012. Online-only retailers are expected to see an impressive, yet more modest sales increase of 210 percent this Cyber Monday compared to an average day throughout the year.
• Green Monday (December 10), the second Monday in December and also a high-grossing online sales day, is predicted to outpace Green Monday 2011 by seven percent. The typical retailer can expect to see a sales increase of nearly 150 percent compared to an average day throughout the year.
• Free Shipping Day (December 17), when thousands of merchants offer free shipping online with guaranteed delivery by Christmas Eve, is also expected to grow by 12 percent year-over-year, particularly since it falls on a Monday for the first time since its inception five years ago. Mondays historically are the busiest online shopping days of the week.

Increase in Mobile Sales

• Mobile is expected to represent 21 percent of total online sales during the 2012 holiday season.
• Sales from mobile devices are projected to increase 110 percent this holiday season compared to last year, with sales from tablets constituting 13.5 percent of total sales, more than double that of smartphones (6.5 percent) and other devices such as e-readers (one percent).
• On Black Friday, consumers are expected to use their tablets and phones to shop more than any other day of the year with 24 percent of online visits projected to come from mobile.

Social Media Influences More Purchasing

• Social media referrals to retail point-of-sale websites this holiday season are projected to double compared to last year.
• Out of these social referral sources, referrals from Pinterest are expected to grow the most, doubling from seven percent to 14 percent, year-over-year.

Holiday Shopping in Europe

• European consumers are expected to start holiday shopping sooner and finish later than their U.S. counterparts. While online sales in the U.S. do not pick up significantly until Black Friday, European retailers were seeing average daily sales increase by 150 percent the first week of November and will see a similar spike the week after Christmas.
• Mobile shopping is projected to increase in Europe this holiday season, with sales from mobile devices expected to double from six percent to 12 percent, year-over-year.

Additional Shopping Insights

• Despite widespread discounts offered during the Thanksgiving weekend, the best deals will actually be found online the week before Christmas, not on Black Friday or Cyber Monday. The largest price reductions are expected to come on Free Shipping Day.
• Online jewelry sales will peak in mid-December, much later than sales in most other retail categories which will peak on Cyber Monday. In fact, the data forecasts online conversion rates to double for jewelry purchases on Free Shipping Day as jewelry is a popular last-minute gift.

Interactive Holiday Data Website

Adobe also introduced an interactive website driven by Adobe CQ technology that will be accessible at http://adobe.com/go/onlineshopping throughout the holiday season, allowing visitors to compare the accuracy of Adobe’s online shopping predictive analyses over time as well as uncover new shopping patterns and trends on their own as they emerge. Visitors will be able to compare various retail metrics such as “conversion,” “online sales,” “average price,” “visits” and more by distinct retail segments and product categories within the U.S. and Europe for any specific date throughout November and December 2012. Adobe will update the data daily so that visitors can always come back to find new information.

At the time of the VAD e-commerce fair, which took place in Lille, France on October 23 – 25, 2012, Fevad, La Poste, Reed Exhibitions and CCI Grand Lille did a survey for Credoc (Research Center for the Study and Observation of Living Conditions) on French distance purchasing.  The study, which has been done every two years since 2004, is interesting because it focuses on all French people not only Internet users.

In the last 12 months, 63% of French people have placed orders over the Internet, two percentage points higher than last year, and nearly ten points more than in 2008; and 50% shopped online during the same period compared to 30% in 2008.  Leveling the playing field, the number of online shoppers is up in all age groups and women continue to narrow the gap with men when it comes to cyber shopping.  

Currently 8% of French people say they have made purchases on the Internet from their cell phone or smartphone.  The number has doubled in two years and those buyers today account for 3.9 million people.  Three percent of the population or 1.5 million people have shopped using a tablet.

In the last 12 months, 30% of French people have made distance purchases in four product categories and services: clothing, footwear, jewelry and fashion accessories (43%), train and airplane tickets, travel, vacations, car rentals (40%), books, DVD, CD, video games, magazines (33%), and computer products, photos, videos, hi-fi, telephones, electrical appliances (32%).

The survey also shows that purchases of food products have increased, since the number of people ordering from online supermarkets or the like is up by more than 3 percentage points since 2010.

Social networks and mobile devices

Despite the success of social networks, they have limited influence on consumer buying behavior.  Less than one out of every ten people in France use social networks to make purchases, 9% stay with their favorite brands and 8% ask about products and services. Young people use this channel much more often;  22% of 18 to 24 year-olds enquire about products and services and 27% follow their favorite companies.

Customer relationships develop quickly with the new Internet- connected devices. Forty percent of French people connect to the Internet through smartphones or mobile phones to make or track a purchase or to locate a seller.  This is the case for 100% of smartphone owners.  The use of mobile devices has greatly advanced over the course of the last two years: 30% visit seller websites to learn about products and services (as opposed to 16% in 2010); 29% track orders (compared to 12% in 2010);  24% find seller´s geographic location;  22% consult consumer reviews and  21% look up buyer prices.

Eighteen percent of French people have performed at least four of the five functions described above.  It is also significant that French people that connect to the Internet through their cell phone to make or track an order are under 35 years old, live with their family, reside mainly in large cities and are primarily from well-to-do homes.

On November 11, China celebrated what it dubs, Singles Day, a holiday that began in the 1990s.  The day “eleven-eleven” represented as four sticks, was chosen initially to make fun of single people, but now has become a holiday for everyone - married people, couples and especially singles - to get together and exchange gifts.  

E-commerce companies quickly saw how the holiday could be to their advantage and they launched several promotions and discounts to get the Chinese public to shop online.  Judging by the numbers, this strategy was a success  and  online sales soared.  Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba recorded $ 3 billion in sales (€ 2.3 billion) in the 24 hours prior to the holiday.  That was three times the amount it made on the same day the year before; and Tmall says that on November 11, 100 million users visited its platform and Taobao.com.

Suning, a household appliance and electronic goods chain also reported 2.96 million orders between November 9 and 11, twenty times more than on those same days the previous year.

Sales this year on China´s Singles Day nearly doubled those made in the U.S. last year on Cyber Monday, the day after Thanksgiving weekend and busiest online shopping day that signals the launch of the Christmas holiday shopping season.

China has the largest number of Internet users in the world.  The China Internet Information Center calculates 538 million users through June 2012, and of those, 187 million shop online.

Source: Pueblo en Línea

GoIndustry DoveBid, a global provider of surplus asset management, auction, and valuation services, will be conducting a one-day online auction featuring an assortment of late-model food manufacturing, packaging and processing equipment from a major food distributor, including: product blending, vacuum frying and dehydration systems. Interested buyers will have access to over 150 items that are currently located at facilities in Jonesboro, Arkansas and Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.A.

Bidding opens Wednesday, November 14 at 11 a.m. ET, potential buyers can register for the auction event at www.Go-Dove.com .  Additionally, equipment can be previewed in person, by appointment, please visit the auction webpage for more details: http://www.go-dove.com/en/event-16980  

"This auction presents a great opportunity for buyers looking to leverage the surplus marketplace to purchase high-value, late model food manufacturing equipment via a trusted and easy bidding process," said Tom Conwell, Vice President of Account Management for GoIndustry DoveBid.  "GoIndustry DoveBid continues to streamline our clients' asset management and surplus-sales processes by combining our secondary-market experience with proven, award-winning proprietary auction technology."

Below is a partial list of items that will be available for sale:

• Infeed processing systems
• Heat & Control Vacuum Fryers
• 300 Ton Chillers
• 400 Gallon Lee Jacketed Kettles
• 13,000 Gallon Oil Recovery Storage Tank
• Heat & Control FastBack Conveyors
• Hot Water Wash System
• Assortment of Stainless Steel Equipment and Tanks
• Electronic test and measurement equipment

To review the complete catalogue and sale details please visit: http://www.go-dove.com/en/event-16980   

According to the Mexican Internet Association (AMIPCI) study titled 2012 Electronic Commerce, the volume of m-commerce  sales will surpass PC Internet sales by 2014.  The study also says that turnover  in Mexico in 2012 will amount to $ 6.1 billion, 46% more than last year.  

In addition, the study says that in 2012,  47% of Internet users used mobile devises to make purchases, which is considerably higher than the 26% in 2011; and that  iTunes and Google Play rank among the most popular stores, followed by bank applications and online shopping.

 Source: El Economista

comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released its Q3 2012 U.S. retail e-commerce sales estimates, showing that online retail spending reached $41.9 billion for the quarter, up 15 percent versus year ago. This represents the twelfth consecutive quarter of positive year-over-year growth and eighth consecutive quarter of double-digit growth.

“The Q3 growth rate of 15 percent growth remained in line with the prior quarter and provided confirmation of the strength in the e-commerce sector, despite a few negative headwinds in the macroeconomic environment during the quarter,” said comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni. “Such performance offers some optimism as we approach the holiday season, especially given recent improvements in consumer sentiment. With the housing market beginning to show signs of recovery in addition to increasing – if still underwhelming – job growth, there appears to be strong enough footing to support a very healthy online holiday shopping season.”

Other highlights from Q3 2012 include:

• The top-performing online product categories were: Digital Content & Subscriptions, Consumer Electronics, Event Tickets, Apparel & Accessories, and Computer Software. Each category grew at least 16 percent vs. year ago.
• According to comScore’s quarterly online retail survey, 37 percent of U.S. consumers say they have engaged in “showrooming” behavior where they use a smartphone while in a retail store to check prices or to even purchase a product online. This represents an increase of 5 percentage points in the past two quarters.
• The survey also shows that despite a slow-moving economic recovery there has been marked improvement in consumer sentiment in the past quarter, although many consumers still remain challenged by economic conditions. 48 percent of U.S. consumers now rate the economy as ‘poor’ an 8-percentage point improvement vs. the prior quarter and the most pronounced improvement since early 2009 (following the worst of the financial crisis).

Frustrated over the lack of alternative shopping options online, designers Jennifer Heller and Lindsay Gatz have just launched a website to appeal to the right side of the brain. Their new website Gift Chameleon aims to please fashionistas, the hard to please, the person with everything, color aficionados, or simply any shopper who wants a happy right brain.

"The typical online shopping experience is boring for the right side of your brain – the part that focuses on aesthetics and creativity," Heller said. "When searching for gifts on most sites, you can organize items by name, price, size or other technical specifications — all left-brained ways of thinking. But what if you need to look items up based on their appearance? You can't ask Amazon to find you everything that's cute and green."

The reason, Heller points out, is because computers can't know if something is visually pleasing. In contrast, Gift Chameleon's staff scours the Web for attractive, colorful gift ideas that are then categorized by color, something not offered by online stores but a long-time method of organizing items by brick-and-mortar stores.

"The quick and increasing popularity of Pinterest shows how much right-brain thinkers needed attention in a predominantly left-brained Internet, and the way people categorize things they find on the Internet has revealed just how much of a need there is to radically change online shopping," Gatz said. "From t-shirts to iPhones, people often make purchases based on color. They love colors, and everyone has a favorite one, so why not shop the same way?"

And, with Gift Chameleon's website launch on Nov. 2, 2012, shoppers don't have to wait any longer. The site launch will include gift ideas for every color of the rainbow as well as gold, silver and animal print ideas.

Color-coding its products, Gift Chameleon is a right-brain thinker's paradise. Bringing shoppers the best colorful products at competitive prices, Gift Chameleon makes online shopping fun again.

Pivotal Payments, one of North America's fastest growing payment processors, announces it will begin offering multi-currency processing (MCP) to US and Canadian ecommerce, mail/telephone order and brick and mortar businesses. The service will allow merchants to display prices and bill in over 60 currencies, while continuing to report and settle in their local currency.

The service was launched in order to help improve sales conversions and benefit consumers by displaying prices for international shoppers in their local currency. It is a secure solution that offers online merchants the capability of providing the local feel of a global merchant's web site, regardless of the client's location or the product's shipping location. At the point of sale, retailers can use multi-currency processing to generate additional sales and customers from an international clientele such as business travelers. It allows merchants to quickly and efficiently expand their business to reach a global marketplace.

Pivotal Payments' Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) gives international shoppers the convenience of paying in their own currency when swiping their credit card at US and Canadian businesses using Pivotal Payments' processing services. Merchants are able to reduce their cost of processing foreign cards and provide a more personalized service. The enhanced shopper experience translates into repeat customers and increased sales.

Online marketing research site EMarketer predicts by 2013, 34% of all business to consumer ecommerce sales will come from Asia-Pacific, surpassing North America's 31.6%. Additionally, the European Multi-channel and Online Trade Association recently reported that European online B2C sales posted 19% growth in 2011 to reach an estimated $307 billion, surpassing North America at $297 billion. By providing multi-currency processing directly to its clients and through its ISO and sales partner channels, Pivotal Payments aims to improve its product offering and enhance merchant loyalty by helping business owners achieve sales success at a global level.

"We are very excited to be adding multi-currency processing to our robust suite of secure merchant processing solutions in North America," said Ron Fleming, Canadian Director of Corporate Sales for Pivotal Payments. "The beauty of the multi-currency processing solution lies in its simplicity. With a single merchant account, our clients can quickly enable foreign currencies such as the Euro, Pounds Sterling, Japanese Yen and many more, to truly tap into a global marketplace. Some of our key clients have already begun using the MCP solution with great success and we are now rolling it out across our entire merchant base."

Even though e-commerce in Peru is still relatively new and only 1.5% of Internet users shop online, in 2011 the number of people that spent four hours a day on the Internet compared to three hours in front of the television increased by 600,000; and e-commerce turnover was up by 50%.

Moreover, it is expected to grow between 38 and 40 percent this year.  Consecuently, Peru is taking giant steps to catch up with its neighbors in Latin America.

IAB Peru CEO Graciela Rubina told Channel N that companies in Peru are more and more aware of the importance of the Internet; and the country´s leading universities are already offering degrees in IT and special programs in mobile technology, alternative advertising, etc. to establish a base for further growth in the online world.

During times of crisis, consumers try to make the most of every Euro, and consequently, the Internet has become a popular purchasing tool since it makes it easy to comparison shop for different products and offers. Unlike traditional shopping, which shrunk 2% last year in Italy, e-commerce is showing positive rates of growth and the trend is expected to continue for the next few years.

According to the Milan Politechnic/Netcomm Observatory on B2C E-commerce, in 2012 Italians will spend approximately € 11 billion shopping online (18% more than in 2011).

A breakdown of this data shows that growth in product sales (+29%) is much higher than in services (+14%).  Clothing sales will see the most growth (+33%), thanks to new Internet retailers like Privalia and Yoox.

The study also shows that this is not a passing phenomenon: it is estimated that in coming years, on average, online shopping in Europe will grow between 10% and 15%.

As ICEX commented in an article last month, the popularity of e-commerce in Sweden is increasingly on the rise.   A recent survey on navigation habits in Sweden from Internetinfrastruktur, the  foundation responsible for the high level .se domain, shows that 84% of Swedish Internet users have shopped online.  In 2000, it was only 10%.

One reason is that the fear of credit card fraud has declined from 72% in 2000 to 21% according to this latest survey.

Most e-commerce users are between 26 and 45 years old; and the most highly sold items continue to be travel, electronics, books, clothing, tickets, music and films.  However, telephones and electronic tablets have experienced the highest growth this year.

Source: http://www.svd.se/

The National Telecommunications and Information Society Observatory (ONTSI) of Spain, an agency of Red.es, introduced within the framework of the European E-Commerce Conference (EEC12), which this year was organized by aDigital in Madrid, the 2011 Study on B2B Electronic Commerce. Among the conclusions drawn from the study, is the fact that despite a rather stagnant economy, B2C e-commerce is a growing alternative for businesses to survive in times of economic crisis, since in Spain,  volume has reached € 10.9 billion, 19.8% higher than last year.

The study attributes this growth to a considerable increase in the number of new shoppers, from 11 million in 2010 to 13.2 million in 2011 (+20.2%).  The shopper profile remains the same, 25 to 49 year- olds with a high school or college level education, a middle to upper-middle class socio-economic background, full-time employees,  and living in urban areas of more than 100,000 inhabitants.  The main difference between the 2010 and 2011 shopper is that there are more adult shoppers living in smaller homes.  Shoppers are spending slightly less (from € 831  to € 828), and shopping less often.

It is important to note different aspects of the shopping experience in 2011.  Firstly, the increase in coupon/discount, auction and private sales shopping sites.  Secondly, the importance of social networks in electronic transactions – 9% of e-commerce users are followers or fans of brands on those networks.  Lastly, the increase in electronic payment platforms like PayPal and Googlewallet, for example, which have become the second most popular payment method after credit/debit cards.

The tourist industry continues to play a key role in online shopping, with transportion tickets and hotel reservations once again, the most highly purchased items.  Online shopping is mainly price and convenience driven, while security issues and distrust are the primary drawbacks. In fact, a large percentage of people who do not shop online (more than 50%) would be willing to do so if security weren´t an issue.  Quality labels in this instance are very useful since they help build shopper confidence.

Lastly, the study shows that within the framework of global e-commerce, C2C  and m-commerce are becoming alternatives to B2C, as they are used by 14.6% and 9% of online shoppers, respectively.

Renowned e-commerce professionals from Argentina and Brazil will participate in the October 25^th workshop “Experience of Latin American Leaders: How to Professionalize Online Sales”, which will take place at 8:30 am in the auditorium of the Uruguay Technology Laboratory (LATU).  The workshop is organized by the Uruguayan Chamber of Information Technologies (CUTI).

Electronic commerce is gaining importance worldwide.  In 2012 it generated $ 4.5 billion in Brazil alone, which denotes a 21% growth with respect to last year.  This year, more than 5.5 million Brazilians shopped online for the first time.

This is an industry that in Argentina generates over $ 1.6 billion.  Nearly half of Argentines use the Web to shop.

In this regional and global context, CUTI decided to bring together major international figures to share their experience in electronic commerce. The event will attempt to reveal the direction e-commerce is heading, how to professionalize online sales, how e-commerce can expand markets and promote foreign trade, how a great many goods and services transactions will fare in the near future, etc.

Attendees will receive first hand information on e-commerce in neighboring countries and learn what has been done to professionalize online sales.  The event is intended for businessmen and entrepreneurs, merchants and service providers that are already doing business online, as well as for those that are planning to or that aren´t, but should.

Exhibitors

Ludovino Lopes: partner in Ludovino Lopes law firm and president of the Brazilian Chamber of Electronic Commerce.  Given his vast experience and knowledge, Ludovino is frequently invited to take part in conferences in his area of expertise.

Omar Vigetti: Corporate Manager of Cañuelas Group Electronic Commerce.  He is in charge of promoting B2C, B2B and online positioning.  Omar was director of the Argentine Chamber of Electronic Commerce (CACE), coordinator of the Cessi IT Entrepreneur Center and member of the ILCE Directory.

You can register for this event through this link.

“Electronic Commerce in the United Kingdom 2012” a recent study prepared  by Jorge Postigo and Elena Campos Valladares for the Commercial Office of Spain in London, analyses the development of e-commerce in Britain, as well as current demand and advertising and media via this channel.

The United Kingdom wants to become a major entity in the global digital economy and a benchmark in e-commerce.  The latest figures show an annual growth rate of 15%, 32 million active buyers, and a contribution to the GNP of around 10%.

Internet access is very extensive, but in coming years, the government and private companies are expected to invest in increasing broadband speed, providing access to fiber optics and setting up 4G mobile  infrastructure.

The study also concluded that e-commerce is growing ten times faster than other channels, and it has great potential.  On the one hand, 86% of SMEs that still do not sell online will find it easier to do so with improved services and infrastructures.  New technologies like smartphones and the popularity of social networks are basically changing consumer habits, making it easier to shop online and promote new buyer segments.  Moreover, the current financial situation and hectic daily life is drawing consumers to online channels in search of better prices and a way to save time.

Google, Facebook and other highly trafficked websites in the United Kingdom play a major role in advancing e-commerce, with their ability to direct traffic to other websites and influence consumer buying decisions when it comes to products and services.

British consumers spend on average € 1,397 a year on fashion, travel, music, movies and books.  Amazon is the most highly visited online store in a very competitive industry where top ranking positions are constantly changing.  Zara is among the top 100 online stores.

Downloading and streaming digital content has increased significantly among older consumers. In 2012,  online music sales surpassed any other channel for the first time, while digital books account for 8% of book publishing industry turnover.

The regulatory environment adapts to EC rules.  A new law to protect intellectual property rights from illegal downloads will enter into force in 2014 and will involve Internet service providers.

Ancillary e-commerce services, especially payment logistics and management, are very advanced and their influence on the buying experience is decisive.  

Online advertising spending is already higher than in other media, and is driven by search traffic, video popularity, and by incorporating technologies that open the industry up to new creative possibilities.

You can access the entire “Electronic Commerce in the United Kingdom 2012”  study on the ICEX Spain Exports and Investments web page under the section, Market Studies and other Documents.

The digital games platform Tusjuegos.com has begun its international expansion by entering Brazil with the web page Osjogos.com

This Descargas Online-owned online games portal has more than a thousand games.

Tusjuegos.com´s strategy includes exporting its online sales model to Brazil.  The company has three employees.

On the twentieth anniversary of the European Single Market, the European Commission presented in the Single Market Act II,  the points it considers most relevant to boosting economic growth in the European Union.

The EC included among the document´s key points, improving the digital economy for its important indirect effect and because it is an opportunity that cannot be missed.  To accomplish this,  it is essential to promote e-commerce in the EU by “making payment services easier to use, trustworthy and competitive” and by building consumer confidence in order to achieve a true digital market by 2015.

Making electronic invoicing standard in public contracting procedures, is also among the points presented, because according to EC spokespersons, "it is a proven way to save money”.

A new eMarketer report, “Consumer Electronics: The Path to Purchase, Reinvented,” finds that their traditional products face significant disruption from the ascent of smartphones and tablets, both of which provide a number of the functions that several different older devices once did.

While the industry overall is struggling, sales of consumer electronics on the web are growing smartly. eMarketer projects that online sales of consumer electronics will climb from $48.6 billion in 2012 to $80.2 billion in 2016.

But online purchasing is only a part of the picture. In fact, digital channels play a key role throughout the purchase path, no matter if the actual sale takes place online or in a store. A survey conducted by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) in December 2011 found that 91% of internet users had researched electronics products online before making a purchase in-store.

In addition, shoppers who have a clear idea of what they want often head straight to a retailer’s website to start digging up details on products. An August 2012 report from Compete found that retailer websites outpaced all other online resources as the top tool used by US online consumers to research devices.

Reviews are another key component in the consumer’s purchase process. An April 2011 Google study found that 54% of US consumer electronics purchasers had read online reviews of products during their research phase.

Read more at http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R=1009395&ecid=a6506033675d47f881651943c21c5ed4#0j7IRVTxKZS71B2H.99 

Auction site Delcampe has launched a new marketplace for premium, fixed-price goods called Delcampe Premium. Delcampe is limiting the site to dealers who sign an "Ethics Charter" - a move the company says will offer shoppers strict guarantees regarding the quality of the items and the transactions.

Delcampe Premium will offer only fixed-price items with a minimum price of $30 (25 euro, 20 GBP, $30 Canadian, 30 CHF).

Complete article on eCommerceBytes

Facebook has launched Facebook Gifts, an online shopping tool that allows people to buy actual gifts and send them to other users. The gifts can be purchased with a credit card and the recipient can choose the color, size or even flavor of the gift.  

The recipient must agree to accept the gift and provide a delivery address. The same tool can be used to send a message to the recipient´s Facebook Timeline or as a private message.  

For now Facebook Gifts is only available for the United States, and the company hasn´t confirmed when it will be accessible to other countries.

According to the latest Nielsen survey, the intention to shop for food and beverages online has grown by 44% worldwide in two years. However, that number is much smaller in Germany where the intention is not as strong.

According to the survey, only 7% of German consumers are inclined to shop on an Internet access device, be it a computer, cell phone, etc. Nonetheless, those same German consumers do intend to purchase much more footwear and clothing,  sectors where e-commerce is gaining ground on traditional retail channels.

The fashion company Blanco will launch its online store for the French market in November, in accordance with its strategy for international expansion through e-commerce, started last year with the opening of its online boutique for Portugal.

Blanco´s entire collection of apparel and accessories for women and men will be available on the French website, as well as lingerie and beachwear.

With more than 200 brick and mortar stores in Spain, Dubai, Greece, Portugal, Great Britain and Saudi Arabia,  Blanco continues its international expansion online.

A recent study from eCommerce, a measurement company, surveying cyber consumers from countries including Brazil, Argentina and Chile, revealed the top product categories sold online in Latin America.

According to the study, apparel and accessories ranked highest in Latin America in online sales (43%) and consumers nearly always started shopping at the retailer´s website. The second most popular category is electronics (41% of online sales), followed by music, movies and videos (36%); household appliances (35%) and technology components (33%).  The study also finds the trend in online shopping for travel and hotel stays in other countries is on the rise.

The main reasons for shopping online are the offers and convenience, although there are still concerns over security and privacy.

SurfStitch today announces the launch of the business' European operations, with the opening of dedicated headquarters in France including an 8,000sqm purpose built distribution centre.

Recently named Australia's Number 1 Online Retailer, the move marks a transition into the next stage of growth and development for SurfStitch. Having achieved significant success after only 4 years of operation, with more than 100% year on year growth, SurfStitch founders Justin Cameron and Lex Pedersen have identified European-based expansion as a major focus.

Ranked at number 4 in the 2011 Deloitte Technology Fast 50, a report on Australia's fastest growing technology companies, SurfStitch's original vision of a unique Australian surf and fashion experience has proven to possess an undeniable global appeal and relevance to the international online marketplace, selling up to 10,000 items per day.

"We've tried and tested this model in Australia, and have also been serving customers globally from the very beginning. With SurfStitch now also located in Europe, customers can expect an even stronger online retail experience - from a seamlessly designed and stunningly visual website, to SurfStitch's industry leading shopping and delivery experience," said SurfStitch's Managing Director Justin Cameron.

Fittingly for a business defined by a love of the coastal and mountain lifestyle, SurfStitch has set up its European base in Hossegor on the Atlantic coast of south-west France, an area known for world famous surf breaks and a one hour drive to the Pyrenees Mountains.

Launched with 150 of the top surf, mountain and fashion brands, SurfStitch Europe will offer the same leading customer service proposition that won the company Online Retailer of the Year for 2012 in Australia. 1000's of new styles and 100's of new brands will constantly be added to the site as the business continues towards its target of 500 brands in 2013.

SurfStitch.com is now live in Europe. To introduce the website, SurfStitch Europe is offering 40 Euros off orders over 80 Euros using the voucher code SURFSTITCH40. The offer is valid until 31 October.

As Internet Retailer informs, Groupon Inc. has launched Groupon Payments, a mobile payments service that enables businesses to accept credit and debit cards using an iPhone or iPod Touch. The service is aimed at businesses that offer deals on Groupon, such as restaurants, spas and retailers.

The daily deal operator provides merchants a case-based credit card reader that attaches to the mobile device to swipe the magnetic stripe of the payment card.

Groupon guarantees merchants using its service lower costs than competing mobile payment options. If a merchant finds a lower rate, Groupon will beat that rate.

Complete article on Internet Retailer

The Central Statistics Office of Ireland has published  data showing that in 2011, 43% of Irish adults shopped online – 7% more than the previous year.   

The main reasons buyers gave for shopping online rather than at stores are: 24 hour access, less expensive, ease and speed.

Nielsen’s recent global report on the rise of online grocery shopping revealed that 49 percent had purchased a product online. Sixty percent had used the Internet for grocery-shopping research, 46 percent had used social media to help make purchase decisions and their intentions to purchase food and beverages online had increased 44 percent.

With the clear rise in overall online grocery shopping in mind, Nielsen releases its German report on online shopping facts, Digital Facts: FMCG Online Shops. This report compares trends between male, versus female shopping habits, highlighting that women use FCMG online shops more frequently and longer than men. Both genders shop within the pharmaceutical category the most, with 2.77 million users reported in May 2012. The report also noted that almost every sixth Internet user in Germany visits FCMG online shops, and that the shopping basket value online is much higher than in-store (24.10 Euro online, versus 15.12 Euro retail).

Other notable facts and figures include:

• The greatest affinity for FMCG online shops is shown by women aged 25-34
• The top-five online FMCG groups from January-May of 2012 are: cat food, packaged coffee beans, cold remedies, bath/ shower products and toothpastes/ liquids
• Pharmacies are the online FMCG category with the largest shale of male visitors, at 47 percent
• The average duration of a visit to a FMCG online shop is 14:04 minutes
• Women stay for longer visits, with a 15:41-minute average

For more detail and insight, download Nielsen’s German Digital Facts Report here.

In the mobile and digital age, men have surpassed women shoppers with 45% of men having made a mobile purchase vs. 34% of women, according to a new survey released by uSamp.

The mobile study looked at mobile consumer buying habits of 1,100 men and women, ages 18 – 75 and was conducted using uSamp Mobile, a mobile platform that blends uSamp’s mobile survey technology with their proprietary panel of smartphone respondents. 

It turns out that men and women practice much of their mobile shopping while they are out and about. According to the results, 12% of women find themselves shopping on their mobile devices while in the waiting room at the doctor’s office. On the other hand, 25% of men most frequently shop on mobile while at the office. 

The survey found that men are more likely than women to purchase items over their mobile devices. What items are they buying?
• 27% of males purchase consumer electronics on mobile vs. 8% of females
• 23% of males purchase movie and event tickets on mobile vs. 11% of females
• 30% of males purchase digital content on mobile vs. 20% of females
• 13% of males purchase food and drinks on mobile vs. 8% of females
• 8% of males purchase office supplies on mobile vs. 4% of females
• 8% of females purchase cosmetics on mobile vs. 2% of males

“We recognize that mobile consumerism is on the rise, and it’s important for companies to learn where, why, and how their audiences are making their buying decisions,” said Matt Dusig, Co-Founder & CEO, uSamp. “Our mobile platform is taking the guessing out of mobile consumers’ behavior, and we’re gaining first-hand experience of what is driving their actions.” 

In addition to the buying habits of men and women while shopping on mobile, the survey took a look at how mobile devices are being used in purchase decisions. Ninety-one percent of males have scanned a product barcode with their mobile device vs. 85% of women. The survey found that men and women who scan barcodes with mobile are shopping at these types of stores:
• Electronic store: 27% male vs. 12% female
• Convenience store: 7% male vs. 3% female
• Cosmetic store: 6% female vs. 2% male

To see the data from this mobile consumer buying habits survey in an infographic, follow this link, http://blog.usamp.com/blog/2012/09/12/retailers-meet-mans-new-best-friend-mobile/.

Financial Services Analyst Firm Portray the Future of NFC and Cloud-based Mobile Wallet.

A new report from Javelin Strategy & Research defines the mobile wallet industry in its initial stages, with many players like Apple iPhone 5 and others entering the field, jostling to grab early market leadership, and technologies to increase use and adoption. Visa and PayPal top the list of consumers’ preferred mobile wallet providers at 15% and 13%, while mobile network operators Verizon and AT&T (with the Isis wallet), and Apple, are close behind. To become a valued mobile wallet provider, consumers consider three important factors---trust, innovation, and privacy. A balanced approach of the three is more important to consumers, as PayPal and Visa have demonstrated with high scores in all three categories. FIs are well positioned to leverage their customers’ high perceptions of FI privacy protection, trustworthiness, and even innovation to become mobile wallet market leaders.

While mobile payments and mobile POS purchasing experienced little adoption, there is a growing pent up demand from consumers as new mobile devices and technologies enter the market. Over 60% of mobile bankers are likely to adopt a mobile wallet in the next 12 months. The report identifies crucial factors that will foster adoption of mobile wallets and ranks providers according to consumer trust, as well as technologies and strategies that will enable players to stay in the game and – eventually – win.

“Consumers have spoken, and the primary bank relationship and the payment networks, such as Visa and PayPal will be a key part of any widespread mobile wallet," said Jim Van Dyke, President and Founder of Javelin.

Providers will also have to determine which mobile point-of-sale technology – NFC, cloud, and bar code – to use. In the near-term, bar codes and cloud-based wallets will proliferate, as they do not require mobile phone upgrades or merchant investments in terminals and systems. With Apple’s iPhone 5 coming soon and other new devices following the iPhone, it is expected that NFC chip technology will prevail as it offers the convenience of paying with a simple tap or wave of the phone.

“NFC faces significant barriers to adoption by merchants and consumers, but it is standards-based technology that will eventually prevail as the main mobile point-of-sale technology,” said Mary Monahan, Executive Vice President and Research Director, Mobile at Javelin. “Google was first out the door with NFC and has stumbled. When Apple enters the payment space with NFC, we expect Apple iPhone 5 will lead the way and others will follow Apple’s lead.”

Javelin's report evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of the three mobile point-of-sale technologies and the providers that use them. The 45-page report is based on four online surveys of mobile phone owners and consumers as well as executive interviews with major competitors in the payments and wallet space. Javelin profiles Isis providers (Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile), Microsoft Wallet, Google Wallet, PayPal, Pay With Square, MasterCard PayPass Wallet Services, V.me by Visa, and American Express Serve.

To learn more, click here: Battle for Control of the Mobile Wallet: Sorting out Players, Technologies and Strategies to Win

Pesamatic is a 10 employees company with 1,5€ million turnover that uses eMarketplaces for international trade in Latin America and Europe. In particular they use Agroads to reach the agricultural industry. The outcome for them has been 100% positive; it has increased their efficiency and led to 97% more new customers.

In this article Marco Coppa, General Manager, shares his experience and some of the lessons learned using electronic marketplaces.

Marcos Alves, CEO and funding partner of eltenedor.es, was born in Barcelona 30 years ago.  With a passion for the hospitality industry and a born entrepreneur, in 2007 he decided to take on a new project with Patrick Dalsace, Bertrand Jelensperger and Denis Fayolle, creating a restaurant reservations website called lafourchette.com, with the backing of the Eiffel Tower´s famous chef, Alain Ducasse.  The company was a success and six months later, they re-launched in Spain with Marcos at the head of the business. 

That is how eltenedor.es, the leading online restaurant reservations website in Spain, came about.   It was on a course that in a very short time, evolved from a small company to an enterprise that today has more than 150 employees and has made a huge impact on the Spanish restaurant industry.

Do you know what are the most demanded industries for online exports? In this article, the B2B e-marketplace Solostocks.com, which operates in 12 countries in Europe and Latin America, presents an overview (based on trading done on its own platform) of the most dynamic industries in each country that offer companies online export opportunities. The article also examines the types of products that get the best results.

It also reviews the industrial machinery and equipment industry by showing which products in particular are most in demand in each of the SoloStocks markets.  After food and beverages, the industrial machinery and equipment industry is second in generating the largest number of sales contacts.   

In 2012, half of all Internet users had signed into a social network. So its no wonder that companies want to be where their potential customers are, and social media allows them to have more direct contact with those consumers.

This article by Cristina Berzal, General Manager of affilinet España, examines the role of social networks, their impact on business, how they should be managed, and the importance of having a strategy for mobile devices. 

Latin Americais a growing market and a number of Spanish companies are targeting it for international expansion.Brazil, with its enormous potential, has become an interesting destination for exports and stands out among all of the countries in the region.

It is important however, to understand that there are legal and cultural differences, more uncertainties and greater risks that make negotiations more complex than selling in Spain.  Noelia Martínez, the person in charge of Web Internationalization at BITmarketing tells us how to approach this market and what options we have when it comes to entering Brazil´s online market.

In this review of data dating from 2011 and the beginning of 2012, we see that consumers have embraced e-commerce, which continues its record growth every quarter.  However, just as we saw in our 2011 report, there are challenges that still have to be met in order to be on a par with their European neighbors, like increasing B2B e-commerce in the country, even though we beat the last sales slump and are back on the path to growth.

To put the situation in Spain into context, this report will give a brief review of the state of electronic commerce worldwide and in Europe, by studying data on Internet usage and eCommerce by individuals and companies, and by signaling this year´s industry challenges and trends.

In this article, the B2B e-marketplace Solostocks.com, which operates in 12 countries in Europe and Latin America, tells us (based on the results of its own platform) which countries are most likely to generate online sales leads in the food industry, and which products in this highly active sector are bought the most in those countries.

One of the conclusions drawn from the study is that non-alcoholic beverages, oils and alcoholic beverages provide the best opportunities for e-commerce in the food and beverage industry since they generate the most B2B activity.

This is the fourth in a series of articles on Latin American markets from SafetyPay, the online payment option that lets you shop internationally without having to provide bank information, that gave us a global view of payment methods in the region and in-depth reports on the Brazilian and Mexican markets. 

This time, SafetyPay addresses online and offline payment methods in Peru, providing information about the most widely used and interesting options when shopping online.

Pixilated codes have, for some time, appeared on posters and billboards, magazines ads and even consumer products.  They are the so called quick response codes that have a broad range of applications in advertising and marketing.

Are they the same as two-dimensional codes?  Do you know what the codes are used for? Are they appropriate for e-commerce? This article will address any uncertainties about QR codes and shed light on how to take advantage of them in order to grow your business.

Do you want to sell your contruction products abroad? In this article, SoloStocks.com, an electronic marketplace focusing on B2B buying and selling and operating in 12 countries in Europe and Latin America, reports on the construction industry and based on results of its own experience, indicates which countries are most likely to make online contacts and which products are in highest demand in this industry. It also ranks the 10 most sought after products by country, in the countries where SoloStocks operates. 

This information is very beneficial to companies that want to increase sales in those international markets, so do not miss this article, Online export opportunities in Construction.

In this article SafetyPay, an online payment platform that enables users to make purchases worldwide in any currency without having to provide bank information, introduces the online and offline payment methods most widely used inMexico.

This is the third article in a series that the multinational has written on Latin American markets. While the first gave a global view of payment methods in Latin America, and the second provided a more detailed analysis of the Brazilian market, this article looks at online and offline payment methods in Mexico, with insight into the most widely used and consequently the most appealing for online stores.

B2B online trading is gaining strength, and this trend is very apparent in the equipment for the public sector, stores and services industry.

In this article, Solostocks.com, an electronic marketplace devoted to B2B trading and present in 12 countries in Europe and Latin America, gives a rundown, based on its own experience, of those industries most favored by companies interested in buying and selling equipment for the public sector, stores and the service industry.  It also indicates which countries are more likely to make contacts online and what kind of product they are most inclined to buy.

In addition, the article ranks the 10 most highly sought after products in each country where Solostocks is present, information that is very helpful to companies that want to increase sales in those international markets.

Luis Carbajo has been the CEO of SoloStocks since February, 2012, a multiple industry eMarketplace with presence in 12 countries of Europe and Latin America. Carbajo was the first Spaniard to hold senior management positions at Amazon.com, where under his leadership user experiences were created that have become benchmarks in eCommerce. Luis returned to Spain in 2010 to become the head of the European Marketing team at Vistaprint, a world leader in online sales of printing products, before taking on the challenge of CEO at SoloStocks.

Luis tell us in this interview how does Solostocks facilitate B2B eBusiness, the evolution of the platform, how to use it to sell abroad and short and medium term plans for this eMarketplace.

This is the second article in the series made by SafetyPay, an international e-payment system that first introduced a global insight into Payment Methods in Latin America.  This article describes the scene in Brazil, one of the largest countries in the world in size, population and GDP, which makes it a very interesting market.   Online marketers who wants to enter this market should not miss this eBusiness Issue.

What is the percentage of banking population? Are there any local payment methods that online marketers have to know? Are online payments used in Brazil?

Those and other questions are solved in this article, Payment methods in Brazil.

Supermarkets, online gourmet shops, direct buy stores, online agro-food marketplaces… Food is making headway in the e-commerce industry and the response from consumers and businesses is very positive.

Which platforms are available today? Is this a good time for food e-commerce?  This article will answer some questions about the upsurge in eCommerce in the food industry.

We have interview Francesc Font, the CEO and driving force behind Nubelo, an eMarketplace that meet the need of companies to hire professionals, especially on a temporary basis, eliminating the middleman and reducing the customary costs of direct hiring. Companies can immediately post their job listings and in a matter of minutes, receive proposals from candidates that are ready to work, select the best one and follow the work process on the platform.

Francesc has solid experience in directing startups. He founded Gimage Group S.L. five years ago and was its CEO. He is passionate about entrepreneurship and about companies that introduce important changes in society.  He is also a professor of business management techniques at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB).

Internet usage in China extends to different segments of the market divided by age and income, and to different devices and online applications.  This is why the Internet is a business opportunity for foreign-invested enterprises.

Entry into the Chinese market can be successful despite obvious legal, cultural and logistical barriers; and in many cases, having a local partner is the key to a successful entry.  How do you avoid those barriers?  Noelia Martinez, Web Internationalization Manager at BITMarketing, defines the key elements for success and the steps to take to enter the Asian Giant´s online market.

Iban Unzueta is Managing Partner at Elkano Consulting, the company that developed Globalink and that is part of InTheLine Marketing Group, specialized in global trade and international marketing services, and present in 50 countries.

We interviewed Iban about the problems that SME's face in the process of internationalization and how Globalink platform can help them solve some of them, in order to find new companies in the same situation and with similar goals to share the work and risks.

Over the next months, SafetyPay, a global company with an e-payment system that allows online banking customers to shop online worldwide, will publish a series of articles on payment methods in Latin America.  Our intention is to describe the traditional and alternative online payment methods employed by those countries.

As an introduction, this first article by Javier Suarez, European Marketing Director at SafetyPay, will give a global view of the situation in Latin America. Future articles will present a more concrete picture of the situation as it exists in some of Latin America´s leading countries (Brazil,Mexico,Peru, etc.).

Thanks to reverse auctions, companies can acquire the products and services they need quickly and easily and at competitive prices.  And, it can be done fairly:  the best bid wins.

But what happens if there are several interesting bids that are similar? Do we go with the cheapest even though we may not trust that supplier as much as we do another? Jose Manuel Iáñez, Operations and Projects Director at ITBid, with ten years experience in the industry, demonstrates how, in four easy steps, we can determine the best and most acceptable bid, by maximizing the differences between participants.

Virtual changing rooms, shops that display their products via mobile cameras, 3D animation to demonstrate a product… Augmented reality is a great ally for electronic commerce, which could use the advances being made in this technology to increase sales or for brand building.

But do you know what augmented reality actually is and what types of augmented reality exist? What are the benefits of using it? Is it affordable for everyone? How is it used for e-Commerce?

This article sets out to resolve these and other questions with the help of professionals and companies from the augmented reality sector, and to discover what the future might look like thanks to this revolutionary technology.

Alejandro Estévez took over management of the Verticalia.com group in2005. In this interview he tells how they work and what are the benefits of the use of his B2B commerce platforms dedicated to food, fishing, insurances, stone, automotive and catering industries.

Discover how can vertical eMarketplaces help your company with this interesting interview of Alejandro Estévez: "Our platforms include hundreds of suppliers and offer the best prices."

We have interviewed Julián Sáez, manager of the vertical eMarketplace for companies and professionals in the green industry, GuiaVerde, a meeting place for buyers and sellers.

Julián explains how he came up with the idea of creating GuiaVerde, the advantages of using it, how can companies can contact one another and future planning for the company, including its internationalization process.

Electronic marketplaces offer companies a world of possibilities; a showcase in which to present themselves to the public and to acquire new suppliers, new buyers and more sales.

However, it is not about establishing a presence on the marketplace just for the sake of being there, as that would not add much value to the company. It is necessary to take full advantage of them to ensure they are an effective tool for increasing the company's sales.

In this article we have spoken with the eMarketplace managers themselves, and they have given us a series of tips that will help companies get the most out of these platforms. Learn with them how to sell more through eMarketplaces.

This article describes possible product areas to negotiate via eAuctions and what to watch out for if you want to conduct successful eAuctions.

It is written by June Sejrup, eSourcing Consultant at Scanmarket, leading provider of eSourcing services. Scanmarket supports professional buyers in mid-sized and large organizations by hosting a user friendly and cloud-based eSourcing platform where you, i.a., can run eAuctions and negotiate with preapproved suppliers, prequalify potential suppliers, renew existing contracts or make individual purchases. 

Josep Alberti is the creator of grera.net, what is being called the Facebook for businesses, a platform that brings together offer and demand and aims to become a basic, daily use tool for any company that wants to do business online, as it has been programmed to offer business opportunities to registered companies only.

The functionalities for buyers and sellers of this social network, advantages of use, how it has been positioning itself in other countries or changes in the world of business because of the social phenomena are some of the issues explained on this interesting interview.

In  the blink of an eye. Since the iPad -Apple's tablet- hit the market in April 2010, these devices have enjoyed unstoppable growth as new models are coming out at more affordable prices, such as one of the latest to arrive: Amazon's Kindle Fire.

This hybrid between a smartphone and a laptop computer has also meant a revolution in electronic commerce, so much so that there is talk of an tablet e-Commerce, or t-commerce, because figures show that users of these devices are very active online shoppers.

Where the tablets come from, their benefits compared to other devices, the reasons why their users shop with them and the outlook for future growth are just some of the areas covered in this report on the tablet e-Commerce revolution.

César Rodríguez is the founder and CEO of MachinePoint, an electronic market for used machinery from the plastics, packaging, food and beverages industries.

César is a multilingual entrepreneur with a strong financial background and an expert commercial engineer, who specializes in the sectors in which his company operates.

He also has extensive experience in negotiating, and corporate rescue and restructuring, as well as opening new business units, implementing new capabilities in companies as a leader and initiator.

MachinePoint’s annual sales are between 10-12€ millions and  they generate about  10,000 leads per year. The site has 30,000 specialized visits annually, with a 45% bounce rate, and an average of 4,5 page views per visit with an average time on site of 2 minutes.

We interviewed Héctor Torrente Pastor, Director of IBIAE, the Ibi Business Association created in 1993 to represent businesses of this town in the province of Alicante. Recently, the association decided to create a virtual B2B platform called Ibilonjavirtual.com to help local companies to expand nationally and internationally.

This analysis of data from 2010 and early 2011 shows that consumers have embraced electronic commerce, which continues to show record growth in each new quarter analyzed. However, there are still challenges to overcome to catch up with our European neighbors, such as stronger e-Commerce between Spain’s companies.

This report aims to briefly review the global state of e-Commerce as well as the figures for Europe, in order to contextualize the situation in Spain, analyzing data on the use of Internet and e-mail by the general public and by companies, and to highlight the challenges and trends in the sector this year.

Much has been said about cloud computing, about SaaS or Software as a Service, about the advantages or disadvantages but can it also be applied to electronic commerce?

This article aims to review the concepts and the types of clouds that exist, and take a close and objective look at the pros and cons of cloud computing for the eCommerce sector.

On 23 June 2011, the European Parliament passed the new Directive on digital consumer rights, a controversial measure that has aroused protests from both associations and businesses that believe it will hinder the development of e-commerce in Europe. However, not all of the initial proposals were included; some of the points were modified, while others have be kept the same.

In this article we will analyze the changes that were made to the new Directive in the e-commerce sector and how they will affect businesses, obtaining feedback from those affected, the associations and experts in Internet law.

In this article we look at how this has occurred, what these markets offer to companies and the advantages of joining them.

Unity is strength. And so it is in this case since the underlying premise of the online daily coupons business model is that it rely on the power of group purchasing. This formula, which was created barely three years ago, has achieved record-breaking growth on the Internet. Spreading like wildfire, Unity is strength. And so it is in this case since the underlying premise of the online daily coupons business model is that it rely on the power of group purchasing. This formula, which was created barely three years ago, has achieved record-breaking growth on the Internet. Spreading like wildfire, it has been received enthusiastically wherever implemented.

What makes this formula so special that it has managed to achieve such unprecedented success? What is the process behind each discount on offer? Why are the major Internet companies signing up for this phenomenon? Find out all the answers in our article "Online daily coupons, a record-breaking business".

What caused this explosive growth? What supports this business model? Could it be exported to B2B? We talk with the players in this sector and ask them for all the answers.

In the first part of this report we looked at the pros and cons of mobile-enabled websites versus custom-built apps for accepting mobile payments. But there's no point developing a mobile site or an app unless it's secure and safe to use.

SMEs should invest as much time and energy in ensuring the security of their mobile sites and apps as they do on protecting their website assets, says Jonathan Forde of Dublin-based online payment provider Realex Payments.

"Just because you're not on a website any more doesn't mean you can ignore having that [same] level of security because, obviously, if your site is unsecured, there's a risk of people stealing data from it, including credit card details," he says. "It's very important that the page you use to capture the credit card details on has security in place on it - whether that page is for your specific mobile web page or if it's just a version of your website that renders on a mobile phone or smartphone."

Some years ago, buying something through your mobile was almost a science fiction scene, but today it is a reality with a very good performance. In spite it is not a global trend yet, almost every mobile sold nowadays has the capability to doing so. That is the main reason why it is expected a huge increase, but the websites, the payment methods, etc. have to be adapted to this new sales channel to let it grow.

In the first of a two-part feature about mobile payments made by Entreprise Ireland, they get some expert insight into the world of m-commerce and look at the pros and cons of mobile-enabled websites versus custom-built apps.

Associate Professor in Commercial Law at the Carlos III University of Madrid, Spain, Teresa Rodríguez de las Heras Ballell, has created a three-part series of articles to bring increased clarity to such issues. This is the third one, in which she explains the main strategies related to the choice of law applicable to contract and jurisdiction.

Associate Professor in Commercial Law at the Carlos III University of Madrid, Spain, Teresa Rodríguez de las Heras Ballell, has created a three-part series of articles to bring increased clarity to such issues. This is the second one, in which she explains the choice of law applicable to contract, and some special cases such as in absence of agreement, law applicable to non contractual obligations and to performance of information society services.

Associate Professor in Commercial Law at the Carlos III University of Madrid, Spain, Teresa Rodríguez de las Heras Ballell, has made a three-part series articles to solve these doubts. This is the first one, in which she explains the applicable jurisdiction to electronic contracts, general rules to apply, importance of defendant domicile and the concept of establishment in eCommerce.

This article written by Teresa Rodríguez de las Heras Ballell, Associate Professor in Commercial Law at the Carlos III University of Madrid, Spain and the author of the book on legal aspects of E-Markeplaces El régimen jurídico de los Mercados Electrónicos Cerrados (e-Marketplace), clarifies the electronic commerce dispute resolution strategies, as well as the current trends, arbitration procedure, mediation and conciliation and how to prevent disputes.

This interesting article explains Ubis experience as an exporter company in the adhesive tape subsector and its efforts to grow to become the largest Spanish company in its sector and a leader in Europe. One of its allies has been Alibaba eMarketplace, that has opened new markets and new possibilities of business.

The deep economic crisis we are now immersed in is affecting nearly all countries and sectors. Electronic commerce, however, has avoided the tempest and become a stronghold of continued growth. The figures around the world and for Europe bear out this channel's excellent momentum, and Spain has seen record numbers. What are those figures? What is driving this strong performance? Will it continue into the future? These and other questions are answered in the following sections of this report

The absence of uniform international or EU legislation makes it harder to know in which situations the rules of contractual and non-contractual liability are fully applicable. The report, written by Teresa de las Heras Ballell's,  is designed to simplify the situation by identifying general rules, liability issues associated with  third party contents, possible risk scenarios to be aware of, and some strategies to avoid or mitigate disputes.

This is the last article, in a four-part series. Its aim is to explain disclosure obligations after conclusion of an on line contract.

Teresa Rodríguez de las Heras Ballell clarifies the service provider obligations after the contracting procedure has been completed and suggests some practices to optimum fulfillment of the need to confirm receipt of the order. The implications of breach are also explained in this valuable text.

Teresa is an Associate Professor in Commercial Law at the Carlos III University of Madrid, Spain and the author of the book on legal aspects of E-Markeplaces El régimen jurídico de los Mercados Electrónicos Cerrados (e-Marketplace).

This is the third article, in a four-part series. Its aim is to explain the disclosure requirements of the provider prior to the conclusion of an online contract.

On this occasion, Teresa Rodríguez de las Heras Ballell, Associate Professor in Commercial Law at the Carlos III University of Madrid, Spain, and the author of the book on legal aspects of E-Markeplaces El régimen jurídico de los Mercados Electrónicos Cerrados (e-Marketplace), focuses her attention on pre-contract information. There are some disclosure obligations, and the text explains the points that have to be clearly, comprehensibly and unambiguously addressed before the contracting procedure begins.

This is the second article, in a four-part series. Its aim is to explain all the mandatory information that should be displayed by any website. In this text Teresa Rodríguez de las Heras Ballell answers the question of how the mandatory information should be presented, the requirements of this information, as well as what is the specific data that has to be made available.

Useful and well explained, this article was prepared by Teresa who is an Associate Professor in Commercial Law at the Carlos III University of Madrid, Spain, a recognized expert in this field and the author of the book on legal aspects of E-Markeplaces "El régimen jurídico de los Mercados Electrónicos Cerrados (e-Marketplace)".

This is the first article, in a four-part series. Its aim is to explain all the mandatory information that should be displayed on any website. In this report Teresa Rodríguez de las Heras Ballell, Associate Professor in Commercial Law at the Carlos III University of Madrid, Spain, explains as a starting point, the definition of a provider of “information society services” and the basic requirements to qualify within this concept.

Teresa is also author of the book on legal aspects of E-Markeplaces “El régimen jurídico de los Mercados Electrónicos Cerrados (e-Marketplace)” and her experience and knowledge make this series an essential reading both for new e market places, and for existing e marketplaces as a validation of their current practices.

Generally, reports on international trade and payment methods tend to highlight one important aspect in relation to payments: both the buyer and seller are subjected to a certain degree of financial risk - particularly when engaging in a first-time international transaction via an emarketplace. The degree of risk that your company is willing to be responsible for is determined when you negotiate your preferred payment method with a prospective trading partner.

This report will focus firstly by analyzing some of the more traditional payment methods available to small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) exporters and importers before looking at some of the contemporary e-payment methods as used by emarketplaces such as credit cards and online escrow services.

The paper will also look at the risk involved within these various payment methods as each method carries a varying degree of risk for both the buyer and seller.

In my previous two reports the issues analyzed in the context of an emarketplace (B2B) were: basic verification techniques when contemplating whether or not to enter into negotiations with a prospective business partner; and highlighting the issue of fraud within emarketplaces, how to educate and make yourself more aware of the techniques adopted by fraudsters - therefore, alleviating the possibility of fraud being perpetrated against your company.

In this final report in the series, I am going to look at some of the online testimonials and experiences as reported by global small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in relation to their verification techniques and methods adopted against potential fraudsters. As well as reinforce a case in point from my personal experience to reinforce why, equally, emarketplaces should be pro-active with their customers in relation to these issues.

Read also the two first reports in the series: Company authentication within e-marketplaces and Emarketplaces and the issue of fraud

This is the second report, in a three-part series, aimed primarily at SMEs who would like to increase their awareness, and educate themselves in relation to eMarketplaces.

As eMarketplaces (B2Bs) continue to grow and bring continued economic benefit to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) via their online strategies for international growth, it is imperative that the SME comprehends the issue of online fraud.

As a previous B2B website owner, from experience I understand the necessity of SMEs educating themselves on the issue. It is only through education, and awareness, that an SME will be able to recognize the techniques employed by individuals attempting online fraud, therefore, empowering the SME to only transact in genuine and profitable business transactions.

Read also the first report in the series: Company authentication within e-marketplaces

• Establish a short list of eligible e-marketplaces to consider by reviewing the list of e-marketplaces identified in the eMS directory.
• A self analysis of the trust/ risk/return threshold by the buyer itself regarding online transaction activity.
• An evaluation of the presence or lack of transparent tools/activity associated with the e marketplace in question.
• Actual experience/exposure to transactions at a very marginal/minimal level

 Keywords: Trust, Trustworthiness, Trust seal, Third Party Verification Certificates.

The combination of personal, business, and government adoption of these technologies has helped maintain Canada's global position as a top performer in the online world. Canadian enterprises show a continued recognition of the value in having a web-presence and based on historical data Canada will continue to expand its online economy.

The challenge is to encourage the application of e business into new applications over and above current applications.

"An electronic market means reduced costs in seeking out new market niches." Enrique Fuentes, international sales representative for the citrus company García Ballester, which had €35 million in revenues in 2006 and has 500 employees, is clear on the issue. At this company, they work with one goal: to improve the quality of the raw material to offer a product that always satisfies clients’ demands.
 
Its 100 years of experience, guaranteeing excellence in its dealings and service, have led the Spanish company to make enormous efforts in exploring new markets that enable it to grow in the fruit sector, which is ever more aggressive due to the high level of competition. That is why García Ballester got into the business of distributing its product all across the globe. Today, over 95% of its production is exported to countries as varied as the United States, Canada, Germany, the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovenia, Croatia or Russia. Its drive to expand has encouraged it to experiment and discover new ways of dealing in foreign trade, including the electronic market.

"In five years of experience, we have found new clients and suppliers in countries that are hard to access; especially in distant markets," remarks Fuentes, who admits that it is not as efficient in closer markets. "Certainly, some products require direct contact; not so much so with others," says the Spanish company’s representative.

B2B participation is opening new market possibilities, but will also reduce the tender pricing.

In 2006 the sale over internet grew 32.9% for Spanish companies in 2006. Still, only 7.8% of the Spanish companies used this market opportunity.

To keep for being left behind in this market, Francesc Vila, from the electronic portal Mercatrans, believes that SMEs could benefit from expanding their suppliers by attempting to negotiate with them personally.

The article was first published in the Spanish magazine La Clave (11. January 2008)

The e-mail campaigns are too successful to be left unused, but the fact that it is easy to send out thousands of e-mail does not mean that it can be used without a proper strategy.

E-mails are one of the easiest ways of doing online e-business marketing. Even though e-mails are competing for attention from the incredible number of Spam mails that overflow the internet, the return of investment for e-mail marketing will be 45.65$ per dollar spent in 2008.

Even with such a high ROI, e-mail marketing is low compared to other online marketing activities. One reason may be the technical, design and engagement issues that go into creating a successful campaign.

With off-line media, the appearance is easily controlled, but online a large number of variables make it difficult to determine if the potential customer sees the message as it was intended. On the traditional webpage the designer must take into account the most used browsers like Internet Explorer and Firefox and the availability of plugins for Flash and Active-X. For the e-mails these variables are complex and are made even more difficult by the number of obstacles like spam-filters that must be overcome.

Some of the factors that must be taken into account to create good e-mail campaigns are:

• The Subject and Content of the e-mail must pass through the automatic spam filters
• The address list must be updated. Too many bounced messages can cause your mail server to be blacklisted as creator of spasm.
• The use of HTML and rich text in the e-mail message must fit the individual users mail reader.
• Use of pictures should not be embedded in the e-mail since some ISPs will filter such messages

Having found a way to grow the subscriber list with correct opt-in/opt-out and following the best practices for the technical creation and distribution of e-mails, the real work is still ahead.

A recent paper from Responsys on how to make e-mail marketing engaging  focus on the customer experiences when receiving and interacting with the e-mails. The task of the e-mail is to increase the value by engaging the customer into action and dialogue. This is best done by taking into account the stage the customer is at (New, Active, Loyal or Returning). 

The e-mail must therefore be an integrated part of other data and channels to create more relevant and engaging interactions.

The e-mail campaigns are too successful to be left unused, but the fact that it is easy to send out thousands of e-mail does not mean that it can be used without a proper strategy.

"It is necessary to re-think how your company can expand its business. And that can best be done by not focusing on what your are doing, but on your capabilities," says Dr. Jay Bal, Senior Fellow at Warwick Manufacturing Group and Project Leader at West Midlands Collaborative Commerce Marketplace.

"The role of government has traditionally been to build the infrastructure, like ports, roads and harbors, and this task must be expanded to new areas that can link regions and business," says Jay Bal.

It is not enough to have a "road", it must have a junction that makes it possible to connect direcly to the flow. Jay Bal is not just talking about the flow of product, but also to the flow of information.

The report focussed on how ICT and eBusiness was being used in Ireland at Home and by Enterprise today and highlighted its importance within the Irish economy.

Ireland possesses one of Europe’s strongest and wealthiest economies. The Irish economy’s period of growth and prosperity began during the early 90’s and has continued to grow steadily ever since. In December 2005 the Irish Central Statistics Office (CSO) published a report on "Information society and telecommunications".

The report focussed on how ICT and eBusiness was being used in Ireland at Home and by Enterprise today and highlighted its importance within the Irish economy.

The internet is changing from an information society to a participating society – a boost for doing business electronically!

The ICT Agenda of the Netherlands was published in September 2004. Now the Dutch ICT infrastructure stands right at the top of the international stage. Partly due to the quality of its infrastructure, the Netherlands is ranked sixth after Denmark, Sweden, Singapore, Finland and Switzerland on the Networked Readiness Index 2006-2007, as recently announced by the World Economic Forum. Governmental policy is geared toward intelligent use of ICT. This not only contributes to solid, sustainable economic growth, but also leads to higher-quality products, services and service provision.

An additional positive development is that the Dutch business community is using the Internet both as a rapid means of communication with a wealth of available information, and as a participatory medium. This development affords a future outlook for electronic marketplaces. But there is still work to be accomplished in the “electronic storefront”. Notwithstanding suppliers or clients already familiar with concepts such as e-business, e-commerce, B2Cs, B2Bs, C2Cs, or e-marketplaces, the Netherlands is considered average in international commerce through electronic trade, in comparison with other Western European countries.

Electronic commerce and services are widespread in the Netherlands. Currently there are significant transactions occurring on the e-marketplaces of B2B's (business-to-business) and B2C's (business-to-consumer). The number of B2C shops is increasing. Within the e-commerce sector, one cannot underestimate the economic impact of C2C's (consumer-to-consumer). The on-line auction site www.marktplaats.nl is one example of this. Many freshly-minted businesses have begun with a C2C marketplace, doing business electronically, and now have their own webshops.

The government is similarly offering more and more online services. In 2006 a wide range of government organisations showed improved quality in their online services (e-Government - G2C and G2B). 75% of Internet users accessed an electronic governmental service. The total level of online government services to citizens amounted to 61% in 2006, and the service targeted at businesses stood at 62%.

The Forrester research institute forecasts a bright future for the Dutch e-commerce sector. According to their market studies, e-commerce in Europe will grow 21% annually until 2011. For Europe, this will mean a jump of 102 billion euro in 2006 to 263 billion euro in 2011. The Netherlands will grow by 28% to 11.8 billion euro in 2011. In this respect, the Netherlands represents one of the fastest growing countries for e-commerce.

Lessons learned: "We began to use electronic markets because they are much faster than traditional markets. Furthermore, it is easier to make contact with companies that also use this medium. It is a showcase for companies that do not appear on lists and e-Marketplaces have provided us with access to them."

Cold Group (www.coldgroup.com) was created from five Spanish companies in the industrial refrigeration sector that joined forces to enter the international markets, allowing them to offer a complementary range. It started as an export consortium in 2004 and since then it has specialized in foreign trade. They export products from the industrial refrigeration industry to Morocco, Algeria, Mauritania, Tunisia, Senegal, Nigeria, Portugal, Switzerland, Poland and Belgium and total sales in 2006 were €1,205,904.

What were your first steps when using the e-Marketplace? Did you have any initial concerns or worries about using e-Marketplaces?
We began using electronic markets in 2004. We were investigating the opportunities that they could provide us with from the outset. We began to use electronic markets because they are much faster than traditional markets. It is also much easier to make contact with companies that also use this medium.

We chose the electronic marketplace Mercatrans (www.mercatrans.com) because it appeared to be simple to use and it gave us good results from the outset. It is the only electronic marketplace that we use. We started to use it because when we need to find a company that specializes in a particular type of transport, it is always urgent, and we can locate that company much faster through Mercatrans. We came across Mercatrans by searching the internet and we registered last year for full access. The market allows us to publish our requests for transport offers.

We had no initial reservations about using it and we now use it significantly. When we started they supported us over the telephone because we encountered various technical-IT problems, which they rapidly solved for us.
 
How does Mercatrans work and what sort of commercial functionalities do you use?
In our case, we request various transport offers for a specific destination. Various companies that specialize in this type of service then send us their offers. We can then choose the one that we consider to be most appropriate and we can even contact the company directly to ask for more information.

Which parts of your business are improved by using Mercatrans?
The ability to offer transport services to our clients at the most competitive price. We can also offer them a quick quote for a specific transport service if it is a normal destination for other users like us. A history of requested offers allows us to quickly obtain an approximate price for a service.

What practical aspects do you believe are the most important when using an electronic marketplace?
Using electronic marketplaces is not difficult. In terms of costs, they are not expensive, taking into account the service they provide you with, especially if you know that you are going to use it frequently as in our case. The actual cost of this service is €120 per year.
As well as using electronic marketplaces we also directly contact companies that our partners or clients recommend to us, or those that we find in listings. There is no conflict from using both markets.

In terms of security, we do not make payments online and we contact the chosen company directly. No electronic payments are made via the internet through mercatrans.com. Once the shipper notifies its interest through one of the offers received via the internet, it is contacted by the transport company and they engage in a direct commercial relationship. At the same time, payment for the transport service to be used takes place directly between the shipper and the transport company using traditional methods.

What advantages does the platform provide?
We have made significant savings in time using this transport search platform. We can quickly obtain information that would require much more time and effort without this online service. Furthermore, it is a showcase for companies that do not appear on lists and we can get access to them through the use of e-Marketplaces. The procedure is highly efficient.

Has e-Commerce and electronic marketplaces in particular changed your view about the world of business?
I believe that they can provide access to the world of business for people that otherwise may not have set up a business.

Following on from this experience, will you continue to use electronic marketplaces as a work tool and would you recommend using e-Marketplaces to other companies?
Yes, of course we will continue to use them. We recommend their use, especially for their speed. They provide services that fully adapt to what we are looking for and they can also provide significant amounts of information about services or products.

E-mail marketing is easy and much used. A recent study by Datran Media shows that 83% of the companies considers e-mail marketing their most important strategy for 2007.

The advantage of e-mail marketing is the low cost and direct contact with the potential buyers. Anyone can get hold e-mails and add them to a subscription list, but this ease of use increases the spam.

Most countries have strict Spam Laws that makes it illegal to send unsolicited e-mails to anyone that the company do not already have a business relation with. According to MessageLabs, 76% of all e-mail were spam.

In order to protect the user from spam, the mail servers and the mail readers are configured to filter out spam, some are never passed on to the user, and other e-mails end up in the junk-folder.

As an active e-mail marketer, you must first overcome the spam filter hurdle, and even then you are not sure if your e-mail reached its target.

Effectiveness of e-mail marketing is measured by e-mail marketing programs as feedback from the mail server and programs that the e-mail was received and read. E-mails that were not received are rejected by the mail server and in most cases an automatic response is triggered and which can be measured and the recipient can be removed from the subscriber list after a pre-set number of attempts.

To see if the e-mail reached the inbox and was opened, the e-mail usually contains links to pictures that are found on the internet. If these pictures are viewed, a request to open the picture is submitted and this request is monitored.

In the battle against spam, e-mail readers have the possibility to block such links to graphics, and the user can determine if the sender is trusted and/or if pictures should be shown.

A study on picture blocking in e-mail programs from Promio.net (April 2007), show that more than 30% or the users have selected to block pictures, and the conclusion is that Live-reporting of successful delivery of HTML mails is higher than can be measured.

To increase the measuring of e-mail marketing, the subscriber database should be based on voluntary (Opt-in) subscription and the subscribers should be asked to add the sender e-mail to their "Safe Senders List"

1. Shopping Cart/Online order form
2. Payment Gateway
3. Merchant Account

The key components of receiving online payments
When thinking about receiving online payments (e-commerce) it is useful to understand the three key components.

1. Shopping Cart/Online order form
2. Payment Gateway
3. Merchant Account

Shopping Cart/Online Order Form
A Shopping cart is a tool that facilitates the item selection or ‘picking’ activity. Used in conjunction with an online catalogue tool, where the items for sale are listed, a user selects items from the catalogue and places them in the ‘cart’.  Most Australian companies will utilise a hosted shopping cart (ASP model) where they pay a monthly hosting fee. With the hosted approach the digital certificate (SSL) is provided by the host and is covered in the hosting fee. Companies who host the shopping cart themselves are responsible for the digital certificate which carries an annual ongoing cost.

In addition to better usability for the user, a well designed shopping cart helps the company to manage online risk and combat against fraud through the information collected and the usage of email auto-responders. Also, a user will judge the website by its shopping cart. So be careful, as a poorly designed shopping cart with a ‘clunky’ check out process can put the user off-side and the sale opportunity lost.

An online order form is a basic alternative to a shopping cart.

Payment Gateway
A payment gateway is required for real-time e-commerce on your website where the user’s credit card is authorised in real time, allowing the user to complete the transaction, and triggering a payment into the merchant’s bank account. Usually there is a set-up fee, annual fee, and per transaction charge.

The usage of a payment gateway is preferable with regards to managing online risk.
Internet Merchant Account facility

An internet merchant account facility is a dedicated account facility to receive online credit card payments the user establishes with a bank. For real time e-commerce it works in conjunction with a payment gateway.

Approaches to E-commerce
The following three approaches to e-commerce are common among Australian online merchants. 

1. For real time e-commerce the merchant establishes the internet merchant facility with their bank, integrates the payment gateway, and uses either a shopping cart or order form for information capture. In most circumstances it will be easier and more cost effective for the merchant to charge in Australian dollars only.
   
   From a security point of view the advantage of using a payment gateway means that the customer’s details (name, address, credit card number) are not captured (or seen) by the merchant but rather are captured by the payment gateway provider only. Also the transfer of the customer’s details from the merchant’s website to the payment gateway is secure (encrypted) and cannot be intercepted.
   
2. Another approach is where the merchant uses a third party hosted solution such as Paypal, Worldpay or Paymate who look after some or all of the key components of e-commerce. The advantage is the ease in which the Australian company can charge the customer in different currencies without having to establish dedicated currency bank accounts.
   
3. The last approach and the least preferred from a security perspective is where the merchant uses either a shopping cart or order form for information capture and then manually re-keys the credit card number into an EFTPOS facility they have leased from a bank. Essentially the website captures the order information and the transaction is processed manually off-line. With this approach the company does not require a payment gateway service because the transaction is not in real time.

This approach is not preferred for a number reasons relating to security. The problem is that once the customer details (name, address, credit card number) are entered into the online order form in order for the merchant to access them, they are either emailed or stored in a back-end database for retrieval. If emailed they are generally unsecured (not encrypted). If they are stored in the database, behind password access, they are still potentially vulnerable to a hacker who knows a thing or two about data bases.

These factors increase the use of commercial and communication platforms in the sector.  Finally, the global nature of the pharmaceutical sector means that companies have to sell or manufacture in diverse international markets. 

The pharmaceutical sector appears to have the ideal characteristics for using electronic business tools that support B2B relations (business to business) for buyers as well as sellers. Firstly, many of the products that it sells lend themselves to a simple description and exhibit a high degree of standardization. Furthermore, the specific challenges faced by the pharmaceutical sector, such as managing product recalls, is encouraging collaboration along the whole value chain. These factors increase the use of commercial and communication platforms in the sector.  Finally, the global nature of the pharmaceutical sector means that companies have to sell or manufacture in diverse international markets. 

Commercial B2B platforms support the buying and selling activities of pharmaceutical companies in different ways. Pharmaceutical companies appear to be the typical online purchaser. Nearly 40% of companies in the pharmaceutical sector state that they use the internet or other IT networks for purchasing goods or services, a figure slightly lower than the weighted average for all sectors. It should also be noted that the difference between small and large companies is relatively insignificant, with more than 30% of micro-companies (1-9 employees) in the sector claiming to carry out online purchases. A more detailed analysis reveals that the strategic importance of online purchases is significantly limited. Only 7% of all pharmaceutical companies in the EU-7 purchase more than 25% of their supplies online, a figure that is similar to the weighted average of the ten sectors in the survey.

The pharmaceutical sector are more internationalized than the average and 18% of companies deal primarily with international suppliers compared to an average of only 13%. Overall, the bulk of online purchases in this sector come from regional or national suppliers.

In general SMEs have little interest in more sophisticated electronic business tools. Due to the small size of these companies, improving their purchasing (or selling) procedures does not offer them the same advantages as their larger rivals. Furthermore, many electronic business tools are simply not suitable for use by SMEs (the number of purchases made by these companies in general is not sufficient to warrant the use of an online auction). The percentage of large pharmaceutical companies that use specific IT applications to support their buying procedures (36%) is far higher than for smaller companies.

Although a high percentage of pharmaceutical companies purchase online, internet purchases represent on a small proportion of total purchases. Furthermore, the specific IT applications that support purchasing activities are primarily used by large companies.

When your boss gives you the task to create your company’s new “face” to the world, it is extremely important that you seriously consider all aspects when you are about to get your new web page done. Be systematic, take your time, ask as much as you can from the potential suppliers and think again!

The Swedish IT-magazine Internetworld elaborated on the subject of the importance of allocating enough resources when you create your e-business activity. Remember to request the right things from your suppliers if you want to be successful on the web.

When your boss gives you the task to create your company’s new “face” to the world, it is extremely important that you seriously consider all aspects when you are about to get your new web page done. Be systematic, take your time, ask as much as you can from the potential suppliers and think again!

The target group
The first thing to do is to define the target group, who they are, what you know about their web activities etc. Make the best possible description of the category you want to visit your page and pursue what you want them to do. Discuss with your suppliers and take advantage of their experience. Let your suppliers help you to avoid the common mistakes and guide you along possible alternatives that are proven efficient in other applications.

Be specific
Create your goal and describe what you want to obtain with your new application. Be as specific as you can. Review what you come up with and try again. Discuss it with your colleagues and suppliers to find out if they understand what you are trying to communicate. Formulate in full sentences what you want to describe.

The system
You also have to consider how the system is going to be maintained and kept. The cost to maintain a system and keep it updated may be as high as, or even higher than to create the new system. Do not forget to analyze your exciting system and study in what way that one is going to be integrated with your new web page.

Time
Give the work the time that is needed. Do not rush and try to set target dates for planned activities so these activities will fall in line in an organized and expected way.  At the same time put up scheduled check points to be sure that all activities, your own as well as delivered by your suppliers are in line with the time table you have set up.

Functionality
Focus on the functionality of what you want to create. This is important and will help all involved to understand what you are aiming at. If you put too much emphasis on technical solutions instead of the functionality, one tends to be restricted by the technicalities and therefore miss many options.

Who is doing what
Elaborate on who is doing what and when. If possible make a detailed flow-chart describing who is producing what and when it should be delivered to the project. It is very easy that something is overseen and therefore not supplied. Unclear responsibilities may cause expensive delays in the production and friction in the production team.

Your new “face” to the world will be a success when you plan your project well and care about the details!

“The usage of the e-marketplace by the Production Dept., where all procurement needs usually begin, is today a commonly accepted fact by all, says Mr. António Lopes, Procurement Director at Edifer Construções. “When we joined econstroi there was at first some resistance, because all of a sudden there seemed to be further tasks to perform and a new information system to use. But, after the initial clash, we’ve managed to stabilize and today procurement procedures are running smoothly.

Edifer Construções, S.A., a construction company operating since the 1950’s and with a longstanding background both on quality and market trust. In 1986, and in order to be able to incorporate an entrepreneurial management, Edifer established the Gestifer holding as well as the spin off of its activities.

In 2004, the company went through a major strategic evaluation process which led, among other decisions related to the need to incorporate and a new and more efficient procurement model, to the decision of joining the econstroi e-marketplace.

Econstroi is a fast growing Portuguese e-marketplace covering the full spectrum of the building and construction industry. Online since December 2000, there are currently over 3,200 companies doing business and a gross total of nearly 2,000 million Euro in contracts awarded between 2003 and March 2007.

Anticipating the future
“Thanks to new procurement methods and especially to the e-marketplace tools, we were able, so to say, to anticipate the future. In the building and construction industry, time and technology are key factors”.

“The usage of the e-marketplace by the Production Dept., where all procurement needs usually begin, is today a commonly accepted fact by all, says Mr. António Lopes, Procurement Director. “When we joined econstroi there was at first some resistance, because all of a sudden there seemed to be further tasks to perform and a new information system to use. But, after the initial clash, we’ve managed to stabilize and today procurement procedures are running smoothly.

Although my staff hasn’t downsized due to daily business requirements, it is now definitely better qualified – their quality and efficiency have improved significantly.”

Improved information for all involved
For the company, joining econstroi brought about a better systematization and procedure efficiency, namely thanks to:

• Standardization of requests sent to Procurement Dept.
• Reduction of errors connected to a deficient specification
• Significant reduction of low value administrative procedures
• Full online access to procurement processes for the Production Dept.
• Support to all approvals workflow
• Better information sharing within the company

This also caused a major impact in the Budgeting Dept. Procurement and Budgeting are currently using a common database. Suppliers submitting budgets for RFQ/RFP (Request for Quotation/Proposal) and bids will always be contacted later during the purchasing stage. Moreover, their budgets are instantly available when the company compares the different proposals submitted.

Financial advantages was achieved
For Edifer, it is evident that this has brought both benefits and savings, namely financial advantages, because it receives an estimate of about 39% more and better proposals, especially from non-traditional suppliers; administrative procedures, a time consuming task, have also been significantly reduced (37%); and finally, the company has been able to improve the whole organizing and following up of the procurement process.

Two years after joining the e-marketplace, it is quite clear for Edifer that they made the right decision – there is currently a wider range of potential suppliers to select from, and the company  is saving time and money.
 

Online collaboration is increasing in the building and construction industry
The use of online collaboration technology tools on building construction sites is on the increase across the globe.  This case study looks at an Australian solution that is making inroads and providing real benefits to the building and construction industry. The solution allows all parties from the architect to the building regulation body to the builder to share information in a timely, efficient and secure manner.

Managing vast volume of information
Aconex is an Australian web-based information management and collaboration system. To manage the vast volume of information generated on construction and engineering projects, the Australian company, Aconex, helps replace the use of paper documents by allowing users to store project information including drawings, documents, and correspondence online in one central site.

For the individual company using the system, the results are saving time through quick and easy information access, reduced costs for couriers, printing and stationery, and reduced exposure to risks such as information loss, disputes and litigation.

Aconex’s uptake has doubled every year for the past five years, though as with e-commerce and online banking, it hasn’t changed standard industry processes. Rather it has used the power of the internet to make these processes electronic rather than manual.

Exchanging information shortens project lifetime and increases productivity
Users of the system include builders, contractors, architects, project managers, engineers, subcontractors, quantity surveyors and consultants. The tool facilitates the exchange of information between these users.

For example, instead of an engineer making a change to a building plan then mailing the paper document by courier to the architect who then makes his revisions and sends it to the builder, the tool enables all three parties to meet together online and simultaneously make revisions to documents in real-time. This shortens project timelines and increases productivity.

Usage of collaboration technologies is increasing
Aconex has achieved rapid uptake in markets such as the US, the UK and Australia. As for future growth opportunities, the main potential resides in emerging markets such as China, India and the Gulf region.

In general, collaboration technology solutions are being used by approximately 20% of the Australian market and 50% of the UK and US markets. In the thriving construction markets across the Middle East and Asia, collaboration technology is being used by less than 10% of the industry. This represents growth opportunities for all providers of collaboration technology solutions.

Assisting Exporters
Aconex links organisations using the web, making it easier for companies to communicate with one another as they don’t have to be on the same physical project site. For example, an architect in Melbourne can quickly and easily transfer drawings and files to an engineer in Dubai without having to fly to the project site. By creating this possibility, and making the international collaboration process easier, companies may be more likely to work on projects in different countries, which is a good result for export.

For more information visit Aconex 

Search engine optimisation (SEO) holds the key to this conundrum, and the advice from marketing experts, web developers and the search engines themselves is to put a little time and effort into making sure that the investment made in launching a bells-and-whistles website is not wasted because no one can readily find it.

"Companies don't understand the huge number of people who are searching online and they won't be told. Yes, people still want to go to, say, the forecourt to talk to a salesman in person to buy a car, but they will have done their research online first. Businesses need to know that consumers are using their website for research, and they need to know who is visiting it, where they came from and which pages they are likely to look at on it," claims Anthony Quigley, managing director of Online-Marketing.ie.

It is now common knowledge that people don't really surf the internet any more; they search it. At the same time, businesses are realising that publishing and keeping an up-to-date website is no good if people can't actually find it.

Search engine optimisation (SEO) holds the key to this conundrum, and the advice from marketing experts, web developers and the search engines themselves is to put a little time and effort into making sure that the investment made in launching a bells-and-whistles website is not wasted because no one can readily find it.

"Companies don't understand the huge number of people who are searching online and they won't be told. Yes, people still want to go to, say, the forecourt to talk to a salesman in person to buy a car, but they will have done their research online first. Businesses need to know that consumers are using their website for research, and they need to know who is visiting it, where they came from and which pages they are likely to look at on it," claims Anthony Quigley, managing director of Online-Marketing.ie.

Falling behind
Richard Hearne, search analyst at Red Cardinal, a firm that specialises in SEO and internet marketing believes that the rise of "social media" such as blogging is one major development that is not being taken advantage of. Bloggers insert links to other relevant blogs within their online journals, and this has had a profound effect on leading search engine Google, which tends to rank webpages in terms of how many legitimate inward and outward links they have.

Hearne says many Irish firms are still investing heavily - spending tens of thousands of euro every month - in paid-for search engine adverts rather than trying to develop "organic rankings" based on the authority and relevance of a well-linked page. "There are no hard and fast figures available but it seems as though 80 or 90 percent of people are clicking on organic search results rather than the paid-for search ads," he says.

The hard figures we do have, courtesy of Captivate Digital, point to the fact that more than three-quarters of internet users rely on search engines to find all their online information, and that around 60 percent of all websites receive more than half their traffic from search engines. With this in mind, Irish companies could be losing out to overseas rivals - particularly if they fail to register high up the page with leading search engine Google.

Looking abroad
Google is the dominant search engine in Europe, and in dozens of other territories. Although exact statistics are a matter of debate amongst researchers, the Californian search giant is generally acknowledged as the leading search portal in the US and across Europe. "Google is, by far, king in this space," says Quigley. "Yahoo, Microsoft Live, Ask, AOL and Netscape are all looking for a slice of the action, but they have a long way to go. If you optimise for Google, the others should follow suit."

To optimise for British search sites, it's important to be listed on all of the dot-co-dot-uk (.co.uk) versions of the following search engines: Yahoo, Google, MSN, Go.com and AOL. Meanwhile, the general advice for being found in Europe is, again, to go for Yahoo, Google and MSN, but Searcheurope.com shouldn't be overlooked either.

SMEs looking to sell their wares online to developing markets in Asia are advised to research the local situation first. Quigley recommends Asiabiz.com and Asiaguide.com as two search engines to target. "Also, ask your Asian partners where they search and start to get listed there too; use local expertise," he advises.

In the huge Chinese market, Baidu.com claims to be the most popular search engine, and the site's managers have cleverly introduced a phonetic search called "pin-yin" that allows users to type in Chinese keywords using English characters. Meanwhile, in Korea and Japan - both Southeast Asian markets increasingly targeted by Irish businesses - Yahoo is the leading search engine among internet users.

"Most of the main search engines have country-specific search sub-sites that let you target customers in specific geo-targeted locations. Then there are engines like MIVA that have a great reputation for delivering traffic from a UK-based audience," continues Feargal O'Byrne, CEO of the Irish Internet Association.

To target certain geographic areas, therefore, it's worthwhile developing links with locally focused authoritative and appropriate websites related to your business area or product. Linking to locally respected and relevant trade bodies, agencies and professional associations is a prime example. This should drive your website's title text up the rankings on the country- or region-specific version of a search engine, e.g. Google.co.jp for Japan, or Yahoo's dedicated Asian portal, asia.yahoo.com.

Linking up
Although there is a vast quantity of search engines available on the net, all functioning along different lines, current thinking among web professionals is that the best way to approach optimising your website is to include as many outward and inward links as possible to established and well-trafficked sites.

Seeing as the world's leading search engine, Google, operates by organically ranking websites by the number of links they have, a good place to start is to work out exactly how many valid links your website actually has.

Using Google, this can be done by typing "link:www.yourwebsite'sname" (e.g. link:www.enterprise-ireland.com) into the Google search bar (without any spaces). You can also do this for deeper pages of your website, e.g. "link:www.yourwebsite'sname/aboutus". Yahoo's Site Explorer offers a similar service.

O'Byrne says this first step in search engine optimisation can be a real eye opener. "Most businesses think they have thousands of links, only to find two! Linking is very important but often overlooked. Remember, links send traffic to your site even if Google never existed, but they also comprise part of the Google algorithm."

"Link building is probably the most difficult part of search engine optimisation," says search engine analyst Richard Hearne of Red Cardinal. "And not every link has the same value." For example, links embedded within text tend to carry more weight with search engine spiders - the automated programs that crawl and categorise the web for search engines - than links contained in a list.

This is where emarketplaces and online directories can serve another useful purpose. By publishing your website address on these websites (but taking into the advice above), thereby increasing the number of links to your website, you may be able to improve your search engine ranking.
 
Tracking and taggingAccording to Anthony Quigley, managing director of Online-Marketing.ie, one easy step for online SMEs to consider is to set up their website to track usage by visitors before engaging an expert to implement wholesale search engine optimisation.

"For example, it's no good just recording that someone downloaded your brochure; it's useful to know which link that potential customer used to get to your website, and on what pages did they linger and for how long before making the decision to seek further info," he says. "It's like a big department store knowing which entrance door is most used by shoppers: it affects a lot of other decisions to be made later on."

Quigley says the three most important aspects an optimiser should look at are title tags, content, and inbound links. Title tags are the (usually blue-coloured) text a surfer clicks on a search results page to get to your website, while getting the content right means choosing the right keywords or 'metatags'. Metatags are HTML tags written into the website and indexed by some search engines but not actually displayed on the site.

"It took the airline industry years to get this right," says Quigley. "People don't search for [the term] 'low cost flights', which the airlines had entered as one of their main keyword combinations. Instead, people type 'cheap flights'."

Google Analytics, a free service, can monitor a site, and statistics can show the number of visitors every day. This Google tool has a range of other useful applications such as revealing with what keywords visitors find a particular website so that the website owners can see whether the traffic is targeted or not.

The Verpakkingen.com e-marketplace (www.verpakkingen.com) offers specific opportunities to many packaging companies.

A Dutch packager distinguishes itself on the e-marketplace by offering all the available packaging solutions. The client chooses a packaging, measurement and quality. If the required product is not available, the company develops a packaging solution in consultation with the client.

The marketplace has kept the company on the ball when it comes to recognising new markets and opportunities. The internet is a very practical tool to communicate quickly with the customer and the packager advises to make sure that personal contact is made with the customer.

Verpakkingen.com is an e-marketplace for packing, packaging materials and packaging machines in the Benelux. Participants receive direct access to a network of affiliated marketplaces.

The e-marketplace offers translation services, electronic newsletters to potential customers or press releases to editorial teams, e-mail response campaigns, a tendering system, and overview lists of decision-makers who have an interest in participants’ products and services. Participants can also open an online store.

The airline/aviation industry is a very competitive industry characterised by a small number of firms who control the majority share of the market. Half of the world’s fleet is operated by 17 large airlines.

It is estimated that the airline/aviation industry generates 29 million jobs worldwide and its global economic impact is estimated at USD 2,960 billion, which is equivalent to 8% of world GDP.

Recent times have been difficult for the industry. Of note have been the loss of consumer confidence due to terrorism threats and SARS and the increasing cost of fuels reducing yield per customer. It seems though that the industry has weathered this well and is coming out the other side. Growth in seat demand is forecast across all regions, with the most significant growth expected to come from Asia.

A 2005 study conducted by the National Institute for Transport and Logistics in Dublin, Ireland, of Senior Procurement personnel from airlines around the globe focussing on B2B e-markets in the airline industry, delivered some interesting findings.

• 25% of study respondents are involved financially in an e-market (full service airlines making up the majority of this group at 68% and low cost at 23%)
• 65% report using e-markets for procurement (full service at 82%, low-cost at 79%, regional at 50%, and charter at 27%)

E-markets reduce search costs of airlines mostly in the areas of spares and repairs, tools, and office supplies.

Like its European partners Portugal has in recent decades, developed an increasingly services based economy. The services sector currently provides jobs to 57,5% of the working population and generates 71,1% of gross value added (GVA). The primary sector provides jobs for 11,9% of the population and contributes just 3,5% to GVA, compared to 24% in 1960. Industry, construction, energy and water represent 30,6% of jobs and 25,4% of GVA.

Despite a poor economic growth in 2005, a meager 0,3%, the third quarter of 2006 showed an encouraging 1,5% growth. This recovery has received a big boost from the performance of Portuguese exports – a significant 8,8% growth, the largest since 2000. Portuguese Government expects an economic growth of 1,8% for 2007. 

Manufacturing has sharply changed its traditional profile, moving from high dependence on textiles, footwear, ceramics, cork, food and drinks industries to a position where new sectors are now offering a dynamic growth. These include motor vehicle and motor vehicle components, electronics and pharmaceuticals. Services have become increasingly important in the last two decades with significant diversification into various areas such as transport, communications, commerce, tourism and financial services.

In 2004 there were slightly over 628,000 companies in Portugal, 92,5% of which were micro-sized companies (up to 9 employees), accounting for 26,4% of total turnover. The remaining 7,5% provided jobs for 59,5% of the total workforce and produced 73,6% of the turnover. Concerning information and communication technology (ICT), this sector represented 1,5% of total companies, accounted for 7,3% of total turnover and employed 3,2% of the total workforce.

Similar to other European countries, progress in transport and communications in Portugal, especially telecommunications, has been advancing at a fast pace. Currently, sector infrastructure compares well with those of European neighbours. In 2000, sector liberalisation, and particularly long-distance landline communications and mobile phones services, brought increased competition, greatly boosting market quality and driving down tariffs. The country now has more mobile phones than land lines and mobile telephone penetration is one of the highest in the world. According to the EIU 2005 e-readiness ranking, Portugal ranks 25^th (on an overall list of 65 countries) and 15^th among Western Europe countries.

The use of ICT among Portuguese companies is quite high when considering the use of computers (91%, but almost 100% in companies employing over 50 staff), e-mail and Internet access (82%, but  100% among large companies). On the other hand, on average only 37,1% of companies have their own website, although when considering large companies alone, this figure reaches 76,4%. The percentage of Portuguese companies having received online orders rose from 3% in 2003 to 9% in 2005.

Recently, e-business in Portugal has been performing rather well. According to the data supplied by the e-business Association (ACEP), in the first half of 2006, 80% of Portuguese e-business websites reported that their turnover grew, and for some 20% of those the growth was over 50%.

This recent study from eMarketServices shows that e-marketplaces is an interesting sales- and marketing channel towards new markets and customers and that companies that are using e-marketplaces see an increased turnover combined with a better result and therefore want to continue using them.

This study from eMarketServices on behalf of NorStella and Innovation Norway shows that e-marketplaces is an interesting sales- and marketing channel towards new markets and customers and that companies that are using e-marketplaces see an increased turnover combined with a better result and therefore want to continue using them.

An unexpected result of the study is that companies that have been requested to start using e-marketplaces by existing customers and sell to these, do not see that the e-marketplace makes the salesprocess more efficient. This contradicts other case studies and could be an interesting topic for a new study.

A challenge for the e-marketplaces is to address the problems that companies have in presenting themselves well enough for potential customers, and that this problem also causes some of the companies to find the e-marketplaces difficult to use.

The combination of beeing little used (2-3% of the European SME), but at the same time giving positive results (84% of the respondents in this study) and desire for continued use (86% of the respondents) tells us that SME need more information about available e-marketplaces and how these can be used.

La Pinza is a wholesaler of fashion accessories which specialises in importing and distributing bags, watches, hair accessories, fashion jewelry, etc. The three main reasons behind our decision to begin using electronic markets were to increase our client portfolio, to expand into EU markets and to reduce the cost of catalogues and point of purchase material.

They chose the e-Market CanalTextil for two main reasons. Firstly due to its position on the internet and secondly because it is an electronic market that reaches the target market they are looking for. ]]> <p> <img style='cursor:pointer;cursor:hand' src='http://www.emarketservices.com/clubs/ems/prod/More competitive, more efficient.jpg' border=0 alt='More competitive, more efficient'> 2007-01-01 10:00:00 http://www.emarketservices.com/?cl=ems&mi=6&mi2=1&mi3=1&so=1&ca=prod&ni=1&ci=289 Retailers and other producers in the Fine Food industry shouldn’t be shy of investing small dollars on the Internet, the return on investment is rapid and measurable. The investment is small and the returns great.

Retailers and other producers in the Fine Food industry shouldn’t be shy of investing small dollars on the Internet, the return on investment is rapid and measurable. The investment is small and the returns great.

Look for other electronic marketplaces in the Foods industry in the online directory.

The fantastic evolution of internet and the new means for international trade brings companies closer together and creates new and vast business opportunities.  At the same time it may give ground for new illegal cross border activities that the organized crime syndicates may take advantage of. Trafficking is one of the fastest growing crimes of this time. This report is written by the Swedish Trade Council and reflect the experience from a considerable number of Swedish SME:s.

Following Sweden’s entry into the Schengen scheme, small and medium-sized businesses in Sweden have become a target for international bogus companies on the hunt for much sought-after visas to the Schengen countries.

Foreign entities calling themselves companies search the internet and eMarket directories to retrieve names of SME:s that could be contacted for pretended offers for future trade. These bogus companies could be on the other side of the world and yet be felt like they are very much present and real due to internet efficiency. The beauty of the internet, cutting the distances has at the same time opened a new lucrative way to illegally cross borders for the purpose of getting into the black labour-market in developed countries.

With these false promises of business, the bogus company is given assistance in obtaining a visa for, in this case Schengen, but no business comes out of it – instead the Swedish company becomes an involuntary accomplice to the growing trade in human trafficking, in which visas are worth their weight in gold.

Killarney-based building firm Aspenhill Construction is increasingly looking to the internet to source new business, and the government's eTenders website is often its first port of call.

"Before we got online I'd only search for work the tried and tested ways of reading through the local newspapers for tenders and, of course, through word of mouth. With the eTenders site though, I know I won't miss an ad buried at the bottom of a page, or hear about a job after it's been awarded already," says procurement manager Sheehan.

According to a research carried out by e-business w@tch, the level of e-business activity in the European textile industry is below average compared to other manufacturing industries and is also a late adopter of ICT (Information and Communication Technologies). However there is some evidence that the situation, though slowly, is about to improve.

"The two most important reasons for using e-marketplaces are information and contacts, that is, information and contacts well segmented according to what we are searching for, at the customer level and other manufacturers (for studying the competition).

It’s like visiting a fair but without leaving your office; you find manufacturers and customers from all over the world, see trends. It is a point of reference for finding other e-marketplaces; they do the searching for us," says Eva Reñé, Director of Exports at LEBO S.A. a Spanish manufacturer of chemical products for automobiles (cleaners, polish, lubricants), air fresheners and insecticides.

Austrade’s E-business Advisor Edwin Kuller and Internet Consultant Derek Jardine have developed a full day E-business workshops for Australian small and medium sized companies (SMEs).

In 2005 the workshop was delivered throughout Australia to 1,100 SMEs in WA, SA, QLD, Vic, NSW, and Tasmania in a variety of city, metropolitan and rural areas.
The major topics covered in the e-business workshop are;

• Strategic e-business planning and action
• E-business language and concepts
• Good exporter websites – what to do, what not to do
• Online marketing tactics – how to drive traffic to your website, including search engine optimisation, email marketing and linking
• Online trading issues such as online payment, security, privacy and spam
• Managing your domain name
• Attendee website reviews and discussion

Here are some noteworthy observations that Edwin and Derek have gleamed from the 1,100 Australian SMEs that have attended the workshop.

"The only way we can compete, is by being better, and Transportnett places us on equal terms with our big competitors," says Morten Nore, the managing director of Moss Transportforum.

Transportnett is a Norwegian e-marketplace for transport service providers, shippers, trading companies, freight forwarders, airline, ocean shipping lines, storage companies & courier companies.

The Spanish company Intex, S.A imports, exports and trades electronic, mechanical and electromechanical components.

They are using several e-marketplaces, such as: Solostocks.com; eBay.com; The Broker Forum; FastParts; Partminer; Netcomponents.

"Using the eMarket, we get requests for quote from companies we have not been in touch with before. Since we have a wide range of services and competitive prices, we have won new customers in Norway, Finland and Denmark, where we had no business before," says Christer Persson, Sales representative of Carlshamn Tryck & Media AB.

Carlshamn is a privately owned printing office, established over 100 years ago. The company was reconstructed a couple of years ago. It offers a wide range of printing services, mainly to customers in Sweden

"Using an e-marketplace is an easy and inexpensive tool for exporting your products," says Gerrit Schrotenboer, Commercial Manager at DESMI K&R Pompen B.V.

DESMI K&R Pompen B.V. (formerly Kuyl & Rottinghuis B.V. / K&R pompen BV) is a technical wholesaler specialising in the development of pumps and in the purchase and sale of pumps and motors. They are using SeaQuipment.com, an internet catalogue for maritime products and services.

Modern commercial transport is defined as including all those means and infrastructures involved in the movement of people or goods, as well as the reception, delivery and handling services of those goods. Commercial transport of people is therefore known as "passenger transport" and the transport of goods is called "freight transport".

The European Union transport sector has grown significantly in line with GDP and is currently worth €1 trillion (approximately 10% of GDP) employing 10 million people.

North American firms are conducting more business over the Internet, but are missing important markets overseas. A North America-oriented Web site will reach only 5% of the world’s population and 25% of global purchasing power, but few consumer websites generate any international revenue at all. While globalization is increasingly on the minds of progressive business executives, the nuances of global e-business are less obvious.

We use the term “e-business” to broadly describe the publishing of information and the performing of various transactions over the Internet, Extranets, or Intranets. E-business includes the various terms used to express specific functions, including e-commerce, e-government, and others. The barriers to effective e-business are varied enough in the industrial world, but especially problematic in the developing world. Some obstacles are likely to be removed in the relatively near future, but others will remain over a much longer period. To help readers understand the nature of barriers to e-business, we first review the extent of e-business and expectations for the near future. We then examine a number of well-recognized barriers to e-business.

What is the status of e-business in Norway?

This reports looks at the use of advanced e-business tools like e-marketplaces and the work done by the government and through legislation.

Norway is a large country with a small population. 4.6 million people inhabits an area of about 387 000 square kilometres with only 11.7 inhabitants per square kilometre. There are large regions that are very scarcely populated, contributing to a setting where electronic communication is very attractive.

In addition, Norway has the advantage of rich resources, mainly of oil and gas, producing a gross national product of about 30 800 Euro per person.
Since telecommunication expanded and the use of the internet and mobile phones became popular, Norway has considered itself to be among the world leaders in use of ICT (Information and Communication Technology), mainly within the personal and home use, but also for companies. The 2005 e-readiness ranking from the Economist Intelligence Unit  also confirms that Western Europe is the 2nd highest ranking region with Norway ranked in 9th place. The report confirms that Norway is a global leader in ICT infrastructure, but ranks lower than the other Nordic countries because it has not been able to transform this as well into intellectual property rights – measured by the number of patents registered per resident.

There are 452 000 companies in Norway, and like most other countries, micro-sized companies (10 or less employees) account for 89% of them. The remaining 11% of the companies produce 83% of turnover and employs 74% of the workforce.
The use of Internet and e-business is widespread among Norwegian companies. Measuring from 1998, the number of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SME) with more than 10 employees (10+) that had Internet access grew from 40% to 87%. This increase has now levelled out and reached its peak. Within the same period, the number of 10+ companies with homepages grew from 20% to 61%. About 2% of all companies sell digital products and services via their homepages, and 10% of the companies have received orders via their homepage. The turnover via homepages was about 5 billion Euros in 2003.
More advanced use of e-business is low in Norway, as in most other countries. The Welsh eCommerce Innovation Centre defines a 7-step ladder of e-commerce . In 2004 less than 5% of the Welsh companies had reached the level where they have an online store, have integrated IT-systems with their business partners or use advanced e-commerce, like electronic marketplaces.

Lacking similar studies, but being able to compare Norway to Denmark we can use the results from the “Participation in an Internet-Based Trading Community 2002” as a basis. This study shows that about 95% of the companies had heard about the concept of an Internet marketplace, but only 2.8% participate as a buyer, 7.9% as seller, and only 5.6% as both buyer and seller.

These numbers are also consistent with other studies and reports, some of which have been published on the eMarketServices portal.

E-business and the use of more advanced tools like electronic marketplaces is still giving the companies a competitive advantage if they are able to implement it successfully within their organisations and are able to attract the buyers. As the recent case study about Wittusen & Jensen shows (“The customers are driving the e-business now”, December 2005), e-business has moved from being primarily a marketing tool, to being a required service that the buyers have come to expect.

"Always be careful and discuss with the people online. In discussing and corresponding with the people, you get a better understanding of the companies they represent," says Bert Mastenbroek, Wilbert Trading.

Wilbert Trading is a Dutsch company that specializes in the leasing and sales of new- and second and intermodal equipment and on activities related to intermodal equipment in the Benelux countries.

"Detailed specifications and the time suppliers spend on answering requirement details make it possible to select the best few suppliers in the procurement process."

"Using an electronic marketplace makes the process effective and in many cases the Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SME) are able to compete both on price and quality," says Mr. Bård Vassbotn, Purchase Manager at Uniteam Group.

UniTeam delivers high mobility shelter systems and container solutions to Defence Forces in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, The United Kingdom, The United States and The Netherlands, and several other countries as well as NATO and The United Nations.

The liberalisation promoted by the European Union has had a strong impact on the sector, although the structure of the industry is still characterized by a few large competitors, who are facing the challenges of a dynamic sector.

The Telecommunication industry is one of the leading sectors in the adoption of e-business applications.

The liberalisation promoted by the European Union has had a strong impact on the sector, although the structure of the industry is still characterized by a few large competitors, who are facing the challenges of a dynamic sector.

"Bridge building is an important part of the portal and I find a B2B portal is as much about the people that drive it as the technology that drives it.

The portal is only as good as the people that make it work. My interaction with the people behind the portal is crucial, and because I have a great relationship with the people that drive it I have benefited a lot from the portal," says Mike Ross, New Zealand Country Manager of Objective Corporation Solutions NZ Limited.

Twilight House, a not-for-profit provision of aged-services to the elderly learns that the use of e-marketplaces and electronic purchasing tools such as smartbuy® is not the domain of the commercial for profit organisation.

In fact, the efficiencies and cost savings that these tools provides also apply to not-for-profit organisations who, with operating budgets tied to fixed (or shrinking) funding, are prime candidates for exploring ways to cut costs while maintaining product and service level standards.

Click here if you are looking for e-marketplaces for Public Procurement to do business with the Government of Public sector?

The global trade in wine is slowly increasing as new customers are found in both developed markets and newly emerging markets. After a slow start the international wine industry has started to embrace trading online through electronic databases. E-markets are generally well suited to this global trade that is spread over many times zones, currencies and languages.

This report introduces some significant e-marketplaces that are dedicated to wine

The world of VoIP is a place where speed in closing deals, trust in who you work with and the quality of the service offered are key.

An e-market like Doppiotransito allows even the smaller carriers to be competitive within this market and to be found by potential customers that would otherwise not be aware of them.

B2B e-marketplaces provide buying and selling companies significant and proven benefits. The report presents the reader with an overview of such benefits and put them in counter with barriers on joining an e-marketplace.

The major benefits of B2B e-marketplaces are within procurement and collaborations activities. An e-marketplace often has a particular business purpose and focuses on one of those two activities. Thus some benefits within these activities are more accurate than others and depend on what type of e-marketplace is in question.

Barriers for using e-marketplaces are tangible issues and require awareness in the matter in order to break through them. This report brings forward essential barriers when joining an e-marketplace or implementing an e-commerce solution in the firm.