B2c ecommerce report East Europe

Eastern Europe B2C E-commerce Report 2013
Facts, Figures & Trends of 2012 and Forecast 2013 of the Eastern European B2C E-commerce Market
Including Infographics and Country Profiles of Leading and Emerging E-commerce Markets in Eastern Europe

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www.ecommerce-europe.eu

Table of Contents
PREFACE
ABOUT ECOMMERCE EUROPE
OUR REPORT PARTNERS
MEDIA PARTNERS
Eastern EUROPE IN BRIEF
Introduction
Demographic Indicators
Economic Indicators
Share in Europe
Online share and growth
Online expenditure
B2C E-commerce overview
Eastern EUROPEAN COUNTRIES
Romania
Russia
Ukraine

© Ecommerce Europe

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10 – 17
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HOW TO GET INVOLVED

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61

BUSINESS PARTNERS

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62

MEDIA PARTNERS

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JOINING ECOMMERCE EUROPE

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64

MORE REPORTS ON B2C ECOMMERCE
EUROPEAN MEASUREMENT STANDARD
OF B2C ECOMMERCE (EMSEC)
DEFINITIONS
METHODOLOGY, ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
AND SOURCES
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
B2C ECOMMERCE IN EUROPE AT A GLANCE

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COLOPHONE

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Page 3

Eastern Europe B2C E-commerce
Preface

B2C e-commerce in Eastern Europe is, compared to the other
regions, in Europe still in iemerging but is showing high growth
potential, especially Russia and Ukraine. In 2012 the total B2C ecommerce turnover, including online retail goods and services
such as online travel bookings, events and other tickets,
downloads etc., reached €13.1 billion, a growth of 35.6%, which
is the highest growth of all five European regions. Growth in
2013 is estimated even better: a growth of 47% to reach €19,3
billion.
This Eastern European B2C e-commerce Report 2013 focuses on
facts, figures, trends and forecasts for the Eastern European
region. Ecommerce Europe is also publishing regional reports
covering the other European regions: North, Central, East and
South. In this report we compare key e-commerce and other
data from Belgium, France, Ireland, the Netherlands and the UK.

Ecommerce Europe’s mission is to promote the interests of B2C ecommerce in Europe. Ecommerce Europe offers a platform to guide
and assist companies in identifying and accessing new markets in
Europe and worldwide and also to provide information on this
fascinating, fast-growing industry. To this end, Ecommerce Europe not
only collects data and know-how, but also prepares in-depth reports
including facts, figures, trends and forecasts on Europe, the various
regions of Europe, and on leading and emerging countries and
markets around the globe.
The aim of all our reports is to provide insight in order to help
online retailers make the best possible decisions in support of
their strategy to expand their business into new markets.
Brussels, January 2014
François Momboisse

Ecommerce Europe, representing e-commerce associations and
e-commerce companies in Europe, wishes to thank all
participating national associations and their individual research
partners for providing data and information. We also extend our
thanks to all participating company members, business partners
and stakeholders for their involvement in making Ecommerce
Europe reports possible.

© Ecommerce Europe

Wijnand Jongen

President of Ecommerce Europe

Vice-President and Chair of
the Executive Committee


Page 4

About Ecommerce Europe
Ecommerce Europe

National Associations:

Ecommerce Europe was founded by leading national e-commerce associations
across Europe. Ecommerce Europe represents 4.000+ companies selling products
and/or services online to consumers in Europe.

Mission
To advance the interests and influence of e-commerce in Europe through
advocacy, communication and networking.

Goals
•
•
•

•
•

Enhance the success of the European B2C e-commerce industry;
Provide for a strong and effective representation of B2C e-commerce industry
in Brussels;
Advance the interest of B2C e-commerce industry with relevant stakeholders
and institutions;
In an environment where e-commerce companies feel at home;
With new brand recognition and membership engagement at all levels.

National Associations
Ecommerce Europe welcomes and invites national associations in EU member
states and EFTA countries representing (part of) the e-commerce B2C industry in
their domestic market to join the association.

© Ecommerce Europe


Page 5

Our Report Partners

This report has been empowered by the following partners
Hybris helps businesses on every continent sell more goods, services and digital content through every touch
point, channel and device.
Hybris was founded in 1997 with a simple mission: to create superbly engineered commerce solutions. Over
the years, the necessary ingredients for that have evolved – multichannel, open standards, very high
performance, data centricity, customer centricity – and so our company and products have evolved.

RichRelevance is the global leader in omni-channel personalization. More than 160 companies in 40 countries
use RichRelevance to turn data into actionable insight, which delivers the most relevant experience for
consumers as they shop across web, store and mobile.
RichRelevance drives more than one billion decisions every day, and has delivered over $8 billion in
attributable sales to its clients, which include Target, Marks & Spencer and PriceMinister.

Salesupply is a global e-business services company that enables online retailers to achieve profitable
international growth faster, more efficiently and with relatively low costs.

Salesupply provides a full range of solutions ranging from research and strategy, to effective localisation of
web shops, followed by complete operational support, traffic generation and brand management.

© Ecommerce Europe


Page 6

“Russia is a rising star”
Long-term opportunities lie beyond Moscow and St. Petersburg
Russia: From ‘sleeping giant’ to ‘rising star’
Russia is often hyped as a “rising star” in e-commerce heaven: Soaring internet
penetration and a huge growth potential were the reasons for that. With over 160
million people, Russia is the biggest single market in Europe. Russia tripled its online
sales in the last three years and online sales could hit 25 billion euro this year.
However, to begin your online business in Russia, you want to start in the region
Moscow and St. Petersburg. The greater area counts about 25-30 million people
with an considerable budget to spend. The middle class is growing very fast and
people like to spend money online. Also the logistic infrastructure is, for Russian
standards, well developed there.
The largest long-run opportunities however lie in the regions beyond Moscow and
St. Petersburg. Russia has another 9 cities with over 1 million people that most
Europeans have never heard of. These 130 million people spread from the Caucasus
over Siberia to Manchuria are what makes Russia the real ‘sleeping giant’. Internet
penetration is growing fast here, and the middle class is rising. Delivery to these
areas is a logistical challenge that will be solved in the next couple of years when the
offer and demand for online sales will increase significantly.

E-commerce in Ukraine : Strong growth and potential
The Ukrainian e-commerce market has grown nearly threefold over the
past four years. The 300 largest of the 8000 online stores generate more
than three quarters of the e-commerce turnover. With 45 million
inhabitants, the current e-commerce turnover of €1,2bn still shows a large
growth potential for the future.

In general, I think doing business in either of these three countries requires
thorough research and building a reliable local network of experts and
partners. Any foreign company eying to enter these markets has to be
aware of the economic charcteristics and the culture that shape the
business climate and adapt to that. If you are willing to make this effort,
there are large opportunities to be explored.

Structural improvements in Romania
Romania , since its entry in the European Union in 2007, has received funds and
incentives to improve its infrastructure, which is a benefit for the development of ecommerce. Romanians are generally quite internet- savvy. In bigger cities such as
Bucharest, Sibiu and Timisoara, the internet population is considerably larger than in
rural areas. But penetration is increasing steadily throughout the whole country and
the market is offering more and more opportunities for online retail.
© Ecommerce Europe


Henning Heesen
E-Commerce Cross-Border-Specialist
and Board member of Salesupply AG

Page 7

“Eastern Europe is showing great potential”
Adapting to the local internet culture allows seizing promising opportunities
Eastern European growth outpaces other Western Europe
In terms of growth, the Eastern European region outpaces Western
Europe. This is due to the fact that there is still a lot of ground to gain.
Many of the countries, such as Romania, are still in a transition phase
from being centrally regulated economies to free capitalistic market
systems.
Market conditions are improving
In general however, the education levels are high, people are
increasingly internet-smart and consumers’ demand for more shopping
choices increases. As internet penetration increases and the logistic
infrastructures continue to structurally improve, the Eastern European
Region becomes an interesting market for international online retail
businesses.
Russia: The most promising market in Eastern Europe
The most promising emerging market in the region is Russia: Russia is
one of the fastest growing e-commerce markets worldwide, and
throughout the past years, more and more international companies
have shown interest in this country. Russia, with 60 Million internet
users boasting the largest online community in Europe, is a market still
largely controlled by local companies.

© Ecommerce Europe

Local companies dominate the market
This is due to a variety of factors: delivery is an issue- tackled by larger
players such as Ozon.ru by having developed their own fulfilment
organization. Next to that, the Russian internet culture is very different
from that in other markets: Translation alone is insufficient to gain the
customers’ trust: Companies must take into account completely
different rules of the game: Instead of Facebook, Russian use VKontakte,
Search is done on Yandex, and cash still dominates the payment market.
International players enter Russia
But as the Russian’s appetite for e-commerce grows, more companies are
willing to take the steps necessary to enter the market, examples being
the British fashion PurePlayer ASOS and the Chinese e-commerce giant
Alibaba. The growth prospects of this country are thus
more than promising.


Pontus Kristiansson
Vice President EMEA RichRelevance
Page 8

The “e” in e-commerce is disappearing

Offering a seamless experience across all touch-points is key for cross- border growth
What is your general impression of e-commerce in Europe?
The ‘e’ of e-commerce is disappearing. Online is a very important element in
the route a customer follows, from the moment he or she has an idea to the
actual transaction: the purchase path. E-commerce is no longer a thing that
companies do as an additional channel, it has reached a phase of maturity and
is now a fully integrated component of the customer’s purchasing journey.
Which European regions do you consider the most promising and why?
Russia and Turkey are both important emerging European markets. However,
we also need to consider Scandinavia. Scandinavia was hit harshly by the
bursting of the dot-com bubble around the year 2000; the market grew more
slowly than for example in the UK. Scandinavia is however now picking up pace.
What do you consider the important trends to be?
The dominant trend is mobile: mobile commerce and mobile payments.
Interesting possibilities consist, for example, in the ability to track customers,
the integration of mobile into offline shop processes and the use of NFC
technology for payments. Imagine that shop staff is equipped with a tablet that
enables them to help the customer in a completely new way, even taking care
of the checkout process. In short, the whole POS is going through a transition
with mobile being a key element of this change.
What in your opinion is this year’s most overrated e-commerce trend?
“I believe QR Codes have been an overrated trend: it is too difficult to use, what
with starting your app, having an Internet connection, scanning the code -altogether too complicated!
© Ecommerce Europe

Which challenges do online retailers underestimate the most when
expanding their e-business across Europe?
Patience is key. Those new markets will still be out there in two years. If a
company has 100 employees in The Netherlands and then tries to enter the
German market with two dedicated staff members, this is not going to work.
Selling in foreign markets is full of complexities. If companies want to succeed,
they need to do it step by step, with a mature team and with patience.
Is there anything else you would like to share with our readers?
I believe pure-players are being challenged by Amazon: Amazon wants to
control 26% of the global e-commerce market by 2016. They are heavily
investing in growth right now. Retailers who want to set themselves apart have
to keep in mind that clients are seeking an omni-channel experience. I would
strongly advise pure-players to go offline in regions where they have many
customers. Research has shown that customers of omni-channel retailers are
200% more loyal than customers of pure players. Again, this is because of the
role that different sales channels play in the
customer journey from the instant that interest is
ignited to the moment of sale: 50% of people will
change from channel in every step they make in
their purchasing journey. Many retailers are losing
clients because they fail to offer a seamless
experience across all touch-points.


Henk-Jan van der Weide
VP Northern Europe & SA at hybris
Page 9

Eastern Europe

2012 Key e-commerce facts at a glance
249 million

100%

people live in Eastern Europe

51%

114 million

Russia
17%

28 million

€ 13,1 bn
e-commerce turnover
of goods & services

people are e-shoppers

Ukraine
Europe € 312 bn + 19,0%
EU 28 € 275bn + 18,0%
Eastern Europe € 13,1 bn + 35,6%

people use the internet

19%
81% Services
Goods

Romania
Bulgaria

Total B2C Ecommerce 2012 of goods & services

Ranking Eastern Europe
in turnover (EUR million)

E-commerce GDP

0,66 %

Total GDP € 1.992 bn
NAMO (National Association for
Distance Selling & Ecommerce)
Moscow, Russia
Ukrainian Direct Marketing
Association (UDMA); Kiev

1
2

3

1
Russia
2
Ukraine
3
Romania
4
Bulgaria
# Other countries¹

€ 10.300
€ 1.250
€ 800
€ 120
€ 617

1 Other countries include: Albania, Belarus, Bosnia & Herzegovina,
FYR Macedonia, Moldova, Kosovo, Montenegro and Serbia.

1,6%

Estimated share
of online retail
in total retail

Estimated 40% of active internet users are
on social media

Powered by:
© Ecommerce Europe 2013
info: research@ecommerce-europe.eu

Eastern Europe in Brief
Introduction

The Eastern European region consists of
Albania, Belarus, Bosnia & Herzegovina,
Bulgaria, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro,
Romania, Russia, Serbia and Ukraine.
This report focuses on Russia, Ukraine
and Romania. The rest of the countries
will be referred to as “others” , as B2C ecommerce is still in its infancy .

EASTERN EUROPE’S POPULATION
Share of Eastern European population, 2012

Bulgaria
3%

Others
13%

The Eastern European region is home to a
total of 248,7 million inhabitants living in
around 92 million households.

Romania
9%

Russia is by far the largest country of the
region, with a population of 143,2 million
or 57% of the region’s total population.
With a surface of 17.075.000 km2 Russia
is not only the largest Eastern European
nation but also Europe’s largest country
both in surface as in population.

Ukraine
18%

Russia
Russia
57%
Belarus
Ukraine
Moldavia
Romania

Ukraine is the second largest country with
a surface of 603.628 km2 and 45,6 million
inhabitants. Romania has a population of
21,3 million people with a surface of
238.392 km2.
© Ecommerce Europe

Serbia

Bulgaria

Kosovo

Page 11

B2C E-commerce in Eastern Europe
Online Expenditure

Eastern European consumers from
Bulgaria, Romania, Russia and
Ukraine spent on average €427
online in 2012. This is below the
EU28 and European average of
€1.309 and €1.398 respectively.

EASTERN EUROPE’S B2C E-COMMERCE
Expenditure per online shopper, in euros, 2012

Russians spent most online in 2012
with €515. Ukrainians rank second
with an average spend of €510.

€1.398

€ 1.309

The Romanians and Bulgarians are
third and fourth in rank with respect
to online spending (€400 and €370
respectively).
Consumers from the other countries
(including Albania, Belarus, Bosnia
& Herzegovina, FYR Macedonia,
Montenegro, Kosovo, Moldova and
Serbia) spent on average €285
online in 2012.

© Ecommerce Europe

€370

EU28

Europe

€400

Bulgaria

Romania


€515

€510
€285

Russia

Ukraine

Others

Page 16

Country Report Romania 2013
Facts, Figures & Trends of 2012 and Forecast 2013 of the Romanian B2C E-commerce Market


Romania 2012 Key e-commerce facts at a glance
21,30 million
people live in Romania

100%

45%
10%

9,60 million

2,00 million

€ 800 mn
e-commerce turnover
of goods & services

Bucharest

25%
Goods

Europe € 312 bn + 19,0%
EU 28 € 277 bn + 18,0%
Eastern Europe € 13,1 bn + 35,7 %
Romania € 800 mn + 33,3%


Total B2C E-commerce 2012 of goods & services

E-commerce GDP

0,6%

Total GDP €131.747 mn

75%
Services

1
2

3

1
2
3
4
#

Russia
Ukraine
Romania
Bulgaria
Other countries¹

€ 10.300
€ 1.250
€ 800
€ 120
€ 617

¹ Other countries include: Albania, Moldova, Kosovo)
Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro, FYR Macedonia and Serbia.

on social media

Romanian Trustmark:
No trustmark available
Romanian national
E-commerce association
No e-commerce association
available

1,7%

Estimated share
of online retail
in total retail

Powered by:

Romania in brief
Key economic indicators

The Romanian GDP per capita at
current prices in 2012 was €6.200. In
2013 GDP per capita is projected to
reach €6.650, following a growth in
real terms of 2,2%.

ROMANIA’S TOTAL GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT
GDP at market prices, in million euro, 2009 - 2012

Year

In million EUR

The share of e-commerce was in 2012
0,6% of the Romanian GDP and is
estimated to reach 0,74% in 2013 .
The Internet is one of the fastest
growing sectors compared to
traditional sectors due to growing
confidence and the further
penetration of the internet in
Romania. It will be one of the drivers
of the economy in the coming years.

€ 140.520

2012

€ 131.747

2011

€ 131.327

2010

€ 124.327

2009

Disposable income continues to grow
and inflationary pressures are low
pushing up purchasing power of
consumers.

2013(e)

€ 118.196

Source: Eurostat and IMF World Economic Outlook 2013

ROMANIA’S GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT PER CAPITA
A current prices

Year

In EUR

2012

€ 12.600

2011

€ 11.800

2010

€ 11.400

2009

€ 11.100


© Ecommerce Europe


Page 22

B2C e-commerce in Romania
Cross-border

ROMANIA’S VAT

Online purchases made by
Romanians from foreign web
shops rose from €6 mn in 2011 to
€8 mn in 2012, an increase of
25%.
Only a fraction (2%) of all online
purchases were made from a
foreign web site in 2012.

Percentage of e-commerce purchased at foreign sites, 2013

VAT overview
Threshold

RON 118.000

Standard VAT rate

24%

Reduced VAT rates

5% and 9%

Where to register

Bucharest Directorate General for Public Finance

Periods for
declaration

monthly

Source: International VAT Management, Van Driel Fruijtier Resseler

ROMANIA’S CROSS BORDER E-COMMERCE
Percentage of e-commerce purchased at foreign sites, 2009-2013

2%
1%

1%

1%

1%

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013 (e)

Source:

© Ecommerce Europe


Page 28

Country Report Russia 2013
Facts, Figures & Trends of 2012 and Forecast 2013 of the Russian B2C E-commerce Market


Russia 2012 Key e-commerce facts at a glance
143 million
people live in Russia

100%

48%
14%

Moscow

68 million

20 million

Europe € 312 bn + 19,0%
EU 28 € 277 bn + 18,0%
Russia € 10,3 bn +35,5%

E-commerce GDP

0,7%

Total GDP € 1.562.000
bn

1
2

3

1
Russia
2
Ukraine
3
Romania
4
Bulgaria
#
Other countries¹

€ 10.300
€ 1.250
€ 600
€ 120
€ 617


Russian Trustmark:
Russian national
available

1,7%

€ 10,3 bn
e-commerce turnover
of goods & services

20%
80% Services
Goods

Estimated share
of online retail
in total retail

on social media

Powered by:

Russia in brief

The labor force in Russia reached
75,24 million persons in 2012.

RUSSIA’S UNEMPLOYMENT RATE
Percentage of the total labor force, 2009 - 2013

8,4%
Unemployment declined to 6,00%
in 2012. This decline will continue
in 2013 and is expected to reach
5,70% by the end of the year.
Unemployment in Russia is still
well below the EU28 average of
11% in 2013.
The inflation rate of Russia has
seen a fluctuating trajectory since
since 2009 that started with
11,7%. This also marked the
highest peek of inflation in 5 years.

2009

7,5%

2010

6,65%

6,0%

5,7%

2011

2012

2013 (e)


RUSSIA’S INFLATION RATE
Annual change on Consumer Price Index (CPI), 2009 - 2013

11,7%
8,4%
6,9%

Consumers have a worse opinion
regarding the current state of the
Russian economy and appear to
be increasingly worried regarding
the future economic prospects of
the country.

6,7%
5,1%

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013 (e)


© Ecommerce Europe


Page 37

B2C e-commerce in Russia
The online consumer and main market players

An online shopper in Russia is more
likely to be female (64%) than male
(36%). The average age of an online
shopper (who shopped in the last 12
months) is 44 years.
Key reasons for Russian consumers
to purchase goods and services
online were lower prices (47%),
saving time (36%), convenience
(location, time) (33%) as well as
online customer reviews (32%).
Online shopping is also significantly
more predominant among
households with higher incomes.

Top 3 Reasons for purchasing goods and services online
1. Lower price (47%)

2. Lower time consumption (36%)
2. Convenience (33%)
3. Online customer reviews (32%)

Source: Morgan and Stanley , eCommerce Disruption: A Global Theme – Transforming Traditional Retail 2013

Source: Ecommerce Europe 2012

TOP 5 ONLINE RETAILERS OF RUSSIA
Online retailers

Market sector

1

According to studies there were
around 25,000 online retailers in
Russia, a growth of 56%, compared
to the 16,000 in 2010. That number
could very well reach 100,000 in just
a couple of years.

Rank (#)

Revenue EUR

Utkonos

grocery online retailer

€ 230mn

2

Wildberries

online fashion retailer

€ 223mn

3

OZON.ru

online shopping mall

€ 207mn

4

Holodilnik.ru

online retailer of home appliances

€ 201mn

5

KupiVIP.ru

Online fashion retailer

€ 197mn

Source: Forbes.ru 2013

© Ecommerce Europe


Page 41

Country Report Ukraine 2013
Facts, Figures & Trends of 2012 and Forecast 2013 of the Ukrainian B2C E-commerce Market


Ukraine 2012 Key e-commerce facts at a glance
45,63 million
people live in Ukraine

100%

33%
5%

15,40 million

2,47 million

€ 1,25 bn
e-commerce turnover
of goods & services


Kiev

50%
Goods

Europe € 312 bn + 19,0%
EU 28 € 277 bn + 18,0%
Ukraine € 1,25 bn +48,0%

50%
Services



E-commerce GDP

0,9%

Total GDP €137.177 bn
Ukrainian Trustmark:
Ukrainian national
available

1
2

3

1
2
3
4
#

Russia
Ukraine
Romania
Bulgaria
Other countries¹

€ 10.300
€ 1.250
€ 600
€ 120
€ 617


1,3%

Estimated share
of online retail
in total retail

on social media

Powered by:

Ukraine in brief

Ukraine was greatly affected by
the economic crisis of 2008 and as
a result a 14,8% decrease in
Ukraine's GDP took place over
2008 and 2009.
Despite the excellent potential,
the economy was still struggling in
2012. The economy entered a
recession in the second half of
2012, bringing growth in real GDP
for the whole year to just 0.2 per
cent.
In October 2013, the IMF raised its
projection for Ukraine's economic
growth in 2013 to 0.4 per cent
from zero.

The IMF downgraded its projection
for Ukraine's economic growth in
2014 to 1 %, citing worsening
financial conditions in Eastern
Europe.

UKRAINE’S TOTAL GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT
GDP at market prices, in million euro, 2009 - 2012

Year

In million EUR

2013(f)

€ 136.000

2012

€ 137.177

2011

€ 117.390

2010

€ 102.780

2009

€ 84.041


UKRAINE’S GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT REAL GROWTH RATE
Percentage change of GDP, 2007 - 2013

4,1 %

5,1 %
0,2 %

2009

2010

2011

-14,8%
© Ecommerce Europe

2012

0,4 %
2013 (f)



Page 50

Social media in Ukraine
Market Sectors
In Ukraine, Social Media usage is
gaining momentum . Especially
periods of political tensions have
caused spikes in the usage of
Twitter and Facebook, which so
far have not been the country’s
most popular social networks.

FACEBOOK USERS

Percentage of population, 2012

Facebook is used by
of the population

40%

40% of the Ukrainian population is
active on the originally Russian
platform Vkontakte.
Only 4% is active on Facebook.
61% of those users is between 18
and 34 years old.
Two other popular social
networking sites in Ukraine are
Mail.ru- operated Moy Mir and
Odnoklassiki.

Of the population has
a VKontakte account
13-17 years
35-44 years
65 yeas +

18 - 24 years
45-54 years

25 - 34 years
55-64 years

SOCIAL MEDIA USERS BY GENDER
In percentage of total population

Source: Social baker

49%
© Ecommerce Europe

4%


51%
Page 59

Ecommerce Europe
How to get involved?

Who can be involved?
• E-commerce associations, voting members of Ecommerce Europe: association
membership
• Companies selling products and/or services online: EU webshop register /
company membership
• Preferred suppliers to the European e-commerce industry: business partnership
• Organizations and NGO’s related to e-commerce industry: associative
partnership
• European institutions, consumer organizations and stakeholders: partners for
dialogue
Why get involved?
• Be a part, get involved or stay informed on public affairs initiatives that define
your business.
• Take advantage of research publications, receive several B2C
• E-commerce Reports for free.
• Learn from position papers, webinars and white
• papers by leading ecommerce associations, companies and preferred business
partners.
• Show you’re engaged by displaying the Ecommerce Europe member or business
partner logo.
• Network, meet and greet with colleagues at Round Tables
• sessions in European capitals and at the yearly Global E-commerce Summit.

© Ecommerce Europe


Page 61

Our Business Partners

Interested in becoming a business partner? Contact info@ecommerce-europe.eu

© Ecommerce Europe


Page 62

Our Media Partners

Interested in becoming a media partner? Contact us at info@ecommerce-europe.eu
Ecommerce Europe media partners are (inter)national publishers and/or publications
related to the European e-commerce industry.
As the Internet continues to become a part of almost every aspect of our lives, the growing
internationalization of the online retail sector places increasing demands on e-tailers to
make rapid preparations for cross-border activity. Actors in the online trade sector are
constantly being confronted with new challenges concerning legal issues, pricing, shipping,
payment and supply. Strong partnerships are vital in order to tap into the cross-border
market, optimise trade flows and ultimately increase profitability.
Ecommerce Europe is looking for media partners who publish on e-commerce in the
following sectors:
• Affiliate marketing
• Customer service
• E-commerce systems
• Email marketing
• Fulfilment
• Hosting
• Payment solutions
• Research & consultancy
• Search Engine Optimization
• Etc.

© Ecommerce Europe


Page 63

Ecommerce Europe membership

Interested? Feel free to contact us: info@ecommerce-europe.eu
Company Members

Business partners

Ecommerce Europe Company Members are B2C companies
selling products and/or services online to consumers in
Europe. Company membership is open to all B2C online
companies at € 950 per year.

Ecommerce Europe business partners are preferred
suppliers of the European e-commerce industry.
The cost is € 8,500 per year upon balloting.

Benefits for COMPANY MEMBERS include:

Benefits for PREFFERED BUSINESS
PARTNERS include:

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Exclusive Ecommerce Europe business partner logo
Yearly European B2C E-commerce Report (€1,950)
5 Regional Reports on European B2C E-commerce (€3,950)
2 Full Conference Packages Global E-commerce Summit
Free entrance to 3 Ecommerce Europe pre-conferences
Free entrance to Round Table meetings in 8 European cities
Pro-active involvement white papers and position papers

© Ecommerce Europe


Exclusive Ecommerce Europe business partner logo
Yearly European B2C E-commerce Report (€1,950)
5 Regional Reports on European B2C E-commerce (€3,950)
2 Full Conference Packages Global E-commerce Summit
Free entrance to 3 Ecommerce Europe pre-conferences
Free entrance to Round Table meetings in 8 European cities
Pro-active involvement white papers and position papers

Page 64

Ecommerce Europe’s reports on B2C e- commerce
Interested? Order at research@ecommerce-europe.eu
European B2C Ecommerce Report 2013: €1.950

Global B2C Ecommerce Report 2013: €2.450

5 European regional reports 2013: €790 per report including 30
Infographics and in-depth Country Profiles

Regional /continental reports: €950 per report

Eastern Europe Report
Belgium, France, Ireland, Netherlands, and United Kingdom
Central Europe Report
Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Poland and Switzerland
Southern Europe Report
Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Turkey
Northern Europe Report
Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and
Sweden
Eastern Europe Report
Romania, Russia, and Ukraine
All European reports (5 regional reports + European Report): €2,950
All-In-One Ecommerce Report Package: €4.950
(European and Global Report + 5 European Regional Reports + 5
Regional/Continental Reports)

© Ecommerce Europe

North America: USA, Mexico and Canada
Latin America: Brazil, Argentina, Chile and others
Asia-Pacific: Japan, China, India, Australia, Indonesia, Vietnam, South
Korea etc.
MENA REGION: Middle East and North Africa
BRIC Countries: Brazil, Russia, Indonesia, China and other economic
entities
All-In-One Ecommerce Report Package: €4.950
(European and Global Report + 5 European Regional Reports + 5
Regional/Continental
Reports)
Tailor-made reports are available upon request:
research@ecommerce-europe.eu.


Page 65

European Measurement Standard for E-commerce
EMSEC
EMSEC

Definition of B2C e-commerce sales

Classification of B2C E-commerce

EMSEC aims to provide guidelines to measure and
monitor B2C e-commerce in order to enable all
European countries to provide data with respect to
the penetration of B2C ecommerce in a standardised
way. All Ecommerce Europe figures and estimates
are based upon the EMSEC, unless otherwise noted.
The EMSEC agrees with data and research by GfK.

Definition of B2C e-commerce: ‘Any B2C contract
on the sale of products or services fully or partly
concluded by a technique for distance
communication’.

The following classification in Table 1 provides an
overview of areas and sectors included in EMSEC.

The EMSEC reports on sales figures for the total B2C
e-commerce in Europe and in country profiles based
on total sales of goods and services.
Total sales of goods and services are based according
to the areas/sectors/ classification of areas and
sectors as laid down on the next few pages.
All data are reported in the national currency of the
country involved are converted into euros according
to the average (annual) rate of exchange as
provided by the European Central Bank (ECB).
Growth rates are calculated and measured by the
B2C e-commerce sales in national currency.

© Ecommerce Europe

Technique for distance communication: means
that can be used for communication regarding the
offer made by the trader and concluding an
contract, without the necessity of the consumer
and trader being in the same place at the same
time.

Contract: an contract whereby sole or partly use is
made of one or more techniques for distance
communication within the framework of a system
organized by the trader for the distance sale of
products and/or services, up to and including the
moment that the contract is concluded;


Online purchases of the following items are excluded
from EMSEC:
• Transactions between private
individuals/consumers (C2C) such as auctions
and marketplaces and between businesses (B2B)
• Online gambling and gaming
• Car and motor vehicles
• Houses and real estate
• Utilities (e.g. water, heating, electricity)
• Mortgages, loans, credit cards, overdrafts
• Savings accounts, funds, stocks & shares, bonds.
B2C e-commerce therefore includes all online
transactions between businesses and consumers
using desktop computers, laptops, tablets,
smartphones, point-of-sales and smart-wearibles,
such as webshop, physical store (‘online instore’), email, QR-code, catalogue, etc. B2C e-commerce
includes Value Added Tax (VAT) or other sales tax,
delivery costs and Apps, but exclude returns.
Page 66

EMSEC
Food/Nearfood/Health
Food/Nearfood
Health & Beauty
Food & Beverages
Personal care & Hygiene
Fresh produce
Baby care
Packaged consumer goods
Perfume
Detergents/household cleaning
OTC
Animal feed
Tobacco

Event Tickets
Event Tickets
Tickets for concerts and festivals
Tickets for cinema and theater
Tickets for zoos and amusement parks
Tickets for museums
Tickets for sport matches
Fashion
Clothing
Underwear & Upperwear
Children's wear
Swimwear & Sportswear

Nightwear & legwear

Shoes & Personal lifestyle
Shoes
Jewellery, Bijoux, Watches & others
fashion accessories (e.g. sunglasses)
Bags, wallets, suitcases

Sports & Recreation
Sport & Recreation
Sports hardware (e.g. football, tennis rackets)
Bicycles & accessories
Articles for camping and recreation

Electronics
Consumer Electronics Information Technology (IT)
Photo-equipment
Audio-equipment

IT hardware (pc's, laptops,
tablets etc.)
Computer Software

TV/video-equipment Music- instruments
Car - electronics
(navigation, audio
etc.)

USB-sticks, DVD/CDrecordable, ink cartridges,
computer accessories

Household Electronics
MDA:
air-conditioning,
dishwashers, wash
machines and other
white goods
SDA: equipment for
personal care, home
comfort, kitchen
appliances

Toys
Toys
Indoor –and outdoor toys
© Ecommerce Europe


Page 67

EMSEC
Package Travel
Package travel
Private Transport if booked
through a tour operator

Insurances

Travel
Flight Tickets & Accommodations
Flight Tickets
Hotel stays
Apartment/bungalow/camping site

New indemnity, Life and Health Insurances
Liability insurance
Car insurance
Fire and theft insurance

-> all of the above not booked in
combination with other travel-parts
Media & Entertainment
Media & Entertainment
Music (physical, download & streaming)/Spotify based on new subscriptions
Video (DVD, blue-ray, downloads)
Games hardware & games software
Books & e-books
Apps
New subscriptions newspapers ands magazines (no single copy sales)
Telecom
Telecom
Smartphones, mobile phones & Phone devices
Telefax and answering machines
Headsets & Accessoires (mobile) phone’s
Prepaid cards and tariffs of new phone subscriptions
© Ecommerce Europe

ANW-gap insurance
(insurance for receiving a
payment in addition to a
survivor's allowance)

Health Insurance –
Base
Health insurance additional

Bike/caravan/motorbike/
scooter insurance
Accident insurance
Boat insurance
Legal assistance insurance
Home insurance
Travel insurance
(continuous/annual + shortterm)
Insurance package

Annuity insurance
pension
Life insurance
Funeral insurance
Endowment insurance
based on savings
Endowment insurance
based on investments

Disability insurance –
entrepreneurs
Disability insurance private
Mortgage related
disability insurance
Mixed insurance
(=endowment
insurance + life
insurance)

Services
Dating based on new
subscriptions
Other Services


Others
Products
Cars and parts
Articles for animals
Flowers & Plants
Optician (excl. sunglasses, hearing-aid)
Adult
Page 68

Definitions
Definitions related to internet, e-commerce and online retailing
Broadband access: the availability of broadband is measured by the
percentage of households that are connectable to an exchange that
has been converted to support DSL-technology, to a cable network
upgraded for Internet traffic, or to other broadband technologies.
It includes fixed and mobile connections (source: Eurostat)

•

E-households: amount of households that uses the Internet for
personal gain.

•

E-household expenditure: expenditure per household that bought
goods or services in the past year.

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Cross-border e-commerce: percentage of e-commerce purchased
at foreign sites

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E-commerce (or electronic commerce), a subset of e-business, is
any B2C contract on the sale of products or services fully or partly
concluded by a technique for distance communication’.

European Measurement Standard for E-commerce (EMSEC): aims
to provide guidelines to measure and monitor B2C e-commerce in
order to enable all European countries to provide data with respect
to the penetration of B2C ecommerce in a standardised way.

•

E-services (or electronic services) are defined as: “Deeds, efforts or
performances whose delivery is mediated by information
technology. Such e-service includes the service element of eretailing, customer support, and service delivery”. This definition
reflects three main components- service providers, service receiver
and the channels of service delivery (i.e., technology). (Jennifer
Rowley, Professor Information and Communications, Manchester
Metropolitan University, UK)

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Inactive online population: users that have access to the Internet
but have not (yet) purchased goods or services online in the past
year.

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E-commerce GDP: total amount of goods and services online
divided by the total Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

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Economic Freedom Index: the Index of Economic Freedom is an
annual guide published by The Wall Street Journal and The Heritage
Foundation, Washington's No. 1 think tank. For over a decade, The
Wall Street Journal and The Heritage Foundation have tracked the
march of economic freedom around the world with the influential
Index of Economic Freedom.

© Ecommerce Europe


Page 69

Definitions
Definitions related to internet, e-commerce and online retailing
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Logistics Performance Index (LPI): The Logistics Performance Index
(LPI) measures the logistics "friendliness" of 155 countries. It helps
countries identify the challenges and opportunities they face in
their trade logistics performance and what they can do to improve,
The Index is developed by the World Bank, is based on a worldwide
survey of operators on the ground such as global freight forwarders
and express carriers .
Mobile commerce (or m-commerce, mCommerce) is the ability to
conduct commerce, using a mobile device e.g. a mobile phone, a
PDA, a smart phone, a tablet or other (emerging) mobile
equipment.
Mobile subscriptions: mobile cellular telephone subscriptions are
subscriptions to a public mobile telephone service using cellular
technology, which provide access to the public switched telephone
network. Post-paid and prepaid subscriptions are included (source:
Eurostat)
Online buyer (or e-shopper, e-buyer) is defined as an individual
who regularly bought or ordered goods or services over the
internet.

© Ecommerce Europe

•

Online expenditure: spent per user who purchased goods or
services online.

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Online Retail (or e-retail, electronic retail or retailing or even etailing) is the selling of retail goods and services on the Internet. In
the limited sense of the word, sectors such as online leisure travel,
event tickets, downloading music or software are not included.
Online-only retail shops are often referred to as pure players.

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Penetration levels: the percentage of a population using the
internet, mobile, smartphone and tablet devices.

•

Retail sales are defined as the selling of mainly goods from
businesses to individuals from a traditional or so-called bricks-andmortar shop.

•

The Ease of Doing Business Index is developed by the World Bank,
averages the country's percentile rankings on 9 topics, made up of
a variety of indicators, giving equal weight to each topic. The
rankings for all economies are benchmarked to June 2010. The
Index covers 185 countries.


Page 70

Methodology , Acknowledgements and Sources
This report could only be realized by consulting a great
many sources, available in the various countries and
regions in Europe and around the globe. The wide
variety of sources include public domain publications,
blogs, websites, industry and financial specialist
publications, regional and local news, annual reports,
press releases, etc. etc. Sometimes the information
sourced are contradictory. Sometimes different figures
and data were given by different sources within the
same country, f.e. due to different definitions. In our
reports and country profiles we have mentioned
different sources, definitions and the different outcomes
of such reports, studies and interpretations. This report
is meant solely for use by the recipient and is not for
circulation. This report is based on information that
we consider reliable, but we cannot vouch for its being
accurate or complete, nor should it be relied upon as
such. Opinions expressed are our current opinions as of
the date of this report.

© Ecommerce Europe

The sources consulted include, but are not limited to:
(Inter)national Associations
• Ecommerce Europe
• Distansehandel Norge (Norway)
• FDIH (Denmark)
• KAUPPA (Finland)
• SDH (Sweden)

Publications

Corporate sources
• A.T. Kearney
• Deloitte
• Facebook
• Forrester
• GfK
• Google
• Hybris
• Innopay
• Planet Retail
• Salesupply
• Social Bakers
• Twitter
• TNS NIPPO
• VDFR VAT Management

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eMarketer
E-commercefacts.com
Eurostat
Internet Retailing

Other sources
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Digital Hub Development Agency
(DHDA)
European Commission
Eurostat
European Central Bank (ECB)
European Banking Association (EBA
Clearing)
International Monetary Fund (IMF)
International Telecommunications
Union (ITU)
Internetworldstats
National Statistics offices
The Heritage Foundation
United Nations (UN)
CIA: World Factbook
World Economic Forum

Page 71

About the authors

Questions? Feel free to contact our researcher
Jorij Abraham, Director Research & Advice

Aad Weening, Advisor International eCommerce

Jorij Abraham (1972) has been part of the international ecommerce community since 1997. He has been manager ecommerce at Bijenkorf, TUI and Sanoma Media and Director of
Consulting as Unic

Aad Weening (1941) has been involved in distance selling and
retail practically all his working life. From 1966 until 1979 he
worked at a professional secretariat agency offering legal and
economic advice as well as lobbying services for 10 trade sectors.

Since 2013 he is Director of Research & Advise at Ecommerce
Europe. He is also director of the eCommerce Foundation, a
research institute offering practical ecommerce research and
benchmark services.

From 1979 he managed the Dutch Mail Order Association (today
Thuiswinkel.org), first in the Netherlands first, later on a European
level. Between 1993 and 2006 he served as Secretary General of
the European Distance Selling Trade Association (EMOTA).
Currently Weening is Senior Advisor at Ecommerce Europe.
Bert Nagelvoort, Senior Researcher

Janine Nöthlichs, Editor
Janine Nöthlichs (1982) is the editor-in-chief of the international
e-commerce news site E-commercefacts.com. Throughout the
past years, she has worked on various e-commerce related
publications and events, including the European Cross-Border
Round Tables and the Global E-Commerce Summit; and is a
regular jury member of the Cross-Border E-Commerce Awards at
the Global E-Commerce Summit in Barcelona.

Bert Nagelvoort (1977) has been working for Ecommerce Europe
since 2014. He is involved in international e-commerce and
develops the Ecommerce Europe reports. He studied Business
Administration at the Radboud University Nijmegen and has a
great interest in the international (digital) economy.
Previously, Bert has worked as Projectmanager / Consultant in
the financial services.

Previously, Janine has worked for Kantar Media in Paris. Having
studied in the Netherlands and Spain.

© Ecommerce Europe


Page 72

Europe 2012 Key data at a glance
820 million

100%

people live in Europe

529 million

64%

48%

250 million

West € 158,bn + 18,0%
Central €76,3 bn + 20,5%
South € 32,4 bn + 29,3%
North €28,5 bn + 15,1%
East € 13,1 bn + 35,6%

5,5%
(€17bn)

Europe

€ 312 bn +19%
EU28

€ 277 bn +18%

2,

€16,0 trn GDP 2012
3,5% Contribution Internet
Economy to GDP

,

jobs directly or indirectly via e-commerce

550,000
estimated online business

3,5 billion
number of parcels annually (e)

Estimated
M-commerce

Top 5 e-commerce countries
in turnover (EURO million)

Total B2C s of goods & services

1
2
3
4
5

United Kingdom
Germany
France
Spain
Russia

€ 96,193
€ 50,000
€ 45,000
€ 12,969
€ 10,302

5%

Estimated share
of online retail
in total retail

Top 5 emerging countries in % growth
1
2
3
4
5

Turkey
Greece
Ukraine
Hungary
Romania

‘’350 million social media users’’

75%
61%
41%
35%
33%


1

2


3

Figures and data in compliance with GfK
In cooperation with Salesupply and Hybris

Eastern Europe B2C Ecommerce
Colophon


Ecommerce Europe
Rue d’Accolay 15 box 6
B-1000 Brussels - Belgium
Tel: +32 (0) 2 502 31 34
Website: www.ecommerce-europe.eu
Contact us at: info@ecommerce-europe.eu
For reports: research@ecommerce-europe.eu
Twitter: @Ecommerce_eu

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© Ecommerce Europe


Page 74

B2c ecommerce report East Europe

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