EU ecommerce turnover up 17% in 2014

However, the turnover realised from EDI-type sales was 12% of total turnover, while the turnover from web sales was only 5%, according to data from EU stats.  From that 5%, 3% came from e-sales to other enterprises and public authorities, while 2% came from e-sales to private consumers.

Ecommerce enables enterprises to establish their presence in the market at national level and also to extend their economic activities beyond borders in order to pursue opportunities elsewhere. Moreover, ecommerce has the potential to reshape the European Single Market for enterprises and private consumers by enabling price and product-related comparisons in a borderless market environment.

However, in 2014, while almost all enterprises making electronic sales (19%) reported that they sold to the markets in their own countries (18%), only 8% of enterprises made e-sales to other EU countries. In 2014, more than twice as many enterprises engaged in e-purchases than in e-sales in Europe. During the year, 40% of enterprises in the EU made purchases electronically. In the same period, only 19% of enterprises made electronic sales.

There was a significant variation in the share of enterprises conducting e-sales and the turnover from the e-sales according to enterprise size. During 2014, 43% of large enterprises made e-sales corresponding to 24% of total turnover in this size class.

Similarly, 28% of medium sized enterprises made e-sales corresponding to 13% of total turnover in this size class. In contrast, 17% of small enterprises engaged in e-sales, corresponding to only 6% of the turnover of such enterprises. During the period 2010 to 2014, there was a small increase in the percentage of enterprises that had e-sales (+4 percentage points) as well as in the enterprises turnover from e-sales (+3 percentage points).

In 2014, the percentage of enterprises making purchases electronically varied widely from country to country, ranging from 11% in Greece to 68% in Austria. Similarly, the percentage of enterprises with e-sales ranged from 7% in Greece to 32% in Ireland, followed by Sweden (28%) and Denmark (27%).

During 2014, among all EU member states, the percentage of turnover realised from e-sales ranged from 1% in Greece to 37% in Ireland, followed by the Czech Republic (30%), Finland and Slovakia (both 21%).