Ecommerce in UK to reach €200 billion in 2019

The business-to-consumer ecommerce turnover in the United Kingdom is expected to reach over 200 billion euros at the end of this year. That would mean an increase of 14.6 percent compared to the situation last year, when ecommerce in the UK was worth almost 175 billion euros.

This is shown by Ecommerce Foundation’s report about the United Kingdom. While the share of the British population using the internet was at 95 percent during the last three years, for this year a share of 96 percent is expected.

These millions of people are expected to generate over 200 billion euros worth of ecommerce sales at the end of this year. It would mean a significant growth compared to the last couple of years.

7.94% of GDP made up by ecommerce sales

If that milestone will be reached at the end of this year, this would mean that almost 8 percent of the country’s gross domestic product is made up by ecommerce sales. For comparison: in 2015, that share was at about 5.2 percent.

The Ecommerce Foundation thinks that 87 percent of the online population in the United Kingdom is forecasted to shop online this year. That share is basically at the same level for years, with only a 86 percent share in 2017.

Amount spent per e-shopper increases

Meanwhile, the annual amount spent per online shopper has increased significantly. In 2015, the average amount was 2,515 euros, while last year it was already 3,254 euros. For this year, the Ecommerce Foundation thinks the average online shopper will spend 3,620 euros.

PayPal most popular payment method in UK

In a survey, UK buyers got the question which payment method they used at least once. Over 40 percent said they used PayPal, while the credit card was the second most named payment method (23.7 percent), followed by prepaid cards (17.2 percent).

In the UK, home delivery during the day is still the most popular preference for online shoppers. For 61 percent of consumers this was the most preferred delivery method. Home delivery in evening was preferred by 14 percent, while delivery to the mailbox or multi-occupancy mailbox by the mail carrier is the most ideal method for 13 percent.