China & UK top in purchases from US online retailers

17 Apr '14

5 min read

Cross-border B2C E-Commerce thrives in Europe, supported by initiatives of the lawmakers in creating a single online retail infrastructure and regulation. More than a quarter of online shoppers in the EU have made purchases from other EU countries, with this share being higher in the Euro area. The UK was the most popular destination for cross-border online shopping among European online shoppers purchasing abroad in 2013, followed by Germany and France.

Germany is the one of the most active countries worldwide both in import and export B2C E-Commerce. Of the selected European countries, cross-border B2C E-Commerce from Germany was the most popular in the Nordics and in France.

On the other hand, the top destinations for cross-border online shoppers in Germany were the UK, the USA and China in 2013. In neighboring Austria, over 70% of total online shoppers purchased outside their country in 2013, a percentage significantly higher than the EU average.

The UK is among the biggest cross-border B2C E-Commerce exporters worldwide, supported by the popularity of British brands around the world and wide use of the English language. On the side of imports, only a small double-digit share of online shoppers in the UK buy from online retailers in other European countries, while the USA, China and Hong Kong are more popular destinations.

In other Western European nations, cross-border online shopping from the UK, Germany and the USA is popular in France, while also a quarter of online stores in France shipped internationally, supported by international demand for French fashion and beauty brands. In Italy, tourism, fashion and food were the leading categories of B2C exports, while imports were dominated by discount flight purchases.

In Eastern Europe, cross-border online shopping is a growing trend in Russia. The cross-border B2C E-Commerce sales of goods to Russia were estimated to more than double in 2013, while traffic to top international ecommerce websites by Russian users almost quadrupled.

Over 10% of online shoppers in Poland purchased from foreign online shops. The value of international E-Commerce transactions made in Turkey reached over EUR 1 billion in 2013, growing by a third year-on-year.

Of selected Asian-Pacific countries, Singapore had the highest estimated share of cross-border B2C E-Commerce in 2013, followed by Malaysia. Consumers worldwide make cross-border purchases from Japan; while also close to a fifth of online shoppers in Japan buy products online abroad.

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