Online food trade to triple by 2006
Internet were evident this week when a new report released by
Forrester Research projects that online trade will account for 22
per cent of all European business trade in 2006.
Signs that European industries are gaining confidence on the Internet were evident this week when a new report released by Forrester Research projects that online trade will account for 22 per cent of all European business trade in 2006.
According to the report, at the end of 2001 online trade revenues totalled €77 million, the equivalent of less than one per cent of total business trade in the EU.
But Forrester forecast that online trade in Europe will increase dramatically over the next four years to reach €2.2 trillion in 2006 - with online trade in Europe's food and beverages sector expected to triple between 2004 and 2006.
The market research company predicts that electrical equipment, chemicals, and logistics will spearhead the growth in European online trade from 2003 onwards and that while European industries are poised for rapid growth in online trade, growth will vary across countries with Scandinavia leading the pack.
In Denmark and Sweden, 17 per cent of business will be conducted over the Net in 2004 and the two economies will account for 10 per cent of total online trade in Europe.
France, Germany, and the UK are also likely to increase their level of trade online and combined, will account for 23 per cent of sales online, while their combined trade volumes will represent 64 per cent of the EU's total online trade.
However, countries in southern Europe are not expected to dramatically increase their level of online trade in the coming years.
Online trade in Italy will flounder at 2.2 per cent while neither Greece nor Portugal will have more than 10 per cent of trade online by 2006.
