International monitor for e-commerce announced
By FashionUnited
loading...
The internet is changing the way consumers shop and retailers trade, but until now there has been no agreed international standard for measuring e-commerce. The lack of a capability for measuring online trade undermines any capacity for understanding
how to manage it. This is increasingly problematical as the scale of e-retailing soars: in 2010, business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce is estimated to be worth €550 billion worldwide and €200 billion in Europe. A radical overhaul of the world’s trading and support infrastructure is needed to accommodate e-commerce growth, and accurate data is essential to justify the business case for it.James Roper, CEO of IMRG and one of the architects of the scheme, comments: “The only accurate way to monitor the dynamic e-commerce market is to measure actual trade. Until now there has been no cross?comparable standard for countries to measure e-retail sales – local analysts and associations have adopted standards including or excluding retail sectors, transaction types and channels as they saw fit; typically serving the interests of an established community with a self-serving bias, such as physical store retailers, catalogue retailers, or ‘pure play etailers’. The new GEMS standard gives us detailed national and international insight into how the e-commerce distance selling sector is developing.”
E-commerce is particuarly critical for retailers who need the best available intelligence to support their business decisions and help target investment which is continually needed to remain competitive online. Participation in an industry association e-sales index scheme gives retailers access to new data and business-critical intelligence.
GEMS is to be governed by the “Global B2C e-commerce measurement standard council”, which will be comprised of: the European Commision, EMOTA, BVH, FEVAD, IMRG, and Becommerce. This council will control, develop and evolve GEMS and associated measurement mechanisms in light of changing market and environmental needs. GEMS will be expanded to include other sectors and sales channels in due course.
Two billion people now use the internet – almost 30% of the world’s population (of 6.8 billion). 85% of those who go online shop online. Europeans account for 24% of the world’s online population; however they spend more than the average, accounting for 35% of total online retailing by value, worth almost €200 billion this year.
Image: Online shopping