InSites Consulting recently published a report with e-commerce data about the European Internet user. The study found that 1 out of 3 Internet users in Europe sell online.
According to InSites the P2P economy (consumers doing business with other consumers via the Worldwide Web) is the biggest market place that ever existed.
In 12 months (summer 2008 – summer 2009), 32% of European internet users sold something to another internet user via online classified or auction sites.
14% even sold 4 or more items over the past year. Only Southern Europe is a little behind in comparison to other regions.
The research shows that online trade between consumers will continue to take place on a small scale in online communities, chat rooms, third-party consumers listing services, and web-based discussion forums.
InSites also found some changes in the buying process and all steps that it includes.
We know that web surfers use the Internet more often to prepare their purchases: according to InSites more than 4 out of 10 consumers search for information on brands and products via comparison, expert and user review sites.
These and other changes can be attributed to several trends, InSites says, including social networking, conversing, sharing, tagging, content generation, and community participation.
According to InSites Consulting, consumers are well connected and have more tools to prepare their purchases these days. |