Following Google’s announcement that it is introducing a “buy” button, today’s chart takes a look at e-commerce across GWI’s 33 countries.
At a global level, about 2 in 3 internet users are buying products online. But this headline figure can mask some notable changes from market to market. China is the global leader; among its young and relatively affluent online population, three quarters are online shoppers. Despite its older and more representative internet population, Germany posts the second-highest figure globally (72%). The UK and Ireland also show strongly – about two thirds here are shopping online each month.
If we then turn to look at the bottom end of the global e-commerce list, it’s in some fast-growth markets where rates dip to 50% or below. Yet in places such as the Philippines, UAE and Saudi Arabia, rates of paying for digital content are high – and hence, it’s not an unwillingness to pay that is holding back the development of e-commerce. Rather, infrastructural or service problems are the bigger issues – giving Google a clear chance to challenge the current status quo.
