According to an eMarketer report, e-commerce in Spain will increase in 2012 by 18.8% to $18.57 billion from $15.64 billion in 2011. In spite of a contracting housing market and a severe banking crisis, robust online sales will continue to gather momentum with total online sales reaching $30 billion by 2016.
One reason for its high growth rates is the Spanish e-commerce sector’s immaturity, e.g. compared with the UK, US, Germany and France. Basic factors such as improved payment and delivery methods and basic infrastructure will all help to contribute to more rapid development of e-commerce.
The Comisión del Mercado de las Telecomunicaciones (CMT) figure show that, with a 36% share of overall sales, travel and related services were the number one e-commerce category, distantly followed by clothing (3.2%) and consumer electronics (2.2%).
Spanish consumers appear to respond positively to familiar brands, a factor which Amazon has managed to use to establish itself as the number one retail website in the country, with 16.7% of unique visitors logged. The Spanish-owned department store chain El Cortes Ingles came in second with a nearly 16% reach, followed by the French price comparison websites LeGuide.com with 12.9%.
