European E-commerce 19% growth in 2012

European e-commerce is booming. This is apparent from the new European B2C Ecommerce Report published by Ecommerce Europe, the European umbrella organisation for online retailers. European online revenue of goods and services grew by 19% to reach €311.6 billion in 2012. The EU28 (including Croatia, joining the EU as of 1 July 2013) reached €276.5 billion, or 88.7% of total European e-sales, a growth of 18.1%. Ecommerce Europe figures are compiled in cooperation with various e-commerce associations around Europe and in cooperation with GfK.
Postal and private operators have reaped the fruits of the impressive growth over the past years of B2C e-commerce. Ecommerce Europe estimates the annual number of B2C parcels sent to customers domestically and across borders to other (European) countries at 3.5 billion, a number that will certainly continue to grow with the increase forecasted for B2C e-commerce in Europe (Press Release Ecommerce Europe, 23 May 2013).