The results, from a poll of e-commerce strategists at 250 companies across Europe that sell goods and services on-line, demonstrate the resilience of the e-tail sector, claims the report, despite the current volatility in internet stocks. Just 2.8% of European companies expected employment opportunities to fall, and only 4% expected sales to decline.
None of the British e-tailers interviewed for the e-confidence survey expected on-line sales to fall over the next half-year and only 6% thought that employment opportunities within the industry would fall. The results come in a month with an unprecedented number of high-tech job cuts in the UK– 42,000 so far, according to ZDNet.co.uk.
Companies cited investment in recruitment and training (46%) as their top priority over the next six months, followed by software (14%) and web site re-design (8%).
Nick Sharples from Energis commented:
“Confidence among e-tailers is particularly buoyant in Britain, but the outlook for the next six months is also positive across Europe. E-tailers are focusing on investment in staff and systems as the key ingredients to grow their businesses.”
British e-tailers believe their ability to be competitive will have the biggest positive effect on sales (28%) over the next six months. However, it emerged that the cost of technology is the biggest fear for British e-tailers, with 26% of them citing it as the most likely factor to negatively affect sales performance over the coming half-year. Like the rest of Europe, British e-tailers also fear fluctuating exchange rates (18%) and security issues (12%).
When asked which sector of the market represented the biggest on-line opportunity for e-tailing in Europe, the UK's e-tailers agreed with the rest of Europe in choosing the travel sector (36%). Books and CDs (28%), and music distribution (24%) were cited as the next most promising areas of growth.
In terms of specific brands, UK e-tailers overwhelmingly voted for Amazon (80%) as the most successful European on-line brand, with Lastminute.com second (12%) and eBay third (6%).
E-tail strategists across the continent selected London as the e-business capital of Europe (40%) - ahead of Amsterdam (8%), Paris and Munich (6%). The results back up the British e-tailers confidence of expansion.