E-commerce, Financial Facts And Figures ( Global Overview).

E-Commerce in simple terms can be explained as buying and selling of goods and services. One of the well-known characteristicsis the use of electronic systems such as Internet and other computer networks for this type of deal. The amount and volume of deal that is conducted over such mediums has enhanced various over the years with the widen and adoption of Internet. The growing number of Internet users, (estimated to be more than 1.4 billion worldwide) coupled with increased Internet Connectivity, has contributed to enhance in spends for online budgets.

Traditional advertising agencies with mega budgets are turning to online medium of advertising to get more worth for their buyers in times of such financial and economic distress. Internet banking has gained status over the past couple of years, with more than 30 per cent of Internet users utilizing such services in chief markets world over. Better connectivity and enhance connection speeds has benefited this industry immensely.
More than 19 out of 20 internet connections in UK are conducted via Broadband. As on, 31 December 2008, broadband connections accounted for 95.1 per cent of all Internet Connections in UK. (Source: ONS). entertainment} and Publishing industry is probable to be valued at over 2 trillion dollars.
e-Commerce Past Performance Figures:

Europe And Asia e-Commerce Statistics:

Prior to 2001, E-Commerce was still being explored in Europe. Even in the UK only 24 per cent of companies had own business websites, with only 10 per cent accepting orders online. However, by late 2002, e-Commerce was firmly established in the UK, with 10 million visiting e-Commerce sites compared to the same period in Christmas 2001. This figure was about around 70 per cent of the Internet population in UK. A survey conducted in 2002 of European e-Commerce industry, pegged its revenues at $980 billion by 2004. Finally, it's worth remembering that 75 per cent of Internet users by 2005 was probable to be located in Europe and Asia. Internet sales by UK businesses was about 163 Billion Pounds in 2007 statistics} published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) indicate. This is an enhance of just over 30 per cent on the 2006 figure of 125.2 Billion Pounds.
Canada:

The Canadian e-Commerce statistics}In 2002, over 75 per cent of 12.3 Million Canadian homes had PCs. More than 55 per cent or around 6.7 Million of those homes had Internet connections. This statistic was up 51 per cent over 2002 figures. Of the Canadian population more than 64 per cent constantly go online from home or work (2003), 5per cent gain over 2002 . The granular facts segments further that more than 12 per cent bought constantly over web. 38 per cent of people had bought more compared to 2001. 38 per cent of Canadians downloaded music, 58 per cent conducted banking transactions from home via the web. 64 per cent of wired households used broadband internet connections in 2002.
e-Commerce Recent Performance Figures:

Sales are probable to continue to grow on the internet and online stores are likely to get superior benefits.
Developing Countries

In many benefits countries like Kenya and India mobile commerce is being viewed as an opportunity to reach the masses, that would not otherwise use m-payment or m-banking services. In fact, more than 30 per cent of Vodafone's 10 million subscribers in Kenya are using some form of mobile commerce for online banking deals. Internet users in China spend the highest share (approx 40 per cent) of their leisure time online, compared with an average of 30 per cent for US web users and 28 per cent for the UK.
United States and United Kingdom
Recent e-Commerce Statistics.
advertising through social networks is set to grow from 920 million dollars in 2007 to 1.6 billion dollars in 2008. Advertisers in US are set to spend more than 1.6 billion dollars on social networking sites alone. Online advertising accounted for nearly 15 per cent of the total advertising in United Kingdom clocking more than 40 percent YOY(year on year) growth. The top 10 retailers online during the 2008 Christmas shopping period (Q4) averaged a 37 per cent enhance in particular Visitors compared to the 2007 Christmas shopping period. The five major retail-focused sectors online averaged a 19 per cent enhance in particular Visitors during the 2008 Christmas shopping period (Q4) compared to the 2007 period. The biggest retail sector, Mass Merchandisers (which includes retailers such as Amazon, Argos and Tesco), increased particular Visitor numbers by 15 per cent in the 2008 Christmas period compared to the 2007 period. Amongst the five major retail sectors online, Multi-Category Home & Fashion (which includes sites such as Marks & Spencer, Boots and Next) had the largest YOY (year-on-year growth) of over 30 per cent. Source: (Nielsen Online). Revenues of e-Commerce market in 2007 was valued at 400 million pounds in UK. The market has continued to show healthy growth across previous years, growing by an estimated 18 per cent in 2008. UK shoppers spend 13.16 billion pounds online in the last quarter of 2008, 15 per cent more than Q4 2007. This equates to 215 pounds for every person in the UK, but represents a slowdown compared with the 54 per cent YOY(year-on-year) enhance in 2007. 55 per cent of UK adults have purchased something online. The UK market for seek Engine Marketing was pegged to be worth in the region of 2.75 billion pounds in 2008. The SEO market will enhance 32 per cent to 330 million pounds. The UK market for affiliate marketing grew by an estimated 45 per cent in 2007, taking the total worth of online sales generated through this channel to more than 3.13 billion pounds.
huge surge of e-Commerce market has its fair share of critics as well. There are many instances of small businesses spending huge sums of money and deriving comparatively additional returns on such investments.
There are multiple issues which needs to be address like :

words barriers.
Lack of cross-border logistical support for goods and services.
Conservative banking attitudes.
various currencies and differing tax and VAT regimes.
Uncertainty over and pending legislation on e-Commerce taxation.
Poor and obsolete IT infrastructure along with restricted choice of software, payment service providers and MAPs.

global slowdown across different industries has its impact on e-Commerce industry as well. However, the impact has been limited and web sales (online sales) are probable to be positive, despite bleak global economic outlook as e-Commerce continues to capture market share from brick-and-mortar stores. On a positive side the e-Commerce industry has been able to establish itself as a destination for consumers to find low prices and it is perceived}}to be more convenient than shopping in stores.