New research claims that $5.6bn of internet commerce was conducted in Western Europe in the last year. According to IDC (International Data Corporation) research, the majority of this commerce is due to business-to-business (B-to-B) transactions, with business-to-consumer (B-to-C) transactions accounting for $1.85bn. IDC estimate that 10% of inhabitants in Western Europe are web users, and only around 11% of these made an online purchase in the last quarter of 1998. But IDC’s Stefan Elmer predicts that almost a quarter of web users will gain confidence [in internet purchasing] by 2002…which, when added to increasing spending per buyer, makes a total of $220bn. IDC conclude that though internet commerce remains in an experimental phase, it will begin to boom in the next two years.
