Forecast growth of 40%
The sector is very positive: 70% of respondents expect in 2011 a growth of 40% in their online sales compared to 2010. The Belgian e-commerce market is far from saturated. The market share of the multi-channel players drops to 46% compared to 65.9% in 2009. The pure-players, companies that sell exclusively over the Internet,dominate the market with 54% market share, compared with 34.1% in 2009.
E-commerce is hiring!
In order to accommodate this growth, the right job profiles are needed. Over 75% of the surveyed e-commerce companies is planning to hire 10 new employees on average in 2011 to boost their activities. Belgian e-commerce businesses are looking for online marketers (49%), IT specialists (32%) and logistical operators (19%).
Mapping e-commerce in Belgium
In the top 3 of the best-selling products over the Internet we find decoration products, like last year, at No. 1 (35.1% in 2009 and 46% in 2010). The top 3 is further complemented by fashion accessories (43%)and clothing (43%).
The belgian Post is still the most popular package vendor. 65% of companies surveyed indicate to deliver parcels through the post to their customers. Couriers (38%) and pickup points (for example, Kiala) are also offered to deliver online orders. More and more e-commerce companies offer the ability to pick up packages at a collection point (from 29.5% in 2009 to 38% in 2010).
Online stores who offer credit card payment are still very popular. 95% of the Belgian e-shops offer payment by Visa and MasterCard, 38% offers payment via American Express. Paying with ordinary bank card - Bancontact/ Mister Cash – is possible with 60% of the Belgian internet shops, Maestro is offered at 49% of the shops. Besides the online payment systems like PayPal (54%) and Ideal (46%), online banking is well established as a payment method.
