International Business and Technology Blog

In 2014, Germany boasted over 51 million online consumers, only superseded by China, Japan and the USA. In terms of e-commerce, Germany comes 2^nd in Europe after the UK, with over €41 Bn annual online sales, as reported by the German E-Commerce and Distance Selling Trade Association.

E-commerce sector represented 9% of Germany’s total retail industry in 2014. The German E-Commerce and Distance Selling Trade Association forecasted a 12% growth in 2015, reaching a revenue of nearly €47 Bn. Other sources predict even higher growth rates, between 20-30%. According to the Association of the German Internet Industry, more than half (53%) of German GDP generated in 2017 will be e-commerce related (compared to 37% in 2012).

Did you miss it?

Walking around any place in the UK it is hard not to see someone looking at their smartphone, therefore it is not surprising that the UK’s Ofcom(1) report out in August 2015 heralding in the official status that the UK is a “Smartphone society” went largely unnoticed. So if you missed it (buried in the depths of a 435 page report) here it is…  “For the first time, the smartphone has overtaken the laptop as the device internet users say is the most important for connecting to the internet; in 2015 33% chose their smartphone…” and there is even a funky graph to go with it.

We are continuously looking to see how effective our online marketing is, and one of the great benefits of digital marketing is that there are some excellent tools to tell you just that. We are running a series of webinars which are very popular, with over 50 people registered for the last one. Now, my challenge is to set about doubling that number. We share some of our own online marketing activities to help you improve your marketing return on investment.

The UK and the USA are among each other’s top export markets.The USA is the largest single destination for British exports, and the UK is America’s largest export market in the EU (#5 overall). UK <=> US trade alone equals $214 billion a year. 

Many of our clients with an American/British English website ask whether it’s really necessary to build a country specific website for the UK/US markets given the language similarity. Ideally - yes, you should build a country specific website for each of your geographical markets, but it is of a lesser urgency than building a website for let’s say a German/French market that speaks a completely different language.

The transatlantic economy is bigger than ever. Big, trillions big and compared to other international economic relations, the biggest by far. US foreign direct investment (FDI) in Europe totals >$13.6 (£8.4) trillion. By return of compliment, European FDI in the USA has reached >$9 (£5.8) trillion. Do the math, and we have >$22 (£14.2) trillion of transatlantic FDI. Need more convincing? The transatlantic economy generates >$5.5 (£3.5) trillion in annual total commercial sales. The detail is to be found in this year’s “Transatlantic Economy 2015 Report” which puts it succinctly: “Despite economic turbulence, the US and Europe remain each other’s most important markets. No other commercial artery in the world is as integrated…” The Transatlantic Economy 2015 Report is an Annual Survey of Jobs, Trade and Investment, conducted by authorities on the subject including John Hopkins University, the American Chamber of Commerce to the European Union (AmCham EU) and the Trans-Atlantic Business Council (TABC). The full version comprises 112 information packed pages, reminding us all (which we do need from time to time) of the pre-eminent importance of the economic relationship between the 62 European countries (28 of which are in the European Union) and the 50 United States. The report is very readably structured into: A Tale of Two Economies, The Post-Crisis Transatlantic Economy, The 50 US States and, the last chapter is entitled, European Countries. These are then followed by the somewhat heavy going statistic packed appendices, of which there are more than 40 pages! If you are looking for US/EU stats, look no further. For the time pressed amongst you, I strongly recommend the Transatlantic Economy 2015 Pocket Version, a more digestible 28 pages. Let me share with you some of the key points that I found most revealing and useful.

Cecilia Malmström, European Commissioner for Trade, made the point clearly: “If the European Parliament (EP) or the Bundestag vote against the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) or the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), don’t blame it on me. It’s the national governments that need to convince their people on the benefits>.” TTIP requires votes in favor by the EP and each of the 28 national parliaments. So once negotiations are complete, TTIP will face a mere 29 democratic hurdles. Across the EU, media (primarily social media) feeds us a regular anti-TTIP diet. Yet, the trade and investment benefits are so clearly self-evident to many of the Europeans who are responsible for such agreements, that they think that they are no longer obliged to repeatedly explain and justify TTIP. An insight into why is the background of over 1,400 such successful agreements negotiated by the EU over the past 50 years supporting European companies as they trade and invest internationally. And the result is, in case you were unaware, that the EU 28 is now the world’s biggest trader and investor and recipient of foreign investments.

Last week I spent four days attending the Paris Air Show, supporting Business Oregon and their three companies exhibiting, as well as Northeast Pennsylvania and their five companies attending the show. If you have not been, it is an enormous seven day event. This year there were 2,260 exhibitions from 47 countries. The USA had 320 exhibitors, 230-plus in the US International Pavilion where I was based. Around the show itself there were many side events, receptions and evening networking parties.

Online giant Google and a leader in seamless payment Ingenico teamed up to facilitate cross-border ecommerce. The project Export Accelerator aims to help online merchants boost their business abroad by reducing cross-border obstacles.

Export Accelerator will pilot in Belgium and will address a key challenge businesses face when expanding abroad. The solution should provide companies with an opportunity to explore and identify new growth opportunities, penetrate international markets and increase online revenue.

The European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) is an alliance of >380 European organizations campaigning against TTIP and the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), a free trade agreement between Canada and the EU. Members of ECI “believe that these two trade and investment agreements must be stopped because they pose a threat to democracy, the rule of law, the environment, health, public services as well as consumer and labour rights”. The basic ECI premise is that these agreements “increase the power of multinationals at the expense of democracy and the general good”. During the past month, there have been hundreds of anti-TTIP protests organized across Europe, none more so than in Germany.  

ibt partners is proud to have won the best Innovative Company 2015 Award, in the annual British Consul General Awards by the British American Business Council (BABC). On Friday the 29th May 2015, in Chicago, Illinois at the splendid British Consul General's Residence (with incredible views of Lake Michigan) during a lavish black tie evening reception, the winners were announced.