International Business and Technology Blog

Today, commerce in Europe is all about the e’s; there are 2, but add a 3rd in front and you have it. Everywhere (note 4 e’s) we look for opportunities and growth we find a big bold "e" written. The big EU stories for 2015 will be ecommerce; ecommerce will continue its boom across Europe this year, growing at a very healthy >18%. The figure for 2014 was 18%, 22% in 2013 and 2016 is projected at 19%. FYI, this compares to the US where online sales are expected to grow in 2015 at 14%.

We all know Bruce Springsteen’s view on getting paid. Clearly, the European Payments Council (EPC), the decision-making and coordination body of the European banking industry in relation to payments, charged with developing the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA), had the Boss in mind, when scoping out this innovative program.

It is widely agreed that the use of technology and business growth are closely linked, and more so when companies look to develop export markets. A report from New Zealand’s Business Operations Survey concluded that export rates are significantly higher for those companies with online ordering systems to collect sales. This does not relate only to large companies. Small, medium, large – businesses of all sizes that use online technologies have higher rates of exporting than those that do not.