Impact of e-commerce on the UK economy Cecil Prescott Head of Research& Development and Information Technology, ONS #UKecomStats

Outline What is e-commerce & why is it important? How is e-commerce measured & collected? Brief overview of methods Concepts & collection Key statistics & findings for e-commerce in UK & EU What is the current position How has this changed over time? Possible future developments within e-commerce #UKecomStats

What is e-commerce? An e-commerce transaction as defined by OECD is: ‘the sale or purchase of goods or services, conducted over computer networks by methods specifically designed for the purpose of receiving or placing of orders’ underpinning this definition: ‘the goods or services are ordered by those methods, but the payment and the ultimate delivery of the goods or services do not have to be conducted online’ #UKecomStats

What is included within e- commerce? As well as website sales & purchases - includes any form of electronic business transaction E-commerce can be : business to business business to consumer consumer to consumer E-commerce includes : transactions of goods and services that can also be bought and sold using other transaction modes services that are only available as e-services, such as digital downloads, apps and e-books #UKecomStats

How is e-commerce measured? E-commerce Survey of Business two main types of business estimates E-commerce trading Proportions of businesses doing e-commerce Monetary e-commerce sales values Proportion of total turnover in the economy from e-commerce ICT use Proportions of businesses using various types of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) #UKecomStats

How is e-commerce collected? Business Survey 11,000 businesses sampled for 2014 Businesses provide percentage of their turnover from website & EDI sales Results employment weighted and aggregated Annual collection & publication Covers only certain sectors of the economy Excludes financial, agriculture, mining, some services, finance and public administration #UKecomStats

How is e-commerce collected? Internet Access Survey Opinions and Lifestyle 3,000 interviews in Great Britain Defined by European regulation Harmonised surveys across Europe Questionnaires updated annually Questionnaire requirements are defined by Eurostat model questionnaire (MQ) About 40% of the questions change each year to reflect changes in the use of the internet & new technology ONS take part in review process #UKecomStats

Indicators for monitoring e- commerce A - Key performance indicators Headline figures on e-commerce performance (monetary value of sales & proportion of turnover) B - Business engagement Businesses activity associated with e-commerce (differences by size of business, industry, access to websites, broadband etc.) C - Engagement by households & individuals Activity associated with e-commerce (including use of mobile devices & engagement with social media) #UKecomStats

B: Value of total e-commerce sales by industry #UKecomStats

B: Value of total e-commerce sales by size of business #UKecomStats

B: Proportion of businesses with a website by size of business #UKecomStats

C: Businesses’ use of social networks #UKecomStats

C – Location of sellers of good and services bought online #UKecomStats

C: Adults’ internet purchasing & internet access ‘on the go’ #UKecomStats

COMPARISONS ACROSS THE EU #UKecomStats

How does online purchasing by individuals in the UK compare to other countries? Percentage of individuals who purchased online in last 12 months, 2014 #UKecomStats

Proportion of businesses’ turnover from e- commerce and website sales? Proportion of businesses’ turnover accounted for by e-commerce and website sales, 2013 #UKecomStats