Editor’s note: This article was first published in June 2011, and describes the Spanish e-commerce market in 2011; online retail in Spain has grown enormously since, so its claims about scarce supply and fear of buying online are historical. Javier Rodríguez Zapatero is cited as Google’s Director General in Spain, his role then.
I know some sites talk about the success of e-commerce (online retail) in Spain, but that’s not what the official surveys or statistics say. Spain still lacks e-commerce offerings; what’s more, a high percentage of the online purchases Spanish users make are on websites based outside the country.
Javier Rodríguez Zapatero, Director General of Google in Spain, said that if there were more on offer online, he himself would buy much more than he currently does, and so he maintained that Spain lacks online retail offerings. That’s bad news if we look back, but looking ahead it’s very good news for new entrepreneurs who want to start this kind of project.
The market is open to new internet-related business ideas, and internet users’ trust has grown considerably, so the fear of buying online is disappearing. Without a doubt, and as we have said before, the future of business lies on the internet.
Spain is probably the country with the fewest online shops relative to the number of small and large companies it has. We talk about foreign trade and selling abroad, yet few entrepreneurs use this powerful tool to take their product to the whole world.
The proof is there: every company that has opened its own online shop admits that 70% of its sales now come through the internet, or that at least the internet brings customers to its premises with information they have already compared online.
Remember that on the internet, although it isn’t entirely decisive, in many cases whoever gets there first wins a larger market share (as long as they develop a good strategy).
And once again, remember that innovative businesses built on online platforms are having fewer problems getting funding: if we look at most of the competitions for securing funding, they were aimed at tech businesses. Private capital is betting on e-commerce, and that’s something to take advantage of today.
Further reading
- Funding for tech projects: Wayra
- Where to get funding for your online business idea
- The most profitable businesses
- Business ideas to start this year
- How to become a successful businessperson
Featured image: Sari Montag, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Flickr.
