The United States Tops A.T. Kearney Global Retail E-Commerce Index for Market Opportunity

CHICAGO, April 7, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, A.T. Kearney released the 2015 Global Retail E-Commerce Index, a study designed to help retailers devise successful global online retail strategies and identify market investment opportunities while understanding the tradeoffs and barriers to success. After placing third, behind China and Japan in 2013, the United States takes over the top spot, due to continued growth, an improving economy, and higher consumer confidence. U.S. e-commerce growth in 2014 rose by 15 percent.

The 2015 Global Retail E-Commerce Index highlights the big and the small markets: the countries that are always going to be e-commerce behemoths because of their size, and the smaller yet still-promising markets where potential matters more than size.

The Asia Pacific e-commerce market continues to grow--soon it will be the world's largest region in terms of online sales--but many Asian countries declined in this year's Index. China, the previous leader, has lost its top billing to the United States. Although China's e-commerce market continues to expand, its rate of growth has slowed down. And a large part of its future growth will be driven by tier 3 and tier 4 cities, where there are questions about infrastructure investment, logistics support (a key to retail e-commerce growth), and consumer spending.

In Latin America, while Mexico jumps into the rankings at 17^th place, Brazil and Argentina fall steeply in the Index, due to their slowing macroeconomics. Fundamental infrastructure challenges – logistics and transportation in Brazil, government regulations in Argentina – may hinder e-commerce growth in the future.

In Europe, the United Kingdom (3^rd), Germany (5^th), and France (6^th) all move up one spot in the Index, while Belgium (a 15-spot rise to 9^th place), Denmark (up 13 spots to 15^th) and Spain (entering the rankings in 18^th) have posted impressive progress.

Mike Moriarty, A.T. Kearney partner and co-author of the study noted, "The boom in ecommerce has brought challenges – both brick-and-mortar leaders and major pure-play online retailers are learning that the future of the industry is not merely online, but rather in creative omnichannel offerings that link online and physical shopping."

The report identifies four overarching themes that color this year's Index findings as they relate to business strategy, customers, and channels including: Internationalization; the rise of e-commerce IPOs; the continuously connected consumer; and the need for omnichannel strategies.

The report also includes detailed market spotlights on China (2^nd), Belgium (9^th), Mexico (17^th), Spain (18^th) and Brazil (21^st).

Hana Ben-Shabat, A.T. Kearney partner and study co-author said, "The Global Retail E-Commerce Index reflects trends that global retailers and brand-builders cannot overlook. Global retailers and global brands are global for a reason – their brands, systems, scale, or intimacy in regions allow them and compel them to push their boundaries further, but it is never easy. Determining where to put the chess pieces is the only way to tap into today's sales and earnings growth possibilities."

The Global Retail E-commerce Index is a ranking of the top 30 countries based on nine variables, including select macroeconomic factors as well as those that examine consumer adoption of technology, shopping behaviors, infrastructure, and retail-specific activities. The Index balances current online retail market indicators with those that predict the potential for future growth. For more detail on the study methodology see "About the Study" below.

The 2015 Global Retail E-Commerce Index Ranking

To read the full 2015 Global Retail E-Commerce Report, please go to: http://www.atkearney.com/consumer-products-retail/e-commerce-index

About the Study

A.T. Kearney's Global Retail E-Commerce Index ranks the most attractive countries for online retail on a 0-100-point scale. The higher the score, the more potential a country has in online retail. Online retail is defined as the sale of consumer goods to the general public through web sites operated by pure-play online retailers or those owned by store-based retailers. This term also includes mobile commerce sales through smartphones or tablets. Sales are attributed to the country where the purchase is made, not where retailers are located. Online retail encompasses the following consumer goods categories: apparel, beauty and personal care, consumer appliances, consumer electronics and video game hardware, do-it-yourself and gardening, food and beverages, home care products, housewares and home furnishings, media products, and toys and games.

About A.T. Kearney

A.T. Kearney is a leading global management consulting firm with offices in more than 40 countries. Since 1926, we have been trusted advisors to the world's foremost organizations. A.T. Kearney is a partner-owned firm, committed to helping clients achieve immediate impact and growing advantage on their most mission critical issues. For more information, visit www.atkearney.com.

About the A.T. Kearney Global Consumer Institute

The A.T. Kearney Global Consumer Institute is a worldwide network of professionals and executives. The Institute combines proprietary and public data resources with local knowledge to deliver strategic and operational insights to executives in consumer-facing industries seeking long-term growth and competitive advantage. For more information, please contact [email protected].

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SOURCE A.T. Kearney

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