According to a news report commissioned by business process outsourcing (BPO) Arvato Services and World Business Research (WBR), the high growth consumer markets in US, China and India are in the spot light of UK e-Commerce business leaders. 93 UK e-Commerce CEOs, managers and executives working in the beauty, fashion, FMCG and luxury sectors came under the survey.
As per the research, outsourcing is a popular approach for firms managing e-Commerce with 47% of respondents using an external provider for delivering functions such as online marketing, logistics & fulfillment, website operation and development. Over half of firms considering external providers plan to use them in their operations on the continent, with the main focus on customer care and forward and reverse logistics. This is in contrast to 14% in the US and 29% across APAC.
The research also divulged that 37% of British firms are planning their e-Commerce growth in the US, 33% in China and 30% in India. Adding to this, 24% of the e-commerce has been planned to be stretched out to the European markets, with a third of the companies already having an online presence on the continent. Fashion and beauty will be the most active segments to move e-Commerce in China and India with a market expansion of 42% and 40% respectively. However, more than one in three companies across both sectors have indeterminate timeline for growth, with 15% looking to implement their strategies over the next one to two years. In comparison, 24 per cent of businesses in luxury and fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) plan to develop an offering in the US, China and India, with seven per cent looking to expand over the next couple of years.
About UK’s international expansion of e-commerce Tony Mathews, Head of e-Commerce at arvato UK said, “International growth into new regions requires in depth regional knowledge, technical capability and supply chain expertise, and external providers can help companies deliver successful market entry. Outsourcing can lower the barriers businesses face when expanding into new markets, providing the necessary economies of scale and local know-how to deliver successful expansion.”
