Following the success of the Partner to Sellers site and map in the US, the eBay team in Europe has created maps for Germany, UK, France, Italy and Spain showing all the so-called regional ‘hotspots’ for ecommerce.
The team looked at regions with the highest concentration of online small and medium size businesses (SMBs) per 10,000 inhabitants in 2016. The data demonstrates that in sharp contrast to many traditional businesses, eBay SMBs thrive outside of capital cities in newly identified ‘seller hotspots’.
We can now see exactly how the internet and online marketplaces such as eBay are enabling economic inclusion in Europe – as a diverse and sometimes unexpected set of regions blaze a trail for ecommerce.
- In Italy, France and Spain the majority of sellers are in coastal regions, areas often famous for tourism rather than business, enabling seaside locations to enjoy high levels of digital entrepreneurs.
- The top five seller hotspots for eBay SMBs exist outside of the ‘tech hubs’ for the country, as recognised by the European Commission.[1]
- In the UK, the so-called North-South divide is not in place for ecommerce as 10 out of the top 15 postcodes for e-business density are located in the north of the country.
- Bavaria is the only region in Germany’s top five seller hotspots to house some of the country’s famous automotive companies, with BMW and Audi both headquartered in the state, demonstrating how ecommerce is thriving inside and outside of traditionally industrial areas.
The maps can be found by visiting Inside the eBay economy, which shines a light on the thousands of professional sellers in Europe.
Commenting on the findings, Oliver Prothmann, President of BVOH, the German Federal Association of Online Trade said:
“For European SMBs it is critical to have a platform like eBay as a main sales channel to address the growing eCommerce market. More and more manufacturers and brands are coming up with their own online shops and it can be hard to compete against the large marketing budgets. eBay is a lifeline for SMBs in Europe. We need SMB trade, because these firms bring a variety in products, innovation in sales channels, hire staff and feed a whole supply chain including packaging, logistics and technology. Without SMBs, shopping choices would be black and white – either big brands would offer the consumer the product or you wouldn’t be able to get it.”