Fleet of foot internet entrepreneurs are taking advantage of the weak pound to buck the economic gloom.
In the first economic downturn where the internet has been an established trading route, new figures from eBay UK show that, in stark contrast to the high street, internet export sales are on the
up.
In the first economic downturn where the internet has been an established trading route, new figures from eBay UK show that, in stark contrast to the high street, internet export sales are on the
up.
In January 2009, 244,000 UK-based eBay sellers generated £57million worth of export sales (a year on year increase of 49%) selling 2.4million items (+40% yoy).
The US (£9.5m), Germany (£6m), France (£5.4m) and Ireland (£5.3m) top the table of countries most eager to take advantage of the favourable exchange rate.
The top exports between December 2008 and February 2009 were mobile phones (£10.9m), watches (£4.3m), menswear and womenswear (£5.5m), laptops (£2.5m) and digital cameras (£2.2m).
The picture month on month also demonstrates strong growth for SME exports, with the value of export sales up by almost 10% in January (versus December ’08) and the number of items sold up by 13%
(versus December ’08).
“In these tough times, businesses now more than ever, are looking to how they can seize every opportunity available to them,” said Mark Lewis, Country Manager for eBay in the UK.
“eBay’s online marketplace allows businesses to be incredibly flexible and make fast, opportunistic adjustments to everything from product range, to price, to fulfilment.
“Additionally, for sellers of legitimate, great value products, the weak Pound has opened up new and exciting opportunities for them to grow their business.
Lewis continued: “However, their continued success will depend on the internet remaining an open and international trading channel, where barriers to trade are minimal, allowing online
businesses to thrive, especially in a recession."
One such businessman who has seen a significant growth from export sales is eBay seller John Pemberton, a seller of clothing and shoes. John has seen his European export sales grow by 50%
since this time last year,
“In the last 3 months alone, export sales have accounted for almost 40% of my turnover, with 25% of all of my sales coming from Europe, including France, Germany, Italy and Belgium. So while
the weak pound isn’t great for the UK economy it’s clearly offering a great opportunity for SMEs in what is an extremely tough economic climate."
Top 10 UK export markets for January – eBay data 1) US - £9.5m 2) Germany - £6m 3) France - £5.4m 4) Ireland - £5.3m 5) Italy - £4.3m 6) Netherlands - £2.8m 7) Spain - £2.7m 8) Austria - £2.1m 9) Belgium - £1.4m 10) Switzerland - £1.4m (check this country code) Top 5 UK export items for December 2008 – February 2009 – eBay data 1) Mobile phones - £10.9m 2) Wristwatches - £4.3m 3) Menswear and womenswear - £5.5m 4) Laptops - £2.5m 5) Digital cameras – £2.2m About John Pemberton John, 34, gave up a high-powered job as a marketing director in 2004 to set up his own full-time eBay company selling men’s designer clothing. He is now the number one seller of men’s suits on eBay and the number three seller of Doc Martens, with an annual turnover of £250K and in excess of 50,000 visits to his shop each month. He feels his key to success is putting the customer first and despite current economic conditions, John recently raised £100K from the bank to re-invest in his business due to his sound business model. According to John, his business is more recession resistant than most, as “shopkeepers rely on the footfall walking by their shop, but on the web you are a shop window to the world”.