E-commerce industry in the United Kingdom - A golden opportunity for enterprises in pandemic period

Updated time: 05 Jun, 2021, 13:57 (UTC+08:00)

While most economies have faced a heavy stagnation due to Covid-19 crisis, the e-commerce industry is becoming a bright spot, carrying not only The United Kingdom (the UK) but also the global economy within the period.

The United Kingdom e-commerce overview:

The United Kingdom is the fifth largest national economy in the world, enjoying a high level of Gross Domestic Product with $3.12 trillion in 2021. It is also well-known for being the most advanced e-commerce market in European region. Like many countries in the world, the nation’s e-commerce industry has replaced traditional retail models gradually and become an attractive investment trend for global investors to expand businesses amid the Covid-19

Although the economy of the UK was under negative influence of the pandemic in 2020, it’s retail e-commerce sales continually increased 34% compared to the year 2019 and being ranked the 3th world largest revenue with $180.39 billion, just after China market ($2,296.95 billion) and the United States ($794.50 billion).

London street is quite deserted due to Covid-19 pandemic

At present, there is a hopeful phase of pandemic in the country, coronavirus restrictions have been eased by the government and local businesses are allowed to operate services and products in stores again. However, for 65 million citizens during a long period of restrictions, shopping on ecommerce platforms has become a favorable habit, a daily norm which is hard to change. Analysts have noticed that e-commerce now accounts for more than one quarter of all retail sales in the UK and is expected to rise to 34% in 2023.

The UK was ranked the 8th national economy on the ease of doing business according to the World Bank Group 2020. This country has the highest urbanization, highly advanced digital and commerce infrastructure compared to other nations. The government has invested 65 million Euro into full fibre broadband, expected to cover 5G network to the whole nation’s population in the year 2027.

The United Kingdom citizens using smartphones online daily.

In addition, the country has about 93 percent of citizens who from the age 15 to 79, love using digital devices like smartphones for online activities. Most citizens all have credit & debit accounts and are familiar with using high-tech payment applications and digital wallets such as Paypal, Shopify and Wordplay. Hence, digital payment procedures are sort of quick and easy for the UK people, encouraging them to shop over ecommerce platforms more often. In the Uk, people tend to buy from local businesses with 73 percent of goods bought from Uk while there is only 27 percent from anothers. In other words, investing in e-commerce in the UK is a potential step forward to approach one of the largest retail and e-commerce markets in the world.

Setting up an ecommerce business in United Kingdom (UK) with consultancy from the expert

A remarkable news concerned by global investors is the event of leaving the European Union by the UK on 31 january 2021 . This event has created a lot of commercial changes and impacts directly on the e-commerce industry and trading between the UK and other countries. Additional taxes and more customs duties will be added to foreign purchasers when they purchase goods from the UK. Hence, enterprises should receive advice from experienced experts such as One IBC before incorporating a company in the UK if you want to maximize your business.

Setting up an ecommerce business in United Kingdom (UK) will help to increase beneficial commerce and the enterprise's reputation to global clients. The process of setting up a business in the UK takes 24 hours in case enterprises know the legal procedures of the country thoroughly. Specifically, the government always encourages business activities for foreigners by beneficial policies and incentives, for example, the charter capital for registering company formation is only 1 pound sterling in the UK.

According to One IBC - a Global Service Provider, registering at least one merchant account and building up ecommerce payment systems is necessary for enterprises to maximize commerce activities without third-parties. With One IBC’s merchant account opening service, global payment and financial transactions are simplified with the network of over 190 countries. Besides, One IBC also provides diverse services to help customers to operate their businesses efficiently such as tax - accounting & auditing and other serviced offices.