Although last week we saw the first decline in the history of online sales (-6% in the last quarter of the year), the Spanish Association of Electronic Commerce and Relational Marketing ( AECEM ) is very optimistic for 2009 and foresees an increase in business volume in most sectors. The AECEM predicts that 2008 will close with a total business of 6,000 million euros, which is equivalent to a growth of over 30%.
In the third quarter of 2008 in Spain, it is bc data europe worth noting that there were 6.2 million e-commerce transactions, a figure that has been increasing since 2005. In this regard, Martí Manent, President of AECEM, points out that the most important thing is that business continues to grow and that, if we compare it with other sectors of the economy, the e-commerce channel shows strength despite the crisis.
Thanks to this boom in e-commerce, the AECEM also indicates that it is already a fact that online advertising will be more effective and popular with advertisers, a fact that will be consolidated in 2009 and that with the current state of advertising in traditional media is a great advance for online business.
A thorough analysis of the data in the CMT report shows that in the third quarter of 2008 the sector that registered the most sales was travel agencies and tour operators, although with a slight decrease compared to the previous quarter; however, the rest of the sectors experienced growth, as is the case with land transport of passengers and sales from portals for artistic, sporting and recreational events.
As for the forecasts for 2009, Martí Manent indicates that the tourism and real estate sectors will continue to decline, due to the general economic situation of the country, but the rest will not be affected.
It should be noted that during this period the number of online orders has maintained its upward trend, although with a decrease in the average order value, which means that sales have increased but with lower financial amounts. "This is understandable because people, in times of crisis, look for the best price and the best way to compare offers is through the facilities offered by the Internet," says Martí Manent.