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International sales from US retailers to jump to $50B by 2020

February 5, 2014

Global strategy consulting firm OC&C Strategy Consultants released a report today in collaboration with Google, entitled "The Global Retail e-mpire." The study details the growth opportunity for U.S. online retailers to expand their international presence in order to access new customers and drive revenue growth. OC&C's research predicts that international sales from U.S. online retailers will jump from $11 billion in 2014 to almost $50 billion by 2020, which would make up 16 percent of the overall U.S. online retail market.

The OC&C study estimated the value of the online retail export market by analyzing 2011 to 2013 search volumes from across the world for retailers based in six of the biggest e-commerce markets. These markets, including the U.K., the U.S., Germany, the Nordics, the Netherlands and France, make up half of current global e-commerce volumes. The research determined that the retail sector is becoming increasingly global and interconnected as trade between countries grows exponentially.

The research also revealed that international consumers have a growing appetite for foreign goods and consistently use search tools to learn more about international brands. More specifically, OC&C's analysis found that international customers are turning to the U.S. for entertainment, electronics, fashion and general merchandise. Brazil has demonstrated the most growth in international searches for U.S retailers at 42 percent, followed by Australia (39 percent), Mexico (38 percent) and Italy (37 percent).

While international sales for U.S. online retailers will only reach seven percent of total volumes this year, OC&C's analysis suggests that these numbers could more than double within the decade and could reach 16 percent by 2020. Leading online retailers, such as eBay and Amazon, have had significant e-commerce market share across the largest international markets over the last several years, and reported that more than 50 percent of their sales are already coming from overseas.

"It's not surprising that our analysis suggests that the largest, most popular U.S. retailers have a concentrated presence overseas. What is surprising is that for the first time our research reveals that smaller U.S. online pureplay retailers, such as Etsy and Snapfish, are demonstrating rapid international growth; Etsy has now reached the Top 10 most sought-out U.S. retailers based on international searches," said Rambaut Fairley at OC&C Strategy Consultants. "This highlights the growing importance of the international opportunity, and in order for U.S. retailers to keep pace with their competitors they all need to be thinking about growing their international customer base."

OC&C's research has determined that U.S. retailers, unlike many of their overseas peers, are leading the way in successfully internationalizing their e-commerce sites. Forty percent of U.S. e-commerce brands have reported reaching more than 50 countries with their goods and services, and another 40 percent have designed their websites to specifically target Spanish-speaking and other local language customers.

"The global increase in the number of people with Internet access, and their growing willingness to buy online, are both providing terrific conditions for e-commerce" said John McAteer, VP of U.S. Sales at Google. "The data on worldwide search activity demonstrates the international revenue opportunity for retailers that have a global online presence."

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