eBay says that almost half of all online businesses surveyed are expecting to rely more heavily on overseas sales in the future, as a result of the Eurozone crisis, and economic uncertainty in the UK.
The survey of over 1000 online enterprises found that 60% of respondents have exported more products and services since the start of the recession in 2007/8.
As a result of the economic malaise in Europe, 37% expect that the strongly performing BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China) are likely to be increasingly important as export markets in 2012. Unsurprisingly, 20% of those surveyed believe that China could become the most important market for exports after Europe by next year.
A further 27% believe that they may have target CIVETS countries (Columbia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, Turkey and South Africa) as future target markets.
The auction site itself has called on decision-makers to improve the support currently available for businesses who want to export their goods and services overseas. Currently, only 7% of respondents would look to the Government for advice on exporting, with most relying on the advice of friends, and retail sites such as eBay for specific advice.
According to the report, one third of low exporters (those with less than 10% of merchandise value from cross-border trade) are likely to see the complexity of legal and regulatory regimes as a barrier to boosting export sales, compared to 23% of high exporters
Additionally, a lack of trust in foreign buyers is also a concern for just over 40% of low exporters compared to only 24% of high exporters, and almost twice as many low exporters (24% versus 13%) see a lack of understanding of foreign markets as a hurdle when selling outside of the UK.
Government should do more to provide advice and support
eBay’s UK Retail Director, Angus McCarey, said that the Government really should do more to encourage online traders:
“Cross-border trade represents a massive economic opportunity for the UK, and we know that over half of high exporting businesses (59.3%) are confident about the next six months compared to only two fifths (40.7%) of low exporting businesses. Government and policymakers must do more to ensure services and organisations are equipped to provide expert advice on exporting to all businesses, but especially to those businesses that haven’t given it a go before and are often held back by a simple lack of understanding.”
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