Despite a quarter of businesses already noticing the impact of the Brexit, the UK e-commerce sector actually flourished over the past year.
Demand for UK products comes from all over the world. Overall, the UK online retail industry association IMRG expects growth of around 11 per cent in 2017. The first month of the year fulfilled this promise, with e-commerce order growth of 11.3 per cent.
A key factor in this growth is orders sent abroad. These so-called crossborder orders accounted for more than a quarter of e-commerce retail spending last year. The Dutch also spent more there in 2016 than the year before: a total of €21.7 billion was exported from the UK, up 2 per cent.
The number of internet orders from outside Europe peaked for the UK shortly after the Brexit. Since January, that ratio has actually reversed, according to the IMRG. February was the second month in a row in which European countries ordered more than countries outside the EU. Ireland and Italy in particular eagerly imported UK items.
