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Internet
Retailing:
The
Growth in Internet Shopping
A recent
survey has placed Tesco as the world’s largest online grocer.
The survey by the market research organisation Datamonitor
shows that $580m (£398m) of groceries were sold over the
internet in the UK during 2000 with Tesco.com holding more
than half of that market.
Also
a greater percentage of the total market for groceries is
sold online in the UK compared to any other country. (0.4%
for the UK, 0.33 in the US, 0.1% in Germany and 0.02 in
Italy). Currently the online grocery market is worth $3.5bn
and is forecast to become the largest business-to-business
sector.
The
most developed market in mainland Europe is The Netherlands
but France is set to enjoy the highest rate of growth in
2001 as national store chains such as Auchan, Carrefour,
Casino, Cora and Galerrés Lafayette begin to expand
their online services. This is in contrast with Germany
where heavy price competition precludes the heavy investment
necessary to start online grocery services.
Datamonitor
estimate that the top ten online grocery retailers are:
| Store |
Online
sales in 2000
(US$m)
|
| Tesco
(UK) |
311
|
| Ahold
(US, NL) |
170
|
| Webvan
(US) |
125
|
| Sainsbury
(UK) |
61
|
| Groceryworks
(US) |
60
|
| Asda
Wal-Mart (UK) |
51
|
| Homeruns
(US) |
50
|
| Albertsons
(US) |
35
|
| Iceland
(UK) |
32
|
| Carrefour
(Fr) |
30
|
Based
on: Finch, J (2001) ‘Tesco tops the internet food chain’
The Guardian, February 1, 24.
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