Last year, UK online shoppers spent an average of €1,771 each. The total internet spend accounts for 12 per cent of UK retail sales and represents 30 per cent of total European sales.

The EU e-commerce market is worth an annual €200.52 billion. Online shoppers in Germany, UK and France account for more than 70 per cent of European online sales.

Because of obligatory account registration, online shoppers abandon their shopping carts 26 per cent of the time.

According to the National Statistics Office, Maltese businesses generated over €1.3 billion in e-commerce sales in 2010 – this accounts for 21 per cent of the total turnover for businesses that own an e-commerce site.

The average order value on Amazon is €36.

In the US, Cyber Monday – celebrated on the Monday after Black Friday – generates record online sales. In 2012, Cyber Monday generated more than $1.98 billion (€1.51bn) in online sales.

In 2011, 61 per cent of Maltese internet users purchased goods and services over the internet. Fifty per cent of internet users purchased items of clothing while around 37 per cent purchased books, magazines and newspapers. Twenty-nine per cent purchased holidays and accommodation while 27 per cent purchased transport arrangements.

In the past decade, the US online retail market has grown from $72 billion (€55bn) to $256 billion (€196bn) and now has more than 75 per cent penetration. A third of the revenue is generated by travel and flight booking websites. It is expected that by 2016, the number of online shoppers in the US will grow to 175 million.

Global e-commerce sales will pass the €1 trillion mark by 2013 and the total number of internet users is expected to increase to approximately 3.5 billion.

In the third quarter of 2012, €3,364 were transacted every second via PayPal.

Sources: Fortune3, internetretailer.com, National Statistics Office.