The latest data from eMarketer gives us some hints about where the extended European on-line market is going in terms of penetration and users. The first diagram suggests that Scandinavia and the Netherlands are the most developed connected European countries in the on-line space.
However, Russia, Spain, Ireland and France are leading in terms of user growth (see below).
Similar to the “catch – up” theory or theory of convergence in macro economics these countries will most probably experience abnormal growth until they reach penetration levels in line with the averages for Europe. The fact that these countries are adding a vast amount of new Internet users each year makes them very attractive targets for business expansion.
Nevertheless, it is important to remember that the maturity of users follows their tenure in the on-line space. Many of these users will be users that have not been exposed to the internet. Advanced ecommerce offerings, blogs, widget applications etc are not necessarily easily adopted in these markets. So for new business development and start up type on-line business activities, I believe Scandinavian markets (and NL) are still the best testing grounds.
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