The digital revolution has only just begun – the huge potential of the Internet for digital marketing and sales

New Boston Consulting Group report on the Economic impact of Internet on retail

Value/Importance: [rating=4]

Recommended link: BCG Perspectives March 19th article

A new report on consumer and business use of the Internet in the G-20 countries

If you've been working in online marketing or Ecommerce for a while, it's easy to lose sight of how new digital platforms are, and the opportunity they will still bring in the future.

A major new research report by the BCG Group reminds us of the future potential by its review of the size of the opportunity - $4.2 trillion by 2016 they estimate. To put it into a more meaningful perspective, if it were a national economy, the Internet economy would already rank in the world’s top five, behind only the U.S., China, Japan, and India, and ahead of Germany.

You can read the full report summary above, here is what stood out for me:

1. UK leads the way in contribution of Internet to Economy

This has been touted in the UK media today as a feel-good story, but cynics will say it reflects the lack of investment in manufacturing of physical goods. Overall, the report does suggest the innovation in digital technology in the UK is positive.

2. UK also predicted to lead in online retail

This prediction for 2016, again shows the UK with a commanding lead, suggesting many of the G-20 will look to UK retailers and their marketing-tech vendors as good practice to grow their E-commerce.

3. Understand the contribution of ROPO to make the most of Ecommerce

We've talked about the vale of ROPO analysis previously since many will browse then buy offline. The importance of this phenomenon is clearly indicated in the BCG analysis.

 4. E-intensity analysis shows a wide variation between countries

In my books I've used the EIU E-readinness index for many years to show variation in investment in digital platforms between countries. This is a nice summary of the latest state of play:

5. SMEs: early adopters benefit

My final selection shows that those who deploy the new technologies tend to benefit most. I'm not sure whether this is within sector; you would expect certain sectors to be favoured.

All in all, this was a "feel good" report for me too since it really shows the future potential for anyone making a career in digital marketing. From a business point-of-view it also shows that in many markets, there is an even bigger opportunity, particularly through social media marketing.