Scottish ecommerce lags behind the rest of the UK

Recent research indicates that Scotland is lagging behind the UK in ecommerce, according to the Herald Scotland.

The survey, published by Ecommerce-Excellence, in partnership with the ICT trade body ScotlandIS and supplier Indez, asked 35 online-trading companies about their perceived competence when it comes to internet shopping. A majority of Scottish online businesses - 63 percent - rate their international ecommerce skills as "poor."

The results reveal that Scotland may be missing out on a major economic boon.

"According to the UK Government’s latest figures, ecommerce is worth more than £220 billion in the UK alone and is growing at 35 percent per annum. This makes it larger than oil and gas and it is increasing at four times the growth rate of China. Although it is clearly of significant importance to the national economy, there's more skill support for specialist hobbies than ecommerce. Somebody somewhere has got their priorities wrong," Indez CEO Dr Peter Mowforth told the Herald.

"Addressing this skills shortage would help transform the Scottish economy," added Polly Purvis, executive director of ScotlandIS. "If many more small businesses were trading online, we could lift our exports substantially."

According to the Office for National Statistics, Scotland has the lowest level of internet access in the UK, with just 62 percent of households able to get online. London has the highest, at 80 percent.