Every few months we take a snapshot review of where Scotland sits in terms of its ecommerce performance. Combining data using publicly accessible tools combined with data from a few authoritative sources such as the UK ONS, helps paint a picture for those with an interest in how Scotland is faring in terms of electronic trade and commerce. All data shown below was recorded on Friday 17th February 2017.

Jobs in ecommerce across the UK

News on ecommerce comparing London with the whole of ScotlandVisiting Google news, typing "ecommerce" "london" with results limited to the past week recorded 55 items from news-related websites. Typing “ecommerce” “Scotland” over the same period showed one result. The one result was an article about the Indian platform Snapdeal whose funding had involved the Royal Bank of Scotland.Linkages to the wider economyIt’s unclear whether the poor showing in ecommerce in Scotland is because of Scotland’s weaker performance in business or whether it’s weak performance in business is the result, in part, of its performance in ecommerce. Whatever the linkages, here are two ONS results comparing performance of the UK economy with the Scottish economy:

ConclusionsIn all aspects of online trade from the use of the term ecommerce through to the tools that provide the technology for online trade, Scotland appears to trail behind all other parts of the UK. Using multiple sources, this is reflected in there being fewer jobs in ecommerce in Scotland which suggests fewer ecommerce projects being undertaken. This is backed up by there being fewer news stories about Scotland’s ecommerce.For those with an interest in the economic importance of ecommerce for the national economy, it’s worth looking back at the largest study ever undertaken in the UK on the economic importance of ecommerce. It showed that companies that do not undertake ecommerce export 90p for every £1 they import while those those that do undertake ecommerce, for every £1 they import they export £2.80 (ref). The data highlighted here suggests that the imbalance in eTrade is likely to be a significant factor in Scotland’s overall performance for both jobs and GDP.