According to this, Pakistan is a promising ecommerce market since it has 31 million internet users, out of which 50% use mobiles for browsing.

"Pakistan has liberalized international trade and, as such, US-based online commerce companies like Amazon, Macy’s and JC Penny are allowed to ship items to the country. The delivery of online orders is made via Borderfree. Online shoppers can purchase items by using their local currency via online banking or cash-on-delivery."

"Online payment options such as credit and debit cards are yet to be developed in this country as there is solely United Bank Limited (UBL) which facilitates online payments as such. Online stores dedicated to selling products to international buyers generally choose third-party gateways like 2CheckOut, Payza and Skrill for overseas sales. For domestic sales, choices include online bank transfer, branchless banking like mobile network accepting payments on behalf of banks, mostly from consumers without bank accounts, and mobile transfer."

"There is a large percentage of the country’s gross domestic product that is being spent on consumption which makes consumer retail as an even more growing sector in the country. Pakistan imports USD 40 billion worth of goods while exporting only USD 24.6 billion making up the differences from remittances from Pakistanis living abroad of USD 13.2 billion, everything happening on a yearly basis. The mean percentage of Pakistani consumers likely purchase goods and services, construct housing etc. Wholesale and retail sectors account for 17.1% of Pakistan’s economy."

According to this, the Russian parliament has adopted a set of amendments to the national legislation on payments, including an “anti-terrorism” package, which make user identification mandatory for electronic payments in certain situations where anonymous payments were previously allowed.

"According to the amendments, there are currently three levels of transactional anonymity:
• The anonymous use of electronic payments remains possible for individual transactions under RUB 15,000 (almost USD 440), with a monthly limit of RUB 40,000 (USD 1,170). The change here is that anonymity is no longer permitted for money transfers of any size between individuals, and as payments to foreign e-merchants operating without a Russian representative.
• In these last two cases, users are required to identify themselves under a “simplified” procedure. Users must provide their mobile phone number, their passport number, and a secondary identification number – either their tax payer number (ИНН), individual insurance number (СНИЛС) or medical insurance number (OMC). Under this procedure, individual transactions can be made for amounts of up to RUB 60,000 (USD 1,750), with a monthly limit of RUB 200,000 (USD 5,830).
• Fully identified users – those who present their original or notary certified passport – can make e-payment transactions of up to RUB 100,000 (USD 2,915)."

"These new rules are significantly less restrictive than those initially considered. In their first reading earlier this year, the amendments established a threshold for user identification in all types of transactions at RUB 1,000 (around USD 30). However, intense lobbying from payment industry players and associations resulted in a more liberal – are arguably more reasonable – approach to fighting terrorism."

"The company has also begun integration with government databases to verify users’ identification numbers. This procedure, which is supposed to be completed automatically and instantaneously, will become mandatory on November 2014. Xsolla also fears “a large drop in revenue” for foreign e-merchants due to the new user identification requirements on small transactions."

"It is hard to predict at this stage to what extent the new identification requirements will affect these businesses. However, payments with bank cards – which represent a significant part of cross-border transactions – are not affected by the new rules, since they already imply user identification."

Source Retail Touch Points

According to this, Europe's 500 top online retailers that sell across national borders within the region, maintaining three or more dedicated websites are growing nearly twice as fast as the 500 leading web merchants operating in Europe as a whole.

"The combined sales of all 27 Europe 500 merchants that operate three or more European ecommerce sites totaled USD 62.51 billion, up 29.2% from USD 48.40 billion in 2012. It outpaces the 17% growth rate for the Europe 500 as a whole, which means a total of USD 155. 23 billion."

"In 2013, 12.3% of all estimated European ecommerce sales were registered across national borders. That figure is expected to increase to 20.1% of all estimated European ecommerce sales by 2018."

"Its international web sales, which are dominated by its other European ecommerce brands, grew by 27.5% to USD 2.81 billion. The retailer sells to markets like the UK, France, Russia, Italy, Austria, Netherlands, Poland and Spain. The retailer aims at reaching USD 10.96 billion (EUR 8 billion) in web sales by 2015."

"89 merchants, or 17.8%, of all merchants ranked in the 2014 Europe 500 guide operate dedicated ecommerce sites in two or more European countries and 27, or 5.4%, have dedicated ecommerce sites in three or more European countries. Those include: Amazon, Otto, ASOS, Groupe Auchan, Blue Nile, Brandos, Carrefour, CDON, Decathlon, Dell, Disney, Dixons, Kerig, Hewlett-Packard, IKEA, MacIntosh Retail Group, Lego, Tesco, Marks & Spencer, M & M Direct, Mobile Fun, Nike, Media Saturn, Sony, Apple, Zazzle and Spartoo."

"The new European Consumer Rights Directive, which goes into effect on June 13, 2014 will enable retailers in Germany to charge for return shipping. However, a recent survey from security seal vendor, Trusted Shops, found that nearly 60% of online retailers won’t charge Germans for returns despite the change. That means retailers might have to continue to offer free return shipping to remain competitive in Germany."

According to this, alternative payment methods are forecasted to increase their share of online payments to over 50% by 2017.

"Currently, credit cards continue to have the largest share of global B2C ecommerce payments. The fastest growing alternative methods, namely digital wallets and mobile payments, are increasing their share rapidly, with an annual growth rate of over 40% outpacing other payment methods."

"As payments integration across various channels is one of the main developments in the industry, banks, payment processers, card companies and multi-channel merchants globally advocate the integration of online payments with mobile and POS payment, while mobile wallets start to offer services beyond mobile payments and merchants select a single payment provider across channels."

"Mobile payments, both online and in-store, are predicted to continue their notable growth worldwide, along with the concomitant increase in customer adoption. Nearly a quarter of the global consumers used their mobile phones for financial or banking transaction in 2013, and the number of payments with mobile handsets is forecasted to grow significantly in the next few years to reach several billions by 2018. The region leading worldwide by share of mobile on total B2C ecommerce payments is the Middle East & Africa."