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."

According to this, North and South American continents have credit cards as the customers` preferred payment method in B2C ecommerce.

"The online retail payment market in the US grew by a small double-digit share in 2013, reaching several hundreds of EUR billion. M-commerce payments amounted to a medium-high double-digit figure in EUR billion, split almost evenly between tablets and mobile phones. In Canada, online payment by card continues to be the leading method."

"In Latin America, internet users who do not have credit cards have pushed alternative payment methods ahead, but credit cards still take the lead. In Argentina, the payment method most used by over 50% online shoppers was credit card, while cash payments upon receipt, and such services as Pago Facil and Rapi Pago were notably used in 2013. In Mexico, the largest share of B2C ecommerce sales is generated through credit card payment, while the other popular method is cash-on-delivery."

"However, in Brazil the percentage of the adult population with a relationship with a bank goes beyond 80%. The online and mobile payment markets in Brazil are on an ascending trend, and, as such, Boleto Bancario was the second most used payment method in Brazil, beside bank credit card."

"According to data from WorldPay, online purchases made using alternative payment methods are expected to rise to 59% in 2017 from 43% in 2012, recent findings indicate."

According to this, credit cards still dominate the B2C ecommerce market across the European Union and will keep its leading position in the near future.

"Cards take hold of the major share of the B2C ecommerce transactions in Europe, while digital wallets come next in place. European Union legislators are developing electronic payments regulations by integrating aspects such as security."

"Online payment contributes the largest share to card payment growth in the UK, with an annual growth rate of over 10%. Contactless cards’ value of payments in the UK exceeded GBP 100 million in early 2014. In France, credit card remains the most preferred payment method in B2C ecommerce and is followed by PayPal. The year-on-year growth of online credit card payments in France slowed to a single-digit percentage in early 2014. Online card spending in Italy increased year-on-year in every month of 2013, while in Spain, the two payment methods most used in online shopping in 2013 were bank credit card and PayPal."

"Credit card was the most preferred payment method in both B2C ecommerce and m-commerce in Sweden, though the share of online shoppers that prefer credit card decreased between 2012 and 2013. Card use kept the lion’s share in payments in Denmark and Norway in both B2C ecommerce and m-commerce, while in Finland online bank transfer was ahead of cards."

"However, in Germany, invoice keeps it domineering seat as a payment method in online shopping, which is acknowledged as secure and convenient. Still, credit card and digital wallets, are expanding. In Austria, the leading method both in m-commerce and B2C ecommerce was credit card, while online shoppers in Switzerland most used invoice in online shopping and credit card in mobile shopping."

"In Estonia B2C ecommerce transactions with bank cards are significant, with cross-border transactions by far outweighing the domestic ones."

According to this, more European consumers will bank on their tablets than on their mobile phones by as soon as 2016.

"According to Forrester's European digital banking forecast for 2014 to 2018, while mobile banking use in Europe will grow fast, from 42 million users in 2013 to 99 million in 2018, tablet banking will grow twice as fast, from 19 million users in 2013 to 115 million in 2018. Growing tablet ownership, the increased availability of tablet banking apps, and fewer security fears among tablet users versus mobile users are among the key drivers behind the explosive tablet banking growth predicted by the report."

"The study also suggests that France is the only country in the forecast where tablet banking will not overtake mobile banking by 2016, as it combines lower tablet adoption than the other EU countries (apart from Italy) with the highest mobile banking adoption after the Netherlands and Sweden."

"Forrester expects the proportion of European tablet owners who bank on tablets to almost double from 35% in 2013 to 68% by 2018. According to the forecasts, in 2018, Sweden will have the highest tablet banking adoption at 89%, while Italy will have the lowest at 54%."