The volume of sales made by Portugal's e-commerce companies grew in the third quarter. This is according to the results of the ''Quarterly Barometer of Electronic Commerce in Portugal - 3rd quarter 2007'', released recently by Associação do Comércio Electrónico em Portugal (ACEP - Portuguese Association for E-commerce) and by the company Netsonda.
Based on a survey of principle ACEP members, the report's results show that over 90% of these companies reported an increase in the volume of sales during the quarter when compared to the same period of 2006, representing a growth rate of 5.6 per cent.
Meanwhile an increase was also seen in the number of customers who made purchases through the websites of the surveyed companies over the third quarter of the previous year - 70 per cent of the companies reported an increase in customer numbers of between 1 and 50 per cent, while 3.4 per cent of the companies reported increases in excess of 50 per cent.
As far as investment is concerned, around 47 per cent of these companies maintained the investment made in their web sites, with another 47% reporting an increase in this investment.
Among the main product categories and transaction services offered by these companies, electronic products (including mobile phones) stand out, along with IT products, food, drink, tobacco, toys, games and consoles.
Finally, reporting on their outlook for e-commerce in the short term, the companies surveyed report a significantly more positive view in comparison to the previous quarter.
