Cross-Border Online Shopping in Europe Fails Three Out of Five Times

Online shopping isn't exactly something new these days, but some of its greatest potential still hasn't been attained, especially in the fragmented European market. In the US, sites like Amazon have built huge businesses around online retail, but in Europe the sites have remained much localized. A new study commissioned by the European Commission has found a possible reason for this, as it turns out that cross-border purchases aren't really an option and fail three out of five times.

The problem is widespread and most of the transactions couldn't be completed due to a lack of an international payment option or simply because the sites don't offer shipping outside to at least some of the other European countries. The results come from an extensive study that involved 11,000 transactions in which “mystery shoppers” attempted to buy 100 various products.

The e-commerce market in Europe is flourishing with the number of shops that offer online options but also the number of people shopping online rising in the past years. However, cross-border transactions in the same time have stagnated and only around six to seven percent of EU consumers bought something online from another country, as opposed to the overall 33 percent who made online purchases.

However, the study found that, given the option, consumers would buy more from other countries and, in 13 out of the 27 countries studied, they were able to find at least half of the products on the list for a price cheaper by at least ten percent, including delivery fees, in other countries. At the same time, the test showed that consumers were unable to find a product on the list on any local site for at least half the products, yet those were available in other countries.
 
“The results of this research are very striking, we now have concrete facts and figures showing the extent to which the European single market for consumers is just not happening in online retail. Better deals and greater product choice for consumers on our vast European market could be just a click of a mouse away. But in reality online shoppers are still largely confined within national borders. Europe's consumers are being denied better choice and value for money. They deserve better. We must simplify the legal maze that is preventing online traders from offering their goods in other countries,” European Commissioner for Consumers Meglene Kuneva said.