eCommerce growth in the more mature European markets has plateaued and many brands are looking to new country markets to achieve continued sales growth. But dealing with customer expectations becomes trickier as brands expand internationally. The headaches around offering shoppers a seamless, omnichannel experience on home territory simply multiply with each new country market.
Shoppers won’t understand if a product isn’t available to them when it’s available to customers in another country. The same is true of promotions, and delivery options. Shoppers may expect to place an order using a money-off coupon in one country and collect from a store in another country, while adding points to their loyalty card. They won’t understand why that’s not possible –it’s all through the same brand after all.
Some brands try to tackle this issue by not allowing customers to see other country websites at all by geo-blocking, i.e. blocking access to websites based on location, or diverting the page back to a local browser - a practice which only further frustrates consumers.
So why don’t all the rules that apply to omnichannel – such as brand consistency, service offerings and stock consistency – also apply across geographical borders too?
European brands in particular, feel they are justified in geo-blocking because of the many challenges they face selling across borders. There are multiple languages, cultures, payment types and a wide variety of delivery preferences. There are the legal issues surrounding copyright and distribution rights. Also, the VAT compliance costs for each country and huge delivery costs; a flight with a low-cost airline can be cheaper than sending a parcel to other European countries.
The European Commission is on the case. It has established a campaign to create a ‘Digital Single Market’, to simplify VAT arrangements and copyright laws, and provide better access for consumers and businesses to digital goods and services across Europe.
It’s a good start. Nevertheless, in this diverse continent, challenges will continue to exist. The question is – as always – is the large amount of effort worth the potential outcome?
I think it is. According to Eurostat, 10% of shoppers in the EU already buy across borders, and the number is growing. Which also means online competition is growing to include internationally selling brands as well as those in the local market. For every brand that doesn’t offer cross-border customer experience consistency, there’ll soon be an “omni-geo” brand just a competitive click away.
Shoppers won’t understand if a product isn’t available to them when it’s available to customers in another country. The same is true of promotions, and delivery options. Shoppers may expect to place an order using a money-off coupon in one country and collect from a store in another country, while adding points to their loyalty card. They won’t understand why that’s not possible –it’s all through the same brand after all.
Some brands try to tackle this issue by not allowing customers to see other country websites at all by geo-blocking, i.e. blocking access to websites based on location, or diverting the page back to a local browser - a practice which only further frustrates consumers.
So why don’t all the rules that apply to omnichannel – such as brand consistency, service offerings and stock consistency – also apply across geographical borders too?
European brands in particular, feel they are justified in geo-blocking because of the many challenges they face selling across borders. There are multiple languages, cultures, payment types and a wide variety of delivery preferences. There are the legal issues surrounding copyright and distribution rights. Also, the VAT compliance costs for each country and huge delivery costs; a flight with a low-cost airline can be cheaper than sending a parcel to other European countries.
The European Commission is on the case. It has established a campaign to create a ‘Digital Single Market’, to simplify VAT arrangements and copyright laws, and provide better access for consumers and businesses to digital goods and services across Europe.
It’s a good start. Nevertheless, in this diverse continent, challenges will continue to exist. The question is – as always – is the large amount of effort worth the potential outcome?
I think it is. According to Eurostat, 10% of shoppers in the EU already buy across borders, and the number is growing. Which also means online competition is growing to include internationally selling brands as well as those in the local market. For every brand that doesn’t offer cross-border customer experience consistency, there’ll soon be an “omni-geo” brand just a competitive click away.