‘Luxembourg does too little with ecommerce’

It seems that retailers in Luxembourg are still not keen on digitalization. Just 7 percent of tradespeople in this Western European country have an online shop for their goods or services. While other countries in Europe are embracing ecommerce, Luxembourg seems more reluctant.

Newspaper Luxemburger Wort wrote about Connected Life, an event about digital consumerism. One of the attendees was Prime Minister Xavier Bettel, who is also the Minister for Communications and the Media. He highlighted the gap that seems to exist between tradespeople and consumers. Just 7 percent of tradespeople are present online, while over three quarters of Luxembourg consumers buy goods online.

‘Offer new shopping experiences’

According to Fernand Ernster, president of Luxembourg’s Commercial Federation, digitalization isn’t just about developing a website. “It should also be used to create links, offering new shopping experiences through mobile applications, for example.”

Luxemburger Wort writes that some tradespeople are still skeptical about ecommerce sales, as it could hurt their physical sales. They also think that investing human and financial resources won’t bring returns. But in reality, ecommerce sales have shown to be capable of being a complementary channel for physical stores.

‘Get started with ecommerce’

“More than ever, it is important to get started. Even if today ecommerce appears like a mere accessory to some, it will be different for future generations of consumers”, TNS Managing Director Luc Biever told the crowd.