As ecommerce become an increasingly mature business, more and more laws and regulations come in place. This is also because Europe desperately wants to have one, unified ecommerce market. The Directive on Consumer Right is one of these examples. As of 13 June 2014 it replaced certain directives and it’s focused more on protecting the online consumer than the European Union did before.
The European Commission carried out a check across 697 ecommerce websites across the European Union and found that 63 percent of them had missing, unclear of incomprehensible information on the right of withdrawal from a transaction. One in three websites had incomplete or unclear details about the trader, while one in five failed to provide consumers with a clear display of price or contract conditions. Continue reading
The German E-Commerce and Distance Selling Trade Association (bevh) and German Federal Association of eCommerce (BVOH) have announced a strategic partnership, in order to represent the interests in online trading even more effective. Continue reading
Manufacturers in Europe have adopted several practices in order to better control the distribution of their products. It happens a lot that products can only be sold by pre-selected authorized sellers or that manufacturers sell their products online directly to consumers. But the European Commission found that manufacturers increasingly use contractual sales restrictions in their distribution agreements and this may harm consumers. Continue reading
Online food delivery marketplace Takeaway.com has announced its intention to proceed with an initial public offering and listing on Euronext Amsterdam. The IPO is expected to take place in the coming weeks and will probably consist of newly issued shares and existing shares held by the current shareholders. Continue reading
The Brits have voted for Brexit, which means the United Kingdom will withdraw from the European Union. The whole process of withdrawal will probably take two years, but it’s certain Brexit will affect the European ecommerce industry. Here’s how. Continue reading
The European Commission has proposed new ecommerce rules which should help European consumers and companies benefit from the Digital Single Market. The plan consists of three measures: tackling geoblocking, making cross-border parcel delivery more affordable and efficient and promoting customer trust. Continue reading
Geo-blocking, which prevents consumers to purchase consumer goods and accessing digital content online from a certain country, is widespread in the European Union. A survey has shown that 38 percent of retailers selling goods and 68 percent of retailers selling digital content said they geo-block consumers located in other EU member states. Continue reading
The Online Dispute Resolution platform, aimed to help online shoppers settling disputes with merchants across Europe, still doesn’t offer exactly what it meant to do. The consumer tool was launched officially in February, but still five countries – including big ecommerce markets Germany and France – haven’t connected yet. Continue reading
The American retail federation welcomes the new, tentative privacy agreement on transfers of personal data between the US and Europe and says officials should quickly implement this measure. “Failure to renew this agreement would create a new trade barrier that would bog down global commerce and drive up costs for businesses and consumers”, NRF says. Continue reading
Running an online marketplace from somewhere in Europe used to be very complex, with all the different tax rules. But since the beginning of last year each company that sells digital goods is forced to collect VAT based on the country of residence of each buyer. This didn’t make it easier. A European startup explains why. Continue reading
The European Commission today presents a proposal which equalizes the guarantee period for consumers who shop online in all member states. If this proposal is accepted, it will be a major change for consumers and retailers in Europe and could really boost cross-border ecommerce. Continue reading
Next year, all retailers in the European Union need to prominently state that customers can exercise new dispute resolution rights, provide a link to the EU website explaining these rights, and state whether the store opts in or opts out of the EU scheme. Here’s what you should know about this alternative dispute resolution. Continue reading
Ecommerce Europe, a pan-European association for online retailers, does not totally agree with the European Commission with regards to the Single Market Strategy it presented today. It welcomes the policy proposals the Commission has made, but the ecommerce association recommends not to create parallel legal frameworks. Ecommerce Europe wants the same rules for online and offline sales. Continue reading
Ukraine is finally opening up to the online retail business. The parliament and the Central Bank have recently adopted measures to facilitate online transactions. As a direct result Ukrainians can now use the popular payment service PayPal. Continue reading
The European Union tries hard to achieve the Digital Single Market. But despite all the efforts, there’s still a long way to go before there’s a borderless ecommerce industry in Europe. The national board of trade of Sweden has published a report where it maps out the legal barriers affecting ecommerce in the EU. Continue reading