[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2019\/04\/30\/e-commerce-in-europe\/#BlogPosting","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2019\/04\/30\/e-commerce-in-europe\/","headline":"E-commerce in Europe: It takes a village","name":"E-commerce in Europe: It takes a village","description":"Love him or hate him, Jar Jar Binks elicits strong reactions with fans - much like e-commerce platforms in Europe. If you aren't offering the personalized experiences they want, they've no tolerance of your existence.","datePublished":"2019-04-30","dateModified":"2021-08-06","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/contributor\/erica-vialardi\/#Person","name":"Erica Vialardi","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/contributor\/erica-vialardi\/","identifier":185,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c2664653d32060a13d3a268aa0d236fa0ca92ae747e0bbb07fb7b3d9b3b878a5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c2664653d32060a13d3a268aa0d236fa0ca92ae747e0bbb07fb7b3d9b3b878a5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"The Future of Commerce","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/logo-foc-schema-app-1.png","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/logo-foc-schema-app-1.png","width":172,"height":60}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/thumbnail-c73c62565e6d7e0c68790d2b83079256-1.jpeg","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/thumbnail-c73c62565e6d7e0c68790d2b83079256-1.jpeg","height":375,"width":1200},"url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2019\/04\/30\/e-commerce-in-europe\/","about":[{"@type":"Thing","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/commerce\/e-commerce\/","name":"E-Commerce","sameAs":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/E-commerce","http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q484847"]},{"@type":"Thing","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/marketing\/","name":"Marketing","sameAs":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Marketing","http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q39809"]},{"@type":"Thing","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/marketing\/marketing-general\/","name":"Marketing","sameAs":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Marketing","http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q39809"]},{"@type":"Thing","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/star-wars\/","name":"Star Wars","sameAs":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Star_Wars","http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q462"]}],"wordCount":517,"keywords":["E-commerce","Star Wars"],"articleBody":"I was shocked the first time I found out that Jar Jar Binks was a generally disliked character, when reading online reviews about The Phantom Menace a few years ago. Personally, I have always found Jar Jar hilarious. I realized, though, that many negative reviews were about the original picture in English, whereas I watched a dubbed version in my home country.Here, Jar Jar speaks a freaky, comical linguistic mash-up, which has nothing to do with the obnoxious original version. Same story, same character, very different results. I couldn\u2019t help but see a parallel with the situation of e-commerce in my region, EMEA, as I was working on a marketing campaign based on the reports published annually by the Ecommerce Foundation.It takes an Empire\u2019s firepower to enter the competitive arenaThe evidence is clear: B2C European e-commerce sales have been growing double-digit for the last few years, reaching a considerable \u20ac612bn in 2018, a rough quarter of total global B2C e-commerce sales.Interestingly, the growth trend, even though at different velocities, is a constant across almost all of the 40+ countries composing the region. The big global marketplaces, Amazon, Ebay, and Alibaba, are fighting a position war to try and erode each other\u2019s lead as the preferred go-to e-commerce shop for European consumers.That there is no clear winner yet among the three behemoths, though, is revealing about the complexity of expanding an e-commerce business here.There are no two Naboos: Serving a diversified market is no easy featEven foundational business indicators, such as E-GDP, Ease of Doing Business Index and the Logistics Performance Index, differ significantly by country.In addition, some consumer-related information looks even more puzzling. Even considering only the countries where e-commerce is most developed, differences are substantial. For example, the percentage of individuals who shopped online last year spanned from only 34% of total shoppers in Italy to as much as 82% in the Netherlands, which poses the broader question of consumer trust toward experiencing a new brand online.Personalize your weapons to deliver on your promiseBuying habits may differ, but, among the myriad of data, there is one specific area that seems to emerge as a recurring make-or-break purchasing factor, and that is delivery convenience.For a striking 70% of consumers, stating clear delivery information is quoted as the most important factor. This means that personalizing your marketing using advanced digital targeting techniques can only be a plus if, at the other end of the chain, you are able to enact a true personalized sale, otherwise trust is at stake.I personally remorselessly abandon my shopping cart as soon as I read the notorious \u201cinternational delivery costs calculated at check-out\u201d statement.Good old Europe\u2019s growth potential for e-commerce seems to be still high, but capturing it in a galaxy of customer experience may imply more than it takes, including strong local expertise, a trial-and-error mindset, and sophisticated go-to-market approaches.  In 2023, customer loyalty dropped 13%.In 2024, it fell by 10%.Is your brand retaining \u2013 or repelling \u2013 customers? Get the data + details on how to keep consumers loyal in this REPORT. 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