On December 31, 2020, the United Kingdom left the European Union, leaving a good number of European e-retailers in the dark. What else could we ship to the UK? How ? With what maximum order amount? By charging taxes in advance or not? Only one thing was certain: shipping to the rest of the Union was much simpler. Many e-retailers then chose to suspend their sales and shipments to Great Britain, while waiting for easier and less costly times. Should we therefore conclude that intra-community shipping is child's play?
In 2019, e-commerce turnover in Europe was 636 billion euros.
Apparently, yes: we can still ship from and to each of the 27 remaining Member States of the Union without any particular formality. This is the principle of free movement of goods, which was defined in 1957 by the Treaty of Rome. Freedom of movement between countries of goods, but also of capital, services and people: these are the four fundamental freedoms which define the single European market.
According to Fevad, Europe represents a little more than 550 million inhabitants, of which 87% have access to the internet and well over half place orders there (67%). In 2019, e-commerce turnover in Europe was 636 billion euros, with an increase of 14% compared to the previous year. The largest markets within the European Union are France (2019 e-commerce turnover of 103 billion euros) and Germany (94 billion euros), followed by Spain (53 billion euros ) and Italy (32 billion euros). The ease and fluidity of ordering and delivery on your e-shop is therefore essential for European consumers.
From West to East and from North to South of Europe local delivery particularities extend
However, if most goods can circulate between the different member states of the European Union without being subject to taxes or customs formalities, the delivery preferences specific to each country should not be underestimated. Indeed, from West to East and from North to South of Europe there are particularities that must be taken into account in order to best meet consumer expectations. Globalization is at work: while we can definitely ship globally, we must perfect the post-purchase experience with the local preferences of each market, which are often linked to their level of e-commerce maturity.
For example, certain countries like Germany will have very significant return flows. In fact, consumers have gotten into the habit, particularly when purchasing clothes and shoes, of ordering several sizes at once in order to only keep the one that will fit. Some markets are even implementing “buy now pay later” mechanisms which allow you to pay only for the item that is not returned to the warehouse, after receipt and processing of the returned package. It is therefore necessary to carefully anticipate the management and cost of these return flows. which may seem disproportionate to an uninformed e-retailer.
In other areas of the Union, notably in Italy and the Eastern countries, “cash on delivery” is the norm. The concept ? The consumer pays on delivery. This custom, which may seem incidental to us, is nevertheless a must have: in these countries distrust of online payments reigns, and very few transactions are made on merchant sites, or most often through prepaid cards. These do not facilitate repeat purchases because they expire from one use to the next and therefore cannot be saved for future orders. If the e-retailer does not implement “cash on delivery”, he risks being confronted with “see online, buy offline” behavior: customers will view product details online but will shop physically. The e-retailer will then have to invest to deploy a physical retail network in order to see its sales take off.
The choice of delivery location also has its local particularities. In fact, one in two Spaniards (51%) are familiar with click & collect, while one in four Italians (25%) prefer to have it delivered to the office. Germany is the pioneering European country in lockers: Packstations were developed by DHL in the early 2000s! It may therefore be wise to offer this delivery method.
Finally, regarding the time of delivery, unfortunately like everywhere in the world, the sooner it is received, the better! However, you should know that In the smaller territories of Europe, such as the Benelux, residents are used to receiving their orders placed on local sites within 24 hours. You must therefore try to compete with this processing time to gain a place in the market, even if you do not have a local logistics center. Most of these countries also offer deliveries on Saturdays – which is not necessarily the case in Southern Europe – and Belgium has recently been experimenting with deliveries on Sundays.
Slow delivery and last mile: two groundswells
If the administrative simplicity of delivery in Europe may suggest that we can standardize the post-purchase experience between the different markets of the European Union, this is far from being the case. Beyond the local standards that must be known to penetrate these markets, these practices are also a source of monitoring and innovation whose pulse must be taken regularly.
Finally, it seems essential to me to highlight the two subjects of logistical innovation which are common to all European countries: last mile and slow delivery issues. Indeed, whether it is Madrid, Rotterdam or Budapest, all cities must face, and even more so since the Covid-19 pandemic, the resurgence of urban delivery solutions who offer to bring you groceries, parcels, fresh produce, dry cleaning and so on on motorbikes, cargo bikes, scooters or other more or less electrified machines which have yet to be invented. All countries will also have to face in the coming years the growing awareness of their citizens about eco-responsible issues and the fundamental inconsistency which consists of wanting to be delivered as quickly as possible, as cheaply as possible, but while polluting as little as possible and offering the best possible working conditions to delivery people.
The answers that the different states will provide to these questions, individually or jointly, normatively or entrepreneurially, will be essential to shape the future of European e-commerce delivery.
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