Thanks to giants like Amazon and eBay, online shopping has become a common daily habit in the life of a European. Ranging from electronics to fashion to furniture, studies show that 57% of EU citizens bought something online in 2017, while 68% of internet users shopped online at some point in 2017. Of these online EU shoppers, one third bought from a retailer located in an EU country other than their own. Although online shopping, and specifically cross-border online shopping, have seen an upward trend in the past few years, one obstacle has consistently held their growth back: geo-blocking. (Geo-blocking is defined as any restriction imposed by online shops determined by nationality, place of residence, or place of connection of the online shopper. It comes in many forms such as country redirect, rejection of payment method from a different EU country, and denial of registration on the website based on geolocation of the user.)
According to a study conducted by the European Commission, only 37% of online shoppers were able to successfully complete an online purchase from an EU country other than their own. In fact, 63% of websites do not allow shoppers to buy from another EU country solely because of their geolocation.
On Tuesday 6 February 2018, the European Parliament adopted a regulation to end geo-blocking. Although the regulation has also entered into force, users will not see the direct effects until 3 December 2018, as Parliament allowed companies a nine month grace period to instate the new regulation. This gives companies the time to adapt and comply with the EU rules sufficiently. Following 3 December 2018, however, EU online shoppers will be able to enjoy the results of the new regulation.
The new regulation applies to a wide range of goods and services, such as furniture, electronics, cloud services, website hosting, and tickets to entertainment events. It will not, however, cover copyrighted materials such as e-books and audio-visual products for the time being.
What happens now?
Companies now have nine months to implement the new regulation into their business practices, with the deadline of 3 December 2018 fast approaching. At the same time, Member States have been requested to appoint institutions for the enforcement of this regulation. Until then, online shoppers may still experience some geo-blocking. However, come 3 December, they will enjoy the full effects of online shopping without geolocation discrimination.
Comments