About 36% of British shoppers bought items online in other countries in 2015. With about 20% of UK online merchants selling cross-border to the EU and 6.12% of UK GDP coming from online sales, a possible Brexit could have noteworthy negative implications for both the British and the European ecommerce sector, according to Ecommerce Europe and the Ecommerce Foundation’s joint 2016 European B2C ecommerce report.
The upcoming legislation of the Digital Single Market on the ecommerce sector will not apply to the UK. It will include simplified rules for the VAT and more transparency on parcel delivery services, among other initiatives, which could make it much easier for online merchants to sell in the EU. Since the UK represents one eight of the Digital Single Market and the EU accounts for 45% of UK exports, Brexit could mean a real hit on European ecommerce.
The UK will not have to comply with EU Consumer Law anymore and will not be able to apply to a pan-European certificate for online shops, such as the Ecommerce Europe Trustmark, which will have a negative impact on consumer trust. France, Germany, Belgium, Ireland and the Netherlands could seize a larger share in the wake of Brexit, while some UK firms will leave the country before any Brexit negotiations start.
Every day we send out a free e-mail with the most important headlines of the last 24 hours.
Subscribe now