One hundred and fifty million European citizens shops over the internet. Thirty million of them shop cross border online in the EU. European cross border shoppers spend on average [...]]]> One hundred and fifty million European citizens shops over the internet. Thirty million of them shop cross border online in the EU. European cross border shoppers spend on average € 800 a year, i.e. a total of 24 billion €uro. What rights do European consumers have?
Thursday June 23rd, European delegates have deeply changed online European consumer rights adopting by 615 votes to 16, with 21 abstentions a new European Consumer directive.
This new law is to be enforced within two years in the 27 European member states.
What are the good news, what are the bad news?
The following are the 10 most important changes for consumers in the new Directive [text from the directive]:

• The proposal will eliminate hidden charges and costs on the Internet – no more getting caught into getting a free horoscope that you have to pay for in the end
• Increased price transparency – this means the online retailer will now have to tell you about all costs, for instance a UK online store shipping goods from Singapore will have to tell you about customs duties before you finalise your payment
• Banning pre-ticked boxes on websites – no more imposed insurance fees when booking a ticket an online, no more imposed newsletters, no more imposed extra warranty terms when buying a camera online, etc
• 14 Days to change your mind on a purchase, goods or services – a key point i will detail:
  • Extra protection for lack of information: if the buyer was not fully informed of the withdrawal rules pre-purchase, the buyer has up to a year to cancel his/her order
  • Consumers have a right of withdrawal for solicited visits, such as when a trader called beforehand and pressed the consumer to agree to a visit (no more foot in the door sales people!)
  • The right of withdrawal is extended to online auctions – such as eBay but the right is only applicable in the case of a professional seller (define professional seller?)
  • The withdrawal period will start from the moment the consumer receives the goods, vs. right now the sales contract date! – bad news for retailers, as it means a Greek buyer can receive the shoes he ordered online from an online irish retailer and will have 14 days to return the shoes from the date he received the shoes…
    • Very important fine print – The rules will apply to internet, phone and mail order sales, as well as to sales outside shops, for example on the consumer’s doorstep, in the street, at a Tupperware type of party or during an excursion organised by the trader.
• Better refund rights- retailers will refund consumers in full for the product within 14 days of the withdrawal. This includes the costs of delivery. In general, the trader will bear the risk for any damage to goods during transportation, until the consumer takes possession of the goods.
• Introduction of an EU-wide model withdrawal form – ease and speed to to withdraw, wherever you have concluded a contract in the EU.
• Eliminating surcharges for the use of credit cards and hotlines - no more extra charge if you book your flight ticket online paying with a Visa for instance… And no more Expensive hotlines when ringing your computer manufacturer tech support cente or when ringing your insurance company to follow up on a car accident claim!
• Clearer information on who pays for returning goods – the trader will have to pay for the returned goods transport costs unless the trader has clearly told the buyer and before the agreement of the sales contract, meaning before you pay for it. for bulk items, the seller must provide an estimated transport cost.
• Better consumer protection in relation to digital products- this means that a seller must tell its buyer about the limits of copying a music / video file for instance. The seller can withdrawal from that purchase solely up to the downloading process begins.
• Common rules for businesses will make it easier for them to trade all over Europe
  • A single set of rules for distance contracts (sales by phone, post or internet) and off-premises contracts (sales away from a company’s premises, such as in the street or the doorstep) in the European Union
  • Right of withdrawal standard forms
  • Specific rules will apply to small businesses and craftsmen, such as a plumber. There will be no right of withdrawal for urgent repairs and maintenance work. Member States may also decide to exempt traders who are requested by consumers to carry out repair and maintenance work in their home of a value below €200 from some of the information requirements

Good news all over for all of us really as we all are buyers…

But bad news for the online retailers…

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.. continuing on our Google Zeitgeist serie of articles, here is Google.ie – i.e. The Google Ireland network most popular search terms in 2010 -

Ireland Fastest Rising

This is a good index to set goals in your Google Analytics, for Google Adwords benchmarking exercise, your general country specific SEO works, i.e. your general SEM strategy

Every year Google publishes via its Zeitgeist, the top searches people [...]]]> This is a good index to set goals in your Google Analytics, for Google Adwords benchmarking exercise, your general country specific SEO works, i.e. your general SEM strategy

Every year Google publishes via its Zeitgeist, the top searches people ran on a specific network such as the Swiss network – Google.ch .

A quick analysis of the search keywords and keyphrases on Google.ch shows that social networks such as Chatroulette, YouTube and FaceBook top the listing.

Swiss events such as the Paleo festival in Roman Switzerland or the Streetparade in German Switzerland have raised great interest among the Swizz citizen.

Google.ch top 10 keywords and keyphrases searches:

1. Facebook
2. YouTube
3. Google
4. Temps
5. Météo
6. Wikipedia
7. CFF
8. Hotmail
9. Swiss
10. iPhone

Top 10 Search keywords and keyphrases with the largest search volume increase in. 2010 on Google.ch

1. Chatroulette
2. iPad
3. iPhone 4
4. Coupe du Monde 2010 ]
5. Justin Bieber
6. 20 Minutes Online
7. gratis-inserate.ch
8. Facebook
9. Easyjet
10. YouTube

Top 10 of personnalities searched on Google.ch

1. Steve Lee
2. Kerstin Cook
3. Laura Kämpf
4. Menowin Fröhlich
5. Kesha
6. Jörg Kachelmann
7. Simon Ammann
8. Justin Bieber
9. Cheryl Cole
10. Shakira

Top 10 world events searched on Google.ch

1. Big Brother 10
2. Haiti
3. iPad
4. iPhone 4
5. Jörg Kachelmann
6. Menowin Fröhlich
7. Steve Lee
8. Vancouver 2010
9. BP
10. Volcan

Top 10 Car Brands searched on Google.ch

1. BMW
2. Audi
3. VW
4. Ford
5. Mercedes
6. Honda
7. Opel
8. Peugeot
9. Fiat
10. Toyota

Top 10 Swiss Events searched on Google.ch

1. Paléo Festival
2. Streetparade
3. Openair St. Gallen
4. Gurtenfestival
5. Zürifest
6. Fête fédérale de lutte
7. Salon de l’auto de Genève
8. Greenfield
9. Foire d’automne de Bâle
10. Sechseläuten

Top 10 Swiss towns searched on Google.ch

1. Zermatt
2. Frauenfeld
3. Genève
4. Zurich
5. Yverdon-les-Bains
6. Vevey
7. Zoug
8. Berne
9. Lucerne
10. Lausanne

Top 10 Swiss Cultural happenings searched on Google.ch

1. Aquabasilea
2. Chemins de fer du Sörenberg
3. Europapark
4. Technorama Winterthur
5. Parc des ours de Berne
6. Kunsthaus Zürich
7. Bernaqua
8. Musée des transports de Lucerne
9. Connyland
10. Zoo de Zurich

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Today Monday November 29th is ‘Cyber Monday‘. The biggest shopping day of the year?

Or is it Monday December 6th 2010 referred as ‘Mega Monday‘ where sales are expected to hit over €uro 1million per minute…

October 2010, IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales [...]]]> Today Monday November 29th is ‘Cyber Monday‘. The biggest shopping day of the year?

Or is it Monday December 6th 2010 referred as ‘Mega Monday‘ where sales are expected to hit over €uro 1million per minute…

October 2010, IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index is expected to increase by 16 per cent in 2010 vs. 2009 for online Christmas sales, reaching £6.4billion.

Different forecasts come from various sources. For instance, Hi Media expect the European online Christmas sales to represent over 10 per cent of the European overall Christmas sales, representing respectively €uro 32 billion of the overall €uro 313 billion.

The UK, Germany and France will represent the highest total spend for the Christmas 2010 season, accounting for 65 per cent of the overall European Christmas spend:

1. UK – €uro 77.2 billion
2. Germany – €uro 64.5 billion
3. France – €uro 62.5 billion
4. Spain – €uro 31.2 billion

Denmark, Norway and Sweden are forecasted to spend the least overall at €5.4bn, €6.1bn and €9.6bn respectively.

How strong is online Christmas shopping in Europe?

1. UK – highest in Europe with €uro 13 billion – i.e 17% of the overall 2010 UK retail Christmas sales
2. Germany – €uro 8.2 billion – i.e 13% of the overall 2010 Germany retail Christmas sales
3. France – €uro 6.3 billion – i.e 10% of the overall 2010 France retail Christmas sales
4. Spain – €uro 624 million- i.e 2% of the overall 2010 Spain retail Christmas sales

Norway will spend €uro 0.73 billion online and Denmark €uro 0.61 billion.

Pierpaolo Zollo, from Kelkoo says: “Internet sales across Europe are set to be more important than ever this Christmas, with consumers spending record amounts online, and online commerce acting as the primary driving force for overall retail growth during the festive season.”

Don’t forget to track your online audience thanks to free simple tools such as Google Analytics and make sure you run an online reputation management program.

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Next week I’ll be speaking at the Search Engine Strategies Chicago panel, “New Exporters: How Search Marketing Can Be Used to Build Overseas Trade” panel at the Search Engine Strategies conference at the Hilton hotel in Chicago. This is [...]]]> Next week I’ll be speaking at the Search Engine Strategies Chicago panel, “New Exporters: How Search Marketing Can Be Used to Build Overseas Trade” panel at the Search Engine Strategies conference at the Hilton hotel in Chicago. This is a first time panel and represents an exciting new approach from the people at Incisive who run the conferences. I’m particularly excited about it, both because it results from a suggestion I made to the Search Engine Strategies team – but also because I’m hoping that the audience will find the topic to be illuminating, no longer about vague global statistics, but something they can go back to their offices and immediately put into practice in some form or other.

The idea is that whilst agencies like WebCertain, typically generate most of their business from large global players who already have a presence in many global markets and a website in 20+ languages, there is an relatively unexplored opportunity for many small and medium businesses to dramatically re-shape and expand their business by tapping into markets overseas.

Search Engines provided many of the tools you need to start exporting. They enable relatively quick and easy systems to check what levels of demand might be present in which markets for your product or service. They provide advertising and promotional mechanisms which enable potential customers to come across your product or service. And sites such as Ebay, Amazon or Alibaba presents methods whereby you can establish direct contact and makes sales.

Of course, there are still challenges for exporters to deliver their product successfully to customers overseas – one of which is logistics. If your product is small and isn’t likely to generate returns – such as in the fashion industry where customers want to try things on and may want to send them back – then you can use postal systems to deliver your product. If what you’re selling is software, information or tickets – then you won’t even have these distribution problems. But if what you’re selling is multi-million dollar 30-storey high cranes which need 3 ships and a man with a flag to transport them – then your logistics are going to be tougher, though in this last case, you’d still need to find your customer cost-effectively, probably visit and the sales value of the product is likely to make the transport cost less of an issue.

Actually getting paid is more difficult. This is particularly the case for small ticket items – but for these you can often use website mechanisms to take payments – but you do have to choose the right ones. Again, if it’s a multi-million pound project, you’ll happily send a man on a bike with a bucket with which to carry the cash – so the problem goes away.

The panel is moderated by long time international search marketing expert, Bill Hunt. Speakers include Jim Matheson of Success Factors, Japanese specialist Motoko Hunt of AJPR, Guillaume Bouchard of NVI and obviously me.

In the meantime, I’d like to invite everyone who’s interested in export and can make it to Chicago next week to join the session. If you haven’t done so already – the booking form is at:

http://www.searchenginestrategies.com/chicago/registration-details.html

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