If European ecommerce had existed in Leo Tolstoy’s day, he might
have written, “Happy web shoppers are all alike; every
unhappy shopper is unhappy in his own way, depending on what
country he is from.”
For instance, according to a survey of 6,565 European consumers
by ecommerce solutions provider ATG, French and Spanish web users
are “most put off by difficulties reaching the organisation
when they have questions”, with 38 percent of respondents
from France and from Spain citing it as a complaint. Checkout
problems are the top bugbear of Germans, with 36 percent
complaining about them. Forgetting log-in details is the top
gripe of British respondents, with 29 percent citing that
problem.
What does this mean to you? “Web shops that consider
customer service first by integrating the tools that meet local
needs, such as shorter checkout sequences in the UK and Germany,
and live help in France and Spain, stand to benefit,” Frank
Lord, ATG’s vice president, EMEA, said in a statement. “But
true internationalisation is managed best from one platform that
delivers a seamless customer experience both online and offline
across many countries, languages, and websites.”
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