What can Europe do about ‘geoblocking’, which is limiting cross-border online commerce within the EU?
Responding to the question, Ursula Pachl, Deputy Director General, BEUC, (European Consumer organisation based in Brussels) says: “There are many reasons why consumers actually do not so much buy cross-borders, only 15% of all consumers who do this today.”
Trust deficit “Many reasons are linked to a lack of trust, so consumers worry about what happens if something goes wrong, or they worry about the delivery, will the product be really delivered to me when I pay in advance, but one important reason that we hear a lot about today, is so called geoblocking.
“It means that there are practices by the sellers that do not allow consumers to buy from another country. For example, consumers often get frustrated when at the end of the purchasing process online, they get a message that says ‘we do not deliver to your country’.”
“They are re-routed to a national online shop because the
