34% of this year's online purchases in Spain in the first half were made on Chinese platforms such as Alibaba, Temu, or Shein. 

These platforms have a far higher market share (regarding order frequency) in Spain than other European countries. However, Spanish consumers spend much less on these platforms than consumers from other countries.

These data come from the latest NIQ (Nielsen IQ) Consumer Online Panel report. The report analyzes e-commerce sales of consumer goods in nine countries during the first half of this year.

The research involved countries such as the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, and Ireland. It specifically examined Chinese online platforms, which are becoming increasingly popular in Europe.

The report shows that the market share of Chinese platforms is the greatest in Spain, with 34%. In Italy, 14% of all online purchases were made on Temu, Alibaba, or Shein. In France, the share was 9%. It is followed by Germany, with 8%, and the United Kingdom, with 6%.

Average ticket across the EU 

‘German consumers spent an average of 1,125 euros per buyer in the first half of 2024 on Chinese online platforms’

However, Spanish consumers spent an average of 497 euros per buyer in the first half of 2024. Only Irish consumers spent less: 475 euros. 

On the other hand, German consumers spent an average of 1,125 euros per buyer. And in the United Kingdom, consumers spent 997 euros. French consumers spent an average of 951 euros per buyer.

Regarding order frequency, the United Kingdom is the leader with 22.7 purchases per buyer on Chinese platforms. In Germany, the frequency is 18.2 orders per buyer. Spanish consumers placed 12.1 orders per buyer, which is higher than in Italy, Belgium, and Ireland.

The post NIQ: 34% of Spain online purchases are done via Chinese platforms appeared first on Cross-Border Magazine.

According to the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) 1 in 3 Europeans are buying counterfeit products.

The rise of counterfeits comes as technology makes it easier to buy and sell products online. So counterfeit consumption remains a battleground in Europe. For one in three Europeans, it is acceptable to buy such products when the original price is high. 

However, this figure rises to half for young consumers aged between 15 and 24, according to a new study by the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO). 

This is one of the main conclusions of this research, carried out among 25,824 people over 15 years of age residing in the Member States of the European Union.

Bulgaria, Spain and Ireland are the top three of Europe’s counterfeit  

13% of Europeans surveyed say they have intentionally bought counterfeits in the last 12 months. This figure rises to 26% in the 15-24 age group, double the EU average. On the other hand, in the case of 55-64-year-olds, it falls to 6% and less than 5% among the over-65s.

In the case of Spain, the figure stands at 20%, above the European average. This means that Spain is the second country in the European Union where most counterfeits have been acquired intentionally, behind Bulgaria with 24%. It is followed by Ireland (19%), Luxembourg (19%), and Romania (18%). The lowest rate is in Finland (8%). 

Among the most mentioned reasons to stop buying counterfeits, the main one is that the original products have a lower price, with 43% of the opinions. 

Otherwise, they would not do it. The risk of negative experiences, such as poor quality goods for 27% of people, safety risks for 25%, and penalties for 21%, is also a key factor for consumers to stop buying counterfeits.

The post EUIPO: 1 in 3 Europeans are buying counterfeit products appeared first on Cross-Border Magazine.

Dutch online sales reached over 33.3 billion euros in 2022. This represents a 9% increase year over year in comparison with 2021. Still, even when the gross sales volume increased, the actual number of transactions decreased by 5%. 

🔥Do you want to know more about international commerce and e-commerce and get all the tips and news that might give your company an edge? Subscribe to Cross-Border Magazine and get your digital copy now for free!🔥

Meaning Dutch consumers bought fewer products but with a higher price tag. The increase per price tag is close to 15% more. 

In 2021, Dutch buyers spent 30.6 billion euros on online stores, and the total number of online purchases then was 366 million. Last year, this amount dropped to 347 million. Just like in 2021, 97 % of the population buys online.

The numbers come from the latest Thuiswinkel Market Monitor from the Dutch e-commerce association Thuiswinkel.org. 

The report explains that the number of online purchases and spending on services increased in 2022 with 49% and 54%, respectively, while it decreased for products - a decrease of 10% and 7% %, respectively - which clearly indicates that the Dutch e-commerce market is moving towards a more service-oriented scenario.

More Cross Border spending 

Alongside other key findings in the report, the number of cross-border purchases decreased by 5%compared to 2021. However, the total spending on these purchases increased by 20%. 

This is mainly caused by the growth in spending in Package Travel (up 164%) and Flight tickets and Accommodation (up 74%), mainly purchased in the United States, Austria, Great Britain, and Germany.

Mobile is growing as an option for Dutch online sales 

Last year, the number of online purchases made using a smartphone increased from 29% to 33%. “If we look at the growth of smartphone use over the past five years, we see a clearer picture: in 2017, only 13% of online purchases were made with the smartphone. Five years later, smartphone use has thus increased two and a half times.”

As in 2021, 70% of online purchases last year were paid for with iDeal. As many as 96% of online shoppers used this payment method at least once in the past year. The number of consumers using credit cards rose from 28% to 31%. At the same time, Riverty actually shows a decrease in the number of users (from 23% to 19%).

The post Dutch online sales reached over 33.3 billion euros during 2022 appeared first on Cross-Border Magazine.

Google plans new features aimed at e-commerce. The decision was made public by Google and other platforms belonging to the Alphabet group, like YouTube, which has become a staple for customers as a place to review a product before making a purchase decision. 

In this context, Google has been looking for new possibilities to improve the shopping experience on the search engine.

Do you want to know more about international commerce, e-commerce, and also get all the tips and news that might give your company an edge? Subscribe to Cross-Border Magazine and get your digital copy now for free! 

With this in mind, Google has stated that, in the coming months, advertisers will be able to display more visual ads in the Shopping SERP functionality for the U.S. audience. 

Also, understanding the value that the product touch experience still has for many people, it is estimated that it won't be long before 3D images of products can be displayed in Google Search’s SERPs.

The future of e-commerce with machine learning

In an increasingly competitive digital world, specialists have realized that the best way to grow a business is to combine data and marketing expertise with automatic learning tools. 

In this sense, Maximum Performance campaigns are thought of as a powerful alternative to appear in front of customers when they are on Google channels. This way, advertisers can use these campaigns to increase their overall conversions.

Google's news for the e-commerce sector in 2022

In order to offer new alternatives to advertisers, Google has announced new features oriented to e-commerce that aim to help businesses optimize their sales and increase their conversion rates:

• Expanded campaign management support: this will be a possibility both in the Google Ads mobile app and in Search Ads 360. 

• New experimentation tools: with the aim of identifying the effect that Maximum Performance campaigns have on incremental conversions. 

• Burst" campaigns: these are developed during specific periods of time in order to reach the objectives of an online store at the most important moments of the sales season.

• New statistics: access to detailed information regarding consumers and auctions, in order to understand what factors drive performance at any given moment. 

• Support for sales goals: Google will seek to support store goals, optimizing online sales but also physical store sales through local actions. 

• Scoring: finally, new optimization scores and recommendations will be implemented so that stores can learn how to improve their campaigns.

Google continues to uphold its goal of being the most useful company in the world. However, it understands the importance of making its products secure as well. Therefore, it will be adding releases that will help users control their privacy in their online experience, such as My Ad Center.

All in all, it seems Google is fine-tuning its Ad Center kit to provide a more direct - and sales-oriented - tool set for entrepreneurs and small businesses.

The post Google plans new features for e-commerce appeared first on Cross-Border Magazine.

This article orininally appeared in Cross-Border Magazine Nr. 2. Pictures: Léon van Bon, BUFF S.A.

Original Buff S.A. is situated in Igualada, 60km inland from Barcelona in Spain, this is also where the company history started in the early nineties. Being already part of the family business, producing the necks and cuffs for t-shirts and sweatshirts, founder Joan Rojas invented a microfibre tubular wind protection for his hobby motorcycling. He soon noticed the business opportunity and started selling in ski resorts in the Pyrenees, and quickly expanded to all renowned international ski resorts thereafter. In 1992, the brand BUFF® became widely known. It began with a basic product than can be worn in 12 different ways, including as a scarf, bandana, helmet lining and a beanie. The collection has since expanded with various additional products and is now even moving towards a more lifestyle-oriented collection.

Being in a niche
We asked David Girones whether he thinks being a niche brand is an advantage or a disadvantage, and he was torn between both: “You are able to know your customers well and offer them exactly what they are looking for, which is a perfect situation. However, in terms of scalability and ability to grow, when volume is key for reducing costs, being a niche player becomes a problem. Therefore, partnering with a solid cross-border service provider, moving more products and being able to negotiate good conditions, can be a perfect solution.”

Distributors and resellers
As a brand that was sold internationally from very early on, BUFF® is represented by a network of distributors and resellers. Operating only one single brand store at Barcelona airport, the e-commerce venture that started in 2012 was one of the first steps to sell directly to consumers. Today, BUFF® ships to 18 countries and operates websites in four languages; Spanish, English, French and German. In China, the local distributor is a top-seller on Alibaba and Ali-Express. As many of the distributors also sell online, there is sometimes confusion which site is the ‘real’ brand site. David Girones explains: “Now, we try to find a beneficial solution for everybody. We want to work on an organic traffic and SEO strategy to make this clear to the customer.” On top of that, in order to keep relationships smooth, BUFF® sells online using the same pricelist as the distributors. “Our brand site is not the place to go price-fighting. We have to weigh many components, including brand image and distributor relations.”

Demand all over Europe
Demand has always existed all over Europe: “The question our customer service has to answer the most is whether we can ship to a certain country. We have a network of distribution worldwide as well as a strong brand image worldwide. It is now our goal to make BUFF® available in more places online. We are currently opening up in Norway and Switzerland, where our brand is very popular. However, as they are not part of the EU, there are taxes and other regulatory obstacles. We needed to handle this without increasing the costs, as our order value and volumes are not huge,” explains Girones. Through technology solution provider eShopWorld, taxes and delivery costs to foreign countries are calculated upfront, so people are charged the complete price at the checkout, without any bad surprises at the time of delivery. This is important, stresses David Girones: “We sometimes hear that a customer has to pay more duties and taxes afterwards than the total worth of their order. These things are unacceptable.”

Service quality and feasibility
At the moment, BUFF® has decided only to sell online in countries where they are able to provide a good experience. 90% of the production is located at the same facility as the headquarters in Igualada, and 10% is produced elsewhere because it consists of special materials. As everything is shipped from a centralised location, delivery is a key factor: “Our biggest challenge is the low order value. Delivery prices are important to make the business sustainable. We currently serve 15 countries and are now expanding to Poland, Norway and Switzerland. Basically, we operate in all countries except Spain and France through eShopWorld, where we can benefit from their negotiation power with other providers. In addition, the eShopWorld technology allows us to easily open and close countries and to figure out which approach fits our brand best”, explains David. Also for customer services, BUFF® has decided to outsource bigger markets to an external partner: “We now do France and Germany with Salesupply. These are important markets and it is important to localise customer service in order to further improve and build a solid brand image.”

Costs, speed and brand image: Outsourcing as a solution
Spain is a strong online market for BUFF®, generating 30% of the revenue, followed by France and Germany, together accounting for 45%, and all other countries generating 22%. “It makes sense to heavily invest in the countries that are doing well or show signs of strong growth. Right now we are working in four languages for all 18 countries served: Spanish, French, German and English. This year, we also translated the site into Italian. Other countries will follow in the long run,” says David Girones. However, it is vital in all countries to offer the right payment methods and delivery options. That is where working with eShopWorld comes into play again: “A country like the Netherlands for instance, isn’t an enormous size. If we had to integrate the local payment method, iDeal, into our systems ourselves, it would absorb too many resources. Working with eShopWorld, we can start offering iDeal immediately.” But what about the investment in the partner, is that a sustainable solution in the long run? David Girones is convinced that the advantages of this choice go beyond conversion: “Yes, using an outsourcing solution costs money. From a brand perspective, we want to offer great quality. Our brand site should not focus on quick wins in terms of money, but on representing the brand in the best way possible. Offering the right payment options in the Netherlands and preferred delivery options in France, helps to create the image we want to convey to our customer.” In the long run, affirms Girones, a good cross-border solution will increase conversion exponentially and ultimately deliver a good ROI.

Branding
Cutting costs and serving the international customer in an adequate manner are valuable ingredients for a successful niche strategy, but sector-related branding efforts are also very important. From its HQ, BUFF® manages several larger event-sponsorships, including the Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc. Together with the French distributor, this effort is backed up by a special landing page and a dedicated collection. Other, smaller event-partnerships are managed locally by the distributors. “It is sometimes a challenge to keep the brand story harmonised, but working with distributors is a big benefit because they know the market better and can determine what is relevant,” says David Girones. In addition, BUFF® works with brand ambassadors- usually sports personalities- in various countries and is starting to focus on events related to ‘softer’ activities, such as hiking, to broaden its audience. Sometimes, branding is also influenced by local preferences. Whereas in Europe, BUFF® is totally established as a winter brand, in America it is preferred by a broad group who love fishing and need to cover their head and arms with breathing material against the sun. As a niche seller, it is important to be receptive to these dynamic forces of the markets and adapt to it.

The future
The future still holds a whole world to conquer for BUFF®, the journey into international e-commerce has just begun. Being a niche accessory player, growth is important for BUFF®. Together with eShopWorld, the company will explore possibilities to enter the US market. Next to new markets and expanding the assortment to kid’s products, hats and new materials. BUFF® is eying to penetrate the lifestyle and fashion sector and make the products popular also ‘off-piste’. “The quality is so good, many people own one BUFF® for years, and then buy a new one once it is worn out. I would like to see people wear BUFF® while skiing and mountain biking, but also in the restaurant when they go for dinner after. That stimulates them to own more BUFF® wear. We don’t strive to become a fashion-player, but we want to expand our audience and the scope of use for our products.”

The post How to conquer a niche internationally appeared first on Cross-Border Magazine.