As the second largest target market for exports and the largest e-commerce market in Europe, there are more than 42 million online consumers in the UK. In terms of non-food sales, more than 1 pound of every 6 pounds of consumption comes from online shopping in 2015. Annual online consumption increased by 13% compared with the same period last year, while the growth of the entire retail industry was less than 5%.
Across Europe, 80% of British netizens frequently shop online, the highest proportion among the 28 EU member states. The British per capita online consumption is close to 1,200 pounds, which will exceed that of the United States. The reason is that as an English-speaking country, it is the first market for American e-commerce giants such as Amazon eBay to enter. British local websites attract many foreign consumers to shop. For example, the foreign websites most used by Nordic consumers are from the UK and China. Consumers are also keen on “Yingtao”.
The two major credit card organizations in the United States also occupy the payment industry here. British people use credit cards more often than other Europeans, and the usage rate of smartphones is also the highest in Europe. In addition, the transportation distance of goods within the UK is short, and postal and express delivery services are convenient and efficient. Of course, as an old capitalist country, its market standardization, openness, democracy and rule of law are not comparable to other regions. Many domestic sellers choose the UK for their European overseas warehouses.
The UK has little control over cross-border e-commerce itself, but it always maintains high standards for products, which is no different from trade. This made it difficult for domestic sellers who were accustomed to copycats and imitations to adapt. British Trading Standards Bureau structure and stability, etc., sometimes need to provide information to authorized inspection agencies to prove full compliance with standards.
The TS inspection often mentioned in the cross-border circle is that TS often prioritizes inspections of large-volume and high-risk categories. For example, for hot-selling products, a product verification report from a third-party testing agency must be issued. Those EU CE certification labels, English version of the instruction manual, whether it is suitable for use by children, etc. are all necessary to prove that the product has been comprehensively tested to ensure safety.
The legalization of logistics customs clearance in the British market is also a risk control point. Logistics products with good timeliness, excellent customs clearance, and stable delivery must be comprehensively considered, such as commercial express lines, which have high timeliness and commercial customs clearance on a ticket-by-ticket basis. It is the first choice for valuable products; the postal service is the affordable choice and has advantages in shipping and customs clearance. Rakuten UK is the third largest online marketplace after Amazoncouk and eBay UK.