The UK is one of the world’s major trading countries. With a population of 6.72 million in 2020, the UK is the world’s third largest e-commerce market, with online retail sales reaching $142 billion, second only to China and the United States. The proportion of online shoppers in the UK is as high as 95%, and the per capita online shopping consumption is also the highest in Europe. In 2021, 91% of online shoppers in the UK have used the Amazon platform, and Amazon’s sales in the UK reached 23.6 billion pounds in 2021. The second is eBay, with a proportion of online shoppers reaching 63%. The third is Wish, with 11% of online shoppers using the platform for online shopping.
The development of e-commerce in the UK has benefited from the increase in the Internet access rate of the British public and the improvement of Internet access conditions. The UK is more competitive than most other European countries. After the UK officially “broke the EU”, the British government issued a new VAT (value added tax) policy, ending the free flow between the UK and other EU countries and starting to collect VAT, which has a great impact on Amazon sellers in China, because all products sold in Amazon inventory must pay VAT, and it is directly deducted by the Amazon platform, which undoubtedly adds more costs. If Chinese sellers ignore the UK tax laws and regulations or deal with them improperly, they will face huge business and legal risks.
If sellers fail to provide accurate customs declaration information in accordance with tax regulations and pay VAT in time, the goods they send out are likely to be intercepted by the customs border, resulting in delayed delivery, or being returned or even lost, which will inevitably affect the normal fulfillment of customer orders and have a bad impact on the efficiency of the store. Sellers may even bear incidental legal responsibilities for failing to declare taxes truthfully. Therefore, Chinese cross-border sellers must seriously study the UK VAT rules, handle tax issues carefully, and operate stores in a legal and compliant manner.
Consumption characteristics: The gentlemanly demeanor of the British determines the characteristics of consumption. The British attach great importance to etiquette and pursue product quality and details. In addition to electronic products, the products that British people like to buy online the most are clothing and sports equipment, while less than one in ten consumers choose to buy bicycles, motorcycles, cars and other means of transportation online. In the past three years, the top three Chinese-made products most favored by British consumers are wigs, women’s clothing and jewelry. Chinese cross-border e-commerce sellers should conduct localized operations based on the characteristics and consumption characteristics of the British, and at the same time understand the history and festivals of the United Kingdom and plan corresponding activities, which may produce unexpected results.