By Martin Banks - 10th October 2011
“There are still barriers that limit consumers' choice
John Dalli
European health commissioner John Dalli admits that shoppers 'still face barriers' in buying goods online from another country.
He was speaking after publication of a report which showed that consumers have particular problems returning goods with which they are unhappy.
In a study, 'mystery shoppers' from the EU-supported European Consumer Centres' Network checked the reliability of shopping from abroad.
The report, 'State of the e-Union', contains the results of 305 purchases in 28 countries.
Delivery from abroad was, overall, judged to be reliable, with 94 per cent of orders delivered (up from 66 per cent in 2003) and only one per cent of the products found to be faulty.
But shoppers had more problems when returning the goods as part of the EU-wide cancellation rights, for example, with getting the full costs reimbursed.
Also, 60 per cent of websites initially selected for the check as friendly to cross-border sales actually presented problems, for example, with delivery, payment and language options.
The report said this made them 'unsuitable' for online shoppers from other EU countries.
The commission said the exercise confirms its earlier findings.
Before the end of 2011, the commission will outline an action plan on how to help EU consumers make the most of e-commerce opportunities.
Responding to the findings, Dalli said, "It is important for consumers that, once they place an order, the delivery of the products bought online from another EU country is reliable.
"It is also crucial that, when things go wrong, consumers have easy access to effective redress across Europe.
"There are still barriers that limit consumers' choice and undermine confidence in the single market. I am determined to continue the work to abolish them."
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