Brexit: the implications for cross border e-commerce

The choice of the British to leave the European Union has major consequences for entrepreneurial Europe. As well as webshops doing business in the UK or British shops selling to consumers in the EU.
An uncertain financial market, a sharp fall in the exchange rate of the pound. The effects of the Brexit are already being felt today. But what will European and British online stores notice about the departure of the British, which will take place in two years?
Dexport
British media are talking about the disastrous impact the Brexit will have on their e-commerce market. More than 50 percent of exports by British online businesses go to countries in the EU. According to the Volo Online Retail Dexport Index, exports represent 20 percent of total online retail trade.
Top markets
The top markets for the UK are Germany and France with 40 percent of cross border sales; Belgium, Sweden and Ireland are very valuable for the parcel market. UK online stores also see a lot of online traffic coming from France, Germany, Italy and Spain.
Manpower crisis
In the fulfillment of online orders, the British will have a tough job recruiting employees to pack these orders. According to Webinterpret, the UK is already understaffed to handle all digital orders. With the closing of the borders - and with them the influx of Eastern Europeans eager for work - a manpower crisis will break out, according to the news site.
Consequences for Dutch shops
How will it affect Dutch web stores selling to British consumers? In a nutshell:
- It will be more expensive to ship to British consumers than to customers in other EU countries.
- Different import rules than between EU countries and new border controls will cause delays in delivering online orders to Brits.
- European consumers will be less likely to store online in the UK.
Digital Single Market
The British are no longer involved in the development of the Digital Single Market, a European Commission plan to facilitate cross-border e-commerce in the EU. Thus, they also do not benefit from common rules around geoblocking, VAT rates and big data that will be drafted in the coming years.
The Cross Border E-commerce Event will take place in Utrecht on Sept. 7. Among others, Mister Spex and Bakker.com will tell how they successfully sell abroad, including in the UK. This article appeared earlier on twinklemagazine.nl.