One-quarter of consumers in the EU made at least one purchase from a foreign company last year. Cross-border sales made up about 17 percent of all EU web revenue, and 13 percent of all mail order/telephone sales. Yet in most EU countries, the majority of consumers are unwilling to make online purchases in a foreign language, according to a Eurobarometer survey of 26,746 consumers in 27 nations.
In a handful of smaller countries, however, the majority would be willing to buy from a marketer in another language. For instance, 81 percent of respondents in Luxembourg were willing to buy from a foreign-language website-no doubt because their native tongue, Lëtzebuergesch, is primarily used for speaking, and French and German predominate in written communications. Sixty-nine percent of consumers in the Netherlands would be willing to buy from a foreign-language site, as would 65 percent in Sweden, 60 percent in Denmark and Malta, and 55 percent in Slovenia. Conversely, fewer than one-third of survey participants in Estonia, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Portugal and the UK would buy from a foreign-language site.
Maltese consumers who had made at least one cross-border purchase far and away spent the most on goods and services from foreign businesses: an average of nearly €3,680 in 2007. Luxembourg residents were in second place, spending an average of approximately €2,300 last year. The average cross-border shopper in the EU spent €797 last year on cross-border purchases.
Meanwhile, of the 7,282 retailers Eurobarometer surveyed throughout the EU, more than 60 percent are willing to transact in a foreign language. Estonian (92 percent) and Finnish (90 percent) retailers were the most willing to market in a foreign language. UK merchants were the least amenable, with only 20 percent willing to transact in a language other than English, followed by Ireland (30 percent).
The quick takeaways from these figures: If you want to sell to some of the larger European countries, such as Germany, France, and Italy, or to up-and-comers such as Poland, you'd better create a local website in the local language. And although the markets are relatively small (if not downright tiny), don't overlook Malta, Benelux (Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg) and parts of Scandinavia, as consumers there are more willing to purchase from foreign-language websites, as their average cross-border expenditures show.
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