Cross-border e-commerce transactions between the UK and the EU are slowing down, and US sellers may have new opportunities

New EU consumer confidence data suggests that cross-border e-commerce transactions between the UK and continental Europe will slow after Brexit , which could create opportunities for US sellers .

It is reported that the EU - UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement, which came into effect on January 1 , brought changes to customs documentation and VAT collection methods. Under the agreement, express operators have implemented surcharges to manage customs declarations and are expected to change their warehousing and fulfillment strategies based on changes in import and export volumes.

“ Trade with the UK has become more complex due to the impact of COVID -19 and Brexit , making it more difficult for shippers to import and export from the UK, ” Krish Iyer , head of industry relations and strategic partnerships at ShipStation , a subsidiary of parcel technology provider Stamps.com, said in January.

All of this has greatly affected the sales of British sellers in the EU market. Data released by ShipStation shows that after the UK officially left the EU, only 400,000 sellers were actively trading between the UK and the EU in January .

The deterioration of the external environment, such as Brexit and the epidemic, has not only increased the difficulty of transactions, but also caused British sellers to lose the hearts of some consumers.

A recent survey by e-commerce technology company Pitney Bowes showed that after Brexit, a quarter of French and German consumers said they would reduce their online ordering from the UK due to some increased consumer costs caused by new tariffs and customs requirements.

Currently, under the influence of various factors, 61% of French consumers and 68% of German consumers plan to reduce or completely stop purchasing products online from the UK. At that time, many British sellers may be "abandoned" by continental Europe .

Experts speculate that American sellers may be the first to fill this gap and meet the growing shopping needs of the European continent . And consumers have already started to put it into practice. According to the survey, 80% of respondents in France and 71% in Germany said that they have started to buy goods online from American sellers since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020 .

Pitney Bowes said the volume of e-commerce orders from the United States to France and Germany has grown rapidly, and their order values ​​tend to be higher than those from other countries.

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