UK consumers become more 'online-shopping' confident, says consumer group study of complaint figures

June 17, 2010 - PRLog -- UK consumers are becoming more confident with using e-commerce to buy goods and services, according to research by the UK European Consumer Centre.

A study of the latest consumer complaint figures by the UK ECC this year (2010) shows that online purchasing is being used by more and more people who ask the UK ECC for advice and support over their disputes with traders elsewhere in Europe.

Complaints involving e-commerce as the selling method rose by 18.5% from 2008 to 2009 for the first five months of the year. They also went up by three per cent for the same period from 2009 to 2010.

Jed Mayatt, UK European Consumer Centre (UK ECC) Manager, said: “It’s uplifting to know that UK consumers appear to be taking the e-commerce revolution on board.”

The study is backed up by a recent (2009) European Commission report on cross-border consumer                  e-commerce. The European e-commerce market was estimated to be worth 106 billion euros in 2006 and in 2008 51% of EU retailers sold online. In the UK in 2008, 57% of people had ordered goods or services over the internet for private use in the previous year.

Jed said: “This recent European Commission report showed that online shopping is hugely popular in countries such as the UK, France and Germany. UK consumers appear to be taking advantage of the potential that e-commerce has for reshaping the European internal market with regard to price and product-related comparisons.”

The internet is said to be the fastest growing retail channel, according to the EC report. On the downside, 60% of cross-border internet shopping orders could not be completed by consumers because the trader did not ship the product to their country or did not offer adequate means for cross-border payment.



   

Jed said: “Our complaint figures show that UK consumers are buying a whole range of goods and services online. It’s clear that the internet has expanded the size of the market from which consumers purchase: it gives them access to more providers and more choice. Consumers are able to compare products, suppliers and prices on an unprecedented scale.

“But not everything is plain sailing for UK consumers who dip their toes into the e-commerce water or even those who are more experienced at online shopping. We handle a variety of complaints – from travel and transport (flights/car hire) and holiday-related (apartments/hotels) through to electrical goods (sat nav/PCs) and miscellaneous items such as a skydiving suit, jewellery or a table.

“Some complaints are fairly basic, others are more complex. We’re here to give advice and support to any UK consumer who’s in dispute with a trader elsewhere in Europe, whether they’ve bought gone online shopping, used an internet auction or not.”

One of the key factors which underpins the success of a complaint handled by the UK ECC is whether the consumer has kept good records in connection with his or her purchase.

Now the UK ECC is offering consumers something to make it easier for them to store all of their ‘complaint’ documentation in one place. The first 100 consumers who write into the centre via ecc@tsi.org.uk with the words UK ECC – USB STICK OFFER in capitals in the subject line will be sent a free UK ECC USB 1GB memory stick. You must include your name and FULL POSTAL ADDRESS. One per household. Only applicable to EU residents. We aim to send within 28 days.

Jed added: “The more quality evidence our case handlers have, the better. Without records, we are less likely to be able to achieve a successful resolution for the consumer. With this free USB stick, consumers who have access to a computer will be able to store everything to do with their complaint in one place.”

•   The UK ECC provides advice and support to consumers who have a dispute with a trader based in a European country outside the UK and will assist consumers in the attempt to resolve the complaint.

•   Consumers can make contact with the UK European Consumer Centre via the website – www.ukecc.net – or by phone on 08456 04 05 03 weekdays between 10am and 3pm.

•   For a copy of the UK ECC’s free leaflet ‘What you should know about shopping online across the EU. . .’, visit the www.ukecc.net website’s publications section.

•   If in doubt before you buy, contact our sister organisation – the European Consumer Centre for Services – for pre-purchasing advice: www.ukecc-services.net

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The UK ECC is part of a network that is made up of 29 centres throughout Europe. The centres work together in order to try and resolve consumer cross-border disputes in an amicable manner. We provide advice, information, and support to consumers.