Geoblocking Prevalent For EU's Online Shoppers

This week, the European Union agreed to end unjustified geoblocking after a late-night session. This relates to geoblocking the online trading of goods and services. The agreement means companies will not be able to prevent customers from visiting and doing business on their website due to being resident in another EU member state. The European Commission says the new rules will boost e-commerce for the benefit of consumers and businesses who take advantage of the growing European online market.

As of last year, 63 percent of websites in the EU do not let shoppers buy from another EU country. Broken down by sector, 86 percent of electrical household appliance retailers will not sell to a shopper buying in a different member state. Among electronics and computer hardware retailers, the rate is 79 percent while in the computer game and software sector, it is 73 percent.