Pushing the door open on a confident Europe

Published by David Russell on June 18, 2012

Despite the economic turmoil, online retailers in the UK are still trying to find the best way expand their business in Europe. On June 27th, a panel will discuss how retailers can do this effectively during the Trading Standards and Consumer Affairs Conference and Exhibition in Manchester.

Jean-Marc Noel, founder of Trusted Shops, will raise the issue of money being held up in Europe due to a lack of consumer confidence in cross border purchasing.

This confidence can be improved in the European market, he will argue, by taking some simple trading standard steps in the UK.

For example IMRG, (Interactive Media in Retail Group) the UK’s industry association for e-retail, recently teamed up with Trusted Shops, to create a European wide trustmark to ensure that consumers can tell, within seconds of visiting an online store, whether or not it can be trusted.

The panel, chaired by Baroness Christine Crawley, TSI president and former MEP, will be looking at some of the difficulties facing European traders.

For economists and politicians across Europe the past two years have delivered a harsh period of debt assessment and government anxiety. However, for the consumer, concerns about governments reneging on their debts are not high on their list of purchasing concerns.

Consumers are more interested in seeking out the cheap deal, fast delivery and simple and quick methods of purchasing from wherever they can find it.

The panelists who will discuss these issues during the ‘Pushing the Door Open on Europe’ plenary are:

• Jean-Marc Noel, founder of Trusted Shops, the leading European provider of certification for online shops,
• Malcolm Harbour, MEP and Chairman of the European Parliament’s Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee
• Arnold Pindar, Chairman ANEC, The European consumer voice in standardisation
• Philip Collins, Chairman of the Office for Fair Trading
• John Lewis, Chief Executive of the British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association

The Trading Standards conference will run over four days from Monday June 25th through to Thursday June 28th during which there will be a number of panel discussions and hundreds of exhibitors.