Western Europe Digital Trends for 2018: GDPR, Harmonization, the On-Demand Economy and Voice - eMarketer

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Western Europe Digital Trends for 2018: GDPR, Harmonization, the On-Demand Economy and Voice

eMarketer Report

By: eMarketer

Published: January 11, 2018

Jump to: Executive Summary | Table of Contents | List of Charts

Executive Summary

Anyone involved with digital marketing faces big challenges in 2018, as several major developments loom. New EU rules will restrict data gathering and handling, while ecommerce harmonization will impose new standards for retail and delivery across the region.

  • The EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes into force in May 2018. The advent of these rules empowering digital consumers in the EU to understand and manage the ways their personal data is handled will cause shockwaves to digital advertising and marketing, at least in the short term.
  • As the UK continues to plan its departure from the EU, other member nations are pursuing ever-greater harmonization of the standards and processes governing digital commerce, delivery and returns, including transactions involving more than one country.
  • Services such as Uber and food delivery service Deliveroo epitomize the burgeoning on-demand economy, in which technology connects suppliers of goods and services with their customers in real time, in ways that were not possible before. But consumer expectations for super-quick fulfillment of their requests will create significant headaches for many businesses.
  • 2018 will be a crucial year for voice-activated services, bringing major changes to the classic purchase funnel for consumers and brands that use them. Millions of smartphone users in Western Europe already ask inbuilt voice assistants to give them updates on travel and weather or play favorite music tracks. The growing usage of in-home assistants such as Amazon’s Alexa is harnessing voice technology for a much wider range of functions—and ushering in the era of voice (and even video) advertising in response to queries.

"Over half of internet users in five countries in Europe polled in September 2017 said they’d opt out of many communications from a company if they could, and they don’t want firms to store any personal data."

Table of Contents

GDPR: The Rules Transforming Digital Advertising

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Ecommerce in Europe: Harmonization Will Gather Pace

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The On-Demand Economy: Reshaping Consumer, Marketer and Retailer Relationships

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Voice Activation’s Rise: The Sound of Things to Come

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11 charts are included in the full report:

Western Europe Digital Trends for 2018: GDPR, Harmonization, the On-Demand Economy and Voice

Internet Users in Europe* Who Would Conduct Select Privacy/Security-Related Actions, Sep 2017 (% of respondents)

GDPR: The Rules Transforming Digital Advertising

Actions Taken by Internet Users in France to Protect their Personal Information, March 2017 (% of respondents)

Information for Which Stricter Regulation Is Required According to UK Internet Users, Sep 2017 (% of respondents)

Internet Users in Europe* Who Would Conduct Select Privacy/Security-Related Actions, Sep 2017 (% of respondents)

Ecommerce in Europe: Harmonization Will Gather Pace

Digital Buyers and Penetration in Western Europe, by Country, 2016-2021

Cross-Border Retail Ecommerce Sales in North America and Select Countries in Europe, 2016 & 2017 (billions of €, % change and % of total retail ecommerce sales)

The On-Demand Economy: Reshaping Consumer, Marketer and Retailer Relationships

UK Digital Buyers* vs. Retailers Who Expect to Have Access to/Offer Select Delivery & Shipping Services in the Next 1-3 Years, Feb 2017 (% of respondents)

Ecommerce Platforms with Which Digital Buyers in the US and Western Europe* Had an Excellent Delivery Experience, Aug 2017 (% of respondents)

Voice Activation’s Rise: The Sound of Things to Come

Usage of Virtual Assistants Within the Past Month Among Smartphone Owners in Select Countries, Dec 2016 (% of respondents)

Who will benefit:

Frequency with Which Internet Users in France Use Voice-Enabled Virtual Assistants vs. Chatbots, March 2017 (% of respondents)

Usage of Select Virtual Assistants Among Internet Users in Germany, June 2017 (% of respondents)

Concerns About Using a Voice-Enabled Speaker* According to Internet Users in Germany, by Level of Concern, June 2017 (% of respondents)