GXS Insights

Select an Insights Edition

• Insights Index
• 1st Edition: Inside SaaS 2.0
• 2nd Edition: Navigating Cross Border Business Boundaries
• 3rd Edition: How to Increase ERP Success with B2B Integration
• 4th Edition: Enhancing Customer-Centric Supply Chains

1. Introduction

So – you have an item to sell, and there’s someone who wants to buy it. Sounds like good news, but is it? If you are in the same country, there’s not much that can get in the way, but as soon as borders start coming in to play, it can all become a bit more of a problem.

For example, there’s the basic problem of language. If you suddenly get a message “Może wy dostarczacie jutro?” from your customer, would you be able to respond to ensure that you keep the deal? How about if the driver of the lorry carrying your goods phones the logistics company due to a question around the paperwork for your consignment as they are sitting at the border between Germany and Switzerland?

Carrying out business across borders is not easy - and even though the EU is growing and there is a move towards the harmonisation of some laws that should make cross-border business easier, we are not close to that yet. Added to this is the fact that the EU does not cover all of Europe – for example, such major trading partners as Switzerland and Norway are not included – and that the push through to more EU accession countries only causes more confusion, and we see that Pan-European business-to-business transactions are not going to be as easy as, say, doing the same types of business transactions in the US.

This report, drawing on Quocirca’s knowledge of the European markets, aims to provide the reader with insights into the many problems that can be found in approaching a Pan-European B2B operation, and provides advice on how best to plan to overcome the issues.