The European ecommerce sector is projected to generate $673.82 billion in 2025.
Long-term predictions are also promising as the EU’s ecommerce market should continue to grow at a 4.54% CAGR in the next five years, and its volume is expected to reach $841.14 billion by 2030.
Looking at the statistics, it’s hard to notice that the EU’s new General Product Safety Regulation has had any negative impact on the ecommerce industry.
Despite the increase in product recalls and raising the market entry bar, especially for digital retailers not based in one of the EU member states, the European Union remains one of the world’s most attractive destinations for online sellers.
Complying with the GPSR has become a prerequisite for entering the EU’s lucrative ecommerce market. However, navigating the online marketplaces in the EU may be challenging for merchants who don’t understand the requirements and the scope of their responsibilities.
Let’s find out how GPSR affects online sales in the EU and what sellers must do to meet the compliance requirements.
Key takeaways
- The GPSR applies to digital and physical consumer products, whether new, used, repaired, or reconditioned, sold online or offline.
- The new regulation mandates that all economic operators place only safe products on European markets and collaborate with the authorities on identifying potentially dangerous products.
- Sellers must determine their responsibilities under the GPSR.
- Each product a seller places on an online marketplace in the EU must have an EU Responsible Person.
- Online marketplaces must remove all product listings that don’t comply with the GPSR.
- Sellers and online marketplace providers must collaborate with market surveillance authorities to recall all harmful products from the market.
How does the General Product Safety Regulation affect online sales?
Despite initial skepticism that GPSR may impact their online sales in EU member states, online retailers are discovering that the EU’s online markets are as strong as ever, almost a year after the regulation went into effect.
The EU lawmakers expect the regulation to reduce costs caused by harmful products by €5.5 billion within the next ten years, while strengthening consumer protection, trust, and reducing the number of costly recalls.
Additionally, the size of the EU’s ecommerce sector is projected to experience sustained growth in the next five years, reaching $1.03 trillion in 2030.
The GPSR introduced stringent product safety requirements that have major implications for online marketplace providers, which allow sellers to offer products without technical documentation or the contact information consumers could use to reach the manufacturer.
Moreover, the EU plans to abolish the €150 customs duty exemption for products shipped from non-EU countries to consumers in the Union’s member states. Consequently, starting from March 1, 2028, all consumer products imported into the EU will be subject to customs duty.
Alongside the GPSR, this and other relevant EU legislation, such as the EU Digital Services Act, will profoundly affect the ecommerce industry, online marketplaces, and online sellers offering products on those marketplaces, regardless of their location.
Keep in mind that GPSR makes digital merchants responsible for the safety of the products they offer to European consumers, which means that they must provide all the necessary documentation and information to ensure compliance with the regulation.
Understanding different types of economic operators
The exact responsibilities an online seller must bear depend on two major factors:
- Whether they are based in an EU member state or not, and
- Their position in the supply chain.
The GPSR recognizes several types of economic operators, such as manufacturers, importers, fulfillment service providers, authorized representatives, and distributors.
The regulation also places the bulk of responsibility for the product safety enforcement on its manufacturer.
Consequently, a manufacturer must conduct an internal risk assessment and draft technical documentation that includes compliance and test reports, a Declaration of Conformity, warnings, and instructions for safe product use, among other things.
Manufacturers are also responsible for appointing an EU Responsible Person for their products, providing traceability information, and meeting the mandatory labeling requirements.
Besides acting as EU Responsible Person for products they make available on online marketplaces, importers must verify that the documentation and tracing information the manufacturer provided complies with the product safety regulation.
Distributors are also responsible for ensuring that the products they offer in the EU meet the GPSR compliance requirements.
Economic operators based in one of the EU member states can act as the EU Responsible Person for their products. At the same time, those not established in one of the EU countries must appoint an Authorized Representative established in an EU member state.
It’s also important to remember that distributors and importers may assume the responsibilities of the manufacturer if they alter the products they sell on the EU market.
The responsibilities of online sellers
The first step sellers on online marketplaces like eBay or Amazon must take on their road to European customers is to determine their position within the supply chain.
So, merchants who produce the products they want to sell in the EU qualify as manufacturers, while sellers who only resell items made by other businesses qualify as distributors.
The most significant difference between these two types of economic operators is that distributors don’t have to actively participate in creating the technical documentation for the products they want to place on online marketplaces in the EU.
However, they are responsible for ensuring that the technical documentation is available in the market’s local language, meaning they must translate it if the manufacturer hasn’t done so.
Additionally, distributors must actively collaborate with market surveillance authorities and report accidents caused by their products that put the safety of consumers at risk through the Safety Gate portal.
They are also responsible for sending recall notices, informing their customers that the product they purchased is recalled from the market, and offering a remedy, such as a refund or a replacement for the recalled product.
It’s also paramount to remember that the distributor must either obtain the contact information of the EU Responsible Person for all the products they want to offer in EU member states or appoint an authorized representative for those products that don’t have one.
Creating GPSR-compliant product listings
Distributors, importers, and manufacturers who want to sell consumer products through online marketplaces in the EU must ensure that each product listing they create complies with the GPSR.
Sellers must include the following information when creating or updating a product listing:
- Serial number, type, and batch: These product identifiers must also be included on the product or its packaging.
- Product model number or GTIN: Adding this information to a listing ensures easy traceability.
- Product pictures: GPSR mandates that all listings on online marketplaces contain images that clearly show the product and its key features.
- Manufacturer’s contact information: All product listings must include the producer’s name, registered trade name or trademark, and their postal and electronic addresses.
- EU Responsible Person’s contact details: In case the manufacturer isn’t also the product’s EU Responsible Person, the listing must include the name, email address, and postal address of the legal person established in the EU or entity that serves as the point of contact for consumers and market surveillance authorities.
- Age suitability, warning, and safety information: Product listings must mention choking hazards, dangerous chemicals, or any other potential risks to consumers’ safety. Listings for products that aren’t suitable for certain consumer categories must also include age suitability. This information must be in a language most consumers in a particular market can easily understand.
It’s also worth noting that online sellers can use QR codes to provide consumers with additional information about a product.
Still, they cannot use QR codes as a substitute for directly featuring the mandatory information, like the product’s serial number or manufacturer’s contact details, in the listing.
The responsibilities of online marketplace providers
Although the new product safety regulation doesn’t regard providers of online marketplaces as economic operators, it imposes significant responsibilities on them.
Most notably, the GPSR states that such marketplaces must create an online interface that allows a seller to include all mandatory information in the product listing.
These platforms must remove all items deemed unsafe from the seller’s accounts and actively participate in product recalls from the market alongside market surveillance authorities and online sellers.
Additionally, the online marketplace must inform consumers that a particular product is unsafe and block access to it.
The regulation also requires online marketplace providers to warn sellers offering unsafe products and suspend their accounts if they fail to remove a listing containing a harmful item.
Consequently, sellers failing to remove listings offering non-compliant products risk having their accounts suspended from online platforms in the EU and receiving fines from the national authorities.
Managing an online store in the EU in the post-GPSR era
The European Union remains one of the most profitable ecommerce markets in the world, so establishing or maintaining a long-term presence in the EU’s online marketplaces can be a lucrative decision for online sellers.
That’s why bringing the products they want to offer in the EU’s online marketplaces into compliance should be the top priority of online sellers. This allows them to continue operating in one of the world’s most advanced ecommerce markets and avoid fines and penalties for failing to meet the GPSR requirements.
Do you need assistance with meeting the GPSR compliance requirements? Schedule a call to learn more about Webinterpret’s GPSR Compliance solution.
About Webinterpret
Webinterpret supports merchants selling on eBay.
Our AI-based solutions enable more effective selling through automated listing localization, advertising, and returns and ensure all products placed on EU markets are GPSR-compliant.
By giving your international customers a full, end-to-end local shopping experience, Webinterpret improves your conversion and helps establish your business globally.
