Flash Eurobarometer 300 (Retailers’ Attitudes Towards Cross-border Trade and Consumer Protection, wave 1)

Attitudes of retailers towards cross-border trade. Knowledge regarding consumer legislation.<br>Topics: number of EU countries currently cross-border sales to final consumers are made to; estimation of the percentage of the company’s total turnover from: e-commerce and internet sales, other distance sales; estimation of the percentage of the total value of e-commerce and internet sales from sales to consumers in other EU countries; estimation of the percentage of total sales to final consumers by phone, by post, by e-commerce, and by home-visits which are cross-border sales to EU countries; number of EU member states cross-border sales to final consumers would be made to in case of the assumed provision of common EU laws on regulating transactions; self-assessed knowledge regarding the company’s legal obligations towards consumers in the own country; self-assessed knowledge regarding the legislation on product safety and on food safety; knowledge where to find information on consumer legislation in the own country and in other EU countries; expected development of the company’s cross-border sales in case of the assumed provision of common EU laws on regulating transactions; knowledge of the length of the cooling off period in the own country; knowledge of the customer’s right to have a defective product repaired; knowledge test concerning the prohibition of selected commercial practices by law in the own country: include an invoice or a similar document in marketing material, advertise products at very low price without having a reasonable quantity of products for sale, make exaggerated statements in advertisements, describe products as ‘free’ that are only available calling premium rate phone numbers; knowledge test on product safety legislation in the own country regarding retailers’ obligations: obligation to cooperate with authorities to prevent risks posed by own products, interdiction to place unsafe products on the market, obligation to immediately recall unsafe products from customers, availability of technical documentation on safety aspects of products; knowledge test on food safety legislation in the own country regarding businesses’ obligations in selling to final consumers: responsibility for food safety, ability to identify and trace back all suppliers, application of HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point) procedures for risk containment purposes, highlighting of allergens through special warning on the label; perception of fraudulent, misleading or deceptive advertisements, statements or offers made by competitors in the last twelve months; awareness of competitors knowingly selling unsafe products; approval of selected statements: own company complies with consumer legislation, competitors comply with consumer legislation; occurrence of the following in relation to consumer legislation in the last two years: inspection with regard to national sales in the own company or in a competitor company by consumer authorities or consumer organizations, consumer authorities charging the own or a competitor company with non-compliance with legislation, awareness of a breach of consumer legislation in the own market through media report, inspection concerning cross-border sales in the own company by consumer authorities or consumer organizations, own company being contacted by a European Consumer Centre regarding a specific consumer complaint; occurrence of the following in relation to product safety in the last two years: reception of consumer complaints about the safety of products, safety checks of products by the authorities, authorities asking to withdraw or recall a product, authorities asking to issue a public warning about the safety of a product, own tests to ensure product safety, other enforcement actions related to product safety; attitude towards the following statements regarding the monitoring of compliance with consumer and product safety legislation in the own country in the company’s sector: public authorities actively monitor and ensure compliance with consumer legislation, with product safety legislation, and with food safety legislation, consumer NGOs actively monitor compliance with consumer legislation, self-regulatory bodies actively monitor respect of codes of conduct or codes of practice, media regularly report on businesses which do not respect consumer legislation, change of commercial practices as result of media stories; use of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) bodies for settling disputes with consumers in the past two years; preference to settle disputes with a group of consumers regarding the same problem through individual or collective ADR or court proceedings; assessment of the share of non-food as well as of food products currently on the market in the own country which comply with safety standards.

Demography: information about the company: company size, direct selling to final consumers, number of employees, number of EU countries with subsidiaries or retail outlets; turnover of the company in the last year; retail sales channels; largest product category; number of EU countries active marketing or advertising to final consumers is made to; number of languages currently used in transactions with consumers.

Additionally coded was: interviewer ID; country; NACE-Code; language of the interview; date of interview; time of the beginning of the interview; duration of the interview; weighting factor.