Export online, virtual stores and international electronic commerce.

The figures encourage consider the internet as a sales channel. The growth of electronic commerce encourages us to look for new opportunities for the development of our businesses, and above all, it makes us think about international clients. But, let’s not kid ourselves, the internet is nothing more than a channel, neither more nor less, and it may not be “the channel”…
In electronic commerce, Internet is the way where the international sales contract is perfected of products/services, and as we well know, international contracting is complex. I am not going to deal with international contracts in this article, but I do point out that there are no universal laws applicable “erga omnes” in international trade. Each sovereign State has its own normative pyramid.


We will focus on the B2B e-commercecompany to company.


The first thing we will have to know are certain technical aspects in the foreign trade operations Keys to successful buying and selling:

• Technically it is considered export the exit of products from the community customs territory and intra-community deliveries are the sales we make within said customs territory of the European Union. In Spain, Ceuta and Melilla are not part of this territory. Yes, it is part of the Canary Islands, although with a special tax regime that it is necessary to know.
• In this community customs territory there is free trade of goods and services. There are no physical customs or tariffs and the movement of products, although subject to certain rules, is relatively simple in terms of operations.
• The European Union is a Customs UnionIt is more than a free trade zone, since we have a common tariff against third countries. For example, NAFTA is a free trade zone that unites Canada, the US and Mexico, but each State is sovereign in terms of customs regulations against third countries, that is, they do not have a common tariff against third parties as we have in the EU (the famous TARIC).
• The same does not happen in the exports Imports, here various factors come into play depending on the product and the place of destination. Although the EU has free trade agreements FTAs ​​with various countries and areas, such as. with Mexico, and there are no tariffs, this does not mean that the products do not require, for example, the so-called “export/import clearance” that is managed by community customs.
• It is very important to know how to make correctly the scandals of export prices, and take into account crucial aspects such as tariffs and other taxes.
• As a general rule product exports are invoiced without VAT and in the case of intra-community operational, intra-community deliveries can only be invoiced without VAT when the purchasing company is registered in the VIES Census and has an intra-community VAT number.
• VAT on services provided by companies is treated differently from VAT on international merchandise exchanges.
• Within the services, “electronic services” have special treatment, and there are quite a few problems in their definition. Electronic services are those that can only be provided electronically, such as the repair of M2M software.
• Community VAT regulations have just changed in the EU for so-called electronic services. Now the service is located in the State of establishment or residence of the final consumer – Member State of consumption, and not in the State of the service provider. To facilitate the procedures for companies and professionals, the EU has created the Mini One-Stop Shop The new regime will allow businessmen or professionals not to have to identify themselves and register in each State of consumption, but rather they will be able to submit their VAT returns from a single point on the Web Portal of their State of Identification.

It is important to point out that the legal aspects in international contracting They are more complex than we may think. It is necessary that our products and our stores comply with the regulations in force in the countries where we want to sell. If we are aware that in order to reach other markets an adaptation of our marketing mix is ​​necessary, we do not intend to sell online abroad with an online store translated into English directly from the Spanish version that we created to sell in Spain. The general conditions of sale are certainly not the same…

Another very important aspect to take into account in online stores that operate in the EU, and continuing with legal aspects, is the regulations on consumers and which entered into force in Spain in June 2014. Few electronic businesses today comply with its requirements. I leave you a report titled “5 steps to adapt online commerce to consumer regulations”


We recommend getting proper advice before undertaking any international online store project, and not only on the aspects indicated, but also on issues as crucial as: international payment methods, logistics, insurance, customs, advertising, etc.


And we don’t talk about online positioning, but I do point out that positioning is done locally for each specific market. In the same way as in the offline field, also on the Internet action plans to position a store are developed market by market.