My colleague Zia Daniell Wigder published a report last year called 'How to win over European Online Shoppers' that gives tips on email and site design for success in seven different European markets.

Forrester's European Technographics data shows that some similarities between countries do exist when it comes to shopping online: Consumers in every country cited low prices as the biggest factor when selecting which Web site to purchase from.

Other preferences, however, tended to vary a great deal on a country-by-country basis. For example, only 17% of Germans selected Web sites based on the recommendation of a friend of colleague. In Spain, this figure was 37%.

Factorswebsiteeu

To capitalize on differing consumer expectations in Europe, companies must ensure that localization for each European market does not stop at language translation. Flexibility is especially important in two areas 1) Site templates and 2) Email marketing budgets and tactics.