EU proposed ecommerce rules would cost $14 billion a year to online retailers

This week an ecommerce advocate made a forecast saying that proposed changes to European rules on product returns could cost online retailers 10 billion euros ($14 billion) a year which would prevent further growth and impose higher prices on consumers.

IMRG says that the cost of draft amendments to the European Union's (EU) Consumer Rights Directive, voted through last week, equated to 4 percent of the estimated value of Europe's e-commerce industry in 2012.

"These new amendments from the EU are some of the most disastrous for the online industry yet," said IMRG Chief Executive James Roper.

"As well as being unnecessary they would inevitably lead to significant price increases being forced on to hard-pressed consumers, pushing up prices across all retail channels and disadvantaging SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) to the point where many would be forced to cease trading online."