Attention is not conversion: Why local, clear and reliable wins in European commerce

"Consumers are discovering in more places, shopping internationally more readily and responding to new digital experiences faster than many brands can adapt. But attention and conversion are not the same thing," said Eric Eichmann, CEO of ESW. "What drives performance is whether the experience feels local, clear and reliable, from the first interaction through to delivery and returns."

ESW Signals found that social media now shapes the top of the funnel with 43% of UK consumers discovering products there, rising to 72% among Gen Z, with Italy at 38% and Germany's social influence reaching 49%. Yet only 29% of UK consumers trust social commerce checkouts, falling to 23% in Italy and just 14% in Germany. Across Europe, only 21% trust the social checkout, the lowest of any region worldwide, and globally just 6% actually prefer to buy there.

AI hits the same ceiling. Consumers welcome it for finding value, not for moving money: comfort with AI-powered payments sits at 26% in the UK, 22% in Italy and 16% in Germany.

One market, many directions

For ESW's regional leads, the pattern plays out differently by geography. "The findings show a UK market moving in different directions at once," said Jonathan Sheard, ESW's Regional VP of Sales, UK and Nordics. "Consumers in London and the South are generally more open to international shopping and newer digital behaviours, while shoppers in the Midlands and North are thinking much harder about value, delivery costs and reliability."

The UK numbers bear that out: 39% of consumers in the South report higher spending over the past year, against 34% in the North and 32% in the Midlands, and southern shoppers are markedly more comfortable with AI-powered payments (29%) than those in the North (22%).

Across Europe 43% of Italian and 53% of German consumers reported increased spending, against a UK where almost as many consumers are cutting back (36%) as spending more (35%), while Europe's 44% overall spending growth trails trend-leading regions like the Middle East (67%) and Asia (61%).

Converting cross-border demand

Cross-border shopping now accounts for 19.8% of European online spend, yet long delivery times, shipping costs and unclear duties rank as the top barriers in every market surveyed.

"Global demand is increasingly accessible through social platforms and digital channels, but converting that demand consistently still depends on trusted payments, pricing transparency, reliable delivery and localised customer experiences across every market," said Federica Ronchi, ESW's Sales VP for Southern Europe.

The takeaway for operators is consistent across all three markets: reach is increasingly cheap, but conversion leaks out wherever trust is thin.

The full ESW Signals 2026 report is available at esw.com/resources/signals.