The EU’s new data protection regulations were introduced in May 2018 and could’ve already caused major disruption for e-commerce retail, according to a new study.
Researchers from Northwestern University, Boston University and University of Colorado have looked at the impact the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has had on 1,500 online firms since the law was implemented. That represented more than one billion online European visitors per week.
Using Adobe Analytics to measure the impact, they found that online outcomes had dropped by roughly ten per cent since GDPR was enforced. That number includes page views, visits, orders and revenue.
Digging into the details, recorded page views fell by 9.7 per cent and recorded site visits plummeted by 9.9 per cent after the data privacy regulations snapped into action. The e-commerce sites saw revenues drop by 8.3 per cent, representing a $8,000 weekly loss for median sites.
“From a regulators perspective the above results clearly illustrate the difficulty and high costs of privacy regulation,” the paper stated.
The researchers continued, “[It] is likely true that GDPR has impacted different sites in very different ways and regulators may want to consider this when working on future legislation. Firms have reacted in diverse ways and have implemented compliance in various fashions, often driven by their business needs. Legislators may want to consider why and how firms are using user information more explicitly in legislation to better address these asymmetries.”
In related news it seems as if GDPR could also affect vendors not operating in Europe. At the end of July 2019, it was revealed that India was reportedly approaching the EU to seek an adequacy status in regards to GDPR. This would mean that it would recognize GDPR and that the EU would do the same for India’s upcoming Personal Data Protection bill. As a result, the two parties would reduce compliance costs and could trade more freely.
Japan has already established a similar agreement.
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