A product page built for a Chinese platform answers the questions a Chinese buyer asks in order: what it is, how much, how fast it arrives, how many have been sold, what others say. A European buyer asks different questions in a different order. Is it the right size in the units I use? Does it meet the rules that apply where I sell it? What is it made of? Where does it come from? And if something goes wrong, who in Europe do I call? A page that does not answer them is not rejected loudly. It is simply closed.
The same product, two different pages
| Element | Usual on a Chinese page | Expected on a European page |
|---|---|---|
| First thing shown | Price, sales volume, ratings | What it is, what it is for, the main specification |
| Dimensions and weight | A single line, sometimes only in a picture | A table, in metric units, with the tolerance where it matters |
| Standards and markings | Often absent or limited to a logo | Named, with the declaration of conformity available |
| Material | A trade name or a general word | The exact composition, and any treatment or coating |
| Origin and responsible party | The factory or the platform shop | Manufacturer, and a named contact established in Europe |
Units and formats that change from one page to the next
- Metric, written correctly. Lengths in millimetres or centimetres, weights in grams or kilograms, volumes in litres. Some trades still expect their customary unit for a thread, a screen or a pipe; give it next to the metric value rather than instead of it.
- Decimal commas and local formats. French and German write a comma where English writes a point, and a price or a dimension copied unchanged can be misread. Dates run day, month, year. Paper documents are in the standard European sheet size.
- Electrical data. Supply voltage, frequency and plug type must correspond to the country of use, and they differ from the Chinese market. State them, and say what is supplied in the box.
- Sizes by measurement. Clothing and shoe sizes are labelled differently from one region to another. Give the garment or foot measurement in centimetres, and say how to take it.
- Price as the buyer will pay it. For consumers the displayed price includes tax; for professionals it often does not, and the page says so. The currency is the buyer's, and the delivery charge is visible before the order.
Standards, markings and documents
For many product families, the European market requires a marking, a declaration of conformity and a technical file held by the manufacturer or its representative. The marking is a statement made by the manufacturer, not a certificate bought from a laboratory, and a logo on a page proves nothing. What a European buyer looks for is the reference of the standard the product is said to meet, and a document that can be downloaded: the declaration, and the test report if one exists. Whether your product falls under such rules depends on its category, and some categories have their own marking, such as products that touch food, electrical goods that carry a symbol for separate collection, or toys. Do not display a marking you have not earned or a standard you have not tested against; it is checked more often than exporters expect, and it turns a sales page into evidence.
Materials, in words the buyer can check
A material described as premium, eco-friendly or high-grade tells the buyer nothing and invites suspicion. Name the material as the trade names it: the type of steel, the polymer, the fibre content of a fabric, the coating and the process. Where the law requires a composition on the label, as it does for textiles, the page should match the label exactly. If the product contains a substance that is restricted in Europe, or a battery, say so and say how you handle it. The same applies to what you do not know: a page that states the composition of the body and the finish but says the paint supplier is being confirmed is more credible than a page that says everything and is wrong on one line.
Origin, and who is responsible in Europe
Two lines on the page often decide whether a professional buyer goes further. The first is the country where the product is made. The rule on origin marking depends on the product category and, in some cases, on the member state, and the origin used by customs is not always the one you may state in advertising, so check before you write it. The second is the person established in Europe who answers for the product. For many products the regulation requires the name and postal address of the manufacturer, and where the manufacturer is outside the Union, of an importer or of a responsible person inside it, on the product, its packaging or its documents, and online sellers are asked to show the same information in the listing. A page that gives a European name and address, and a mailbox someone reads, removes the question the buyer would otherwise have to put to you.
Build the European page from a template, not from the Chinese page. The template has a fixed place for the specification table, the standards and documents, the composition, the origin and the responsible contact, and a product is not published until each field is filled or explicitly marked as not applicable. It forces the question to be asked inside your company, before the buyer asks it. The fields you cannot fill are your real work list, and some will take time: a test report is not written in a day. Say what is available and what is being prepared, and do not leave a blank where a promise would be tempting.