An Unwelcome Mat

Sherry Chiger, Editorial Director of Catalogue & eBusiness in the UK, writes in the Cross Atlantic Insight newsletter :

"It must be nice that so many American ecommerce sites can afford to turn away business from overseas—and even from across the US-Canadian border. But having struggled to purchase, from England, a gift card from several US retailers for my sister in the States, that’s the only conclusion I can draw.

"I won’t go into the details here (though if you’re interested, you can check out my Catablogue e-business post at www.catalog-biz.blogspot.com). The upshot: Several fairly upscale retailers would not allow me to make a purchase from a billing address outside of North America, and one would not even allow Canadians to order.

"The Manhattan outposts of those particular retailers are favourites with tourists from abroad. Is it really wise to make it impossible for those visitors to continue shopping from the brand once they return home?"