A new law that will require retailers in Europe to get permission from shoppers before placing a cookie on their computers has been lambasted by merchants. According to new research from EConsultancy, approximately four out five respondents (82 percent) believe the new law is a bad idea and will hinder their web efforts.

Cookies are used to track consumers' online actions. For example, retailers using cookies will be able to tell which sections of websites shoppers have visited and which items they looked at. This information can be used to develop more relevant campaigns – for example, customers who looked at iPods at an electronics site could be given discounts on other Apple products in the future.

"There's total confusion on how to apply [the new law] and what it should be applied [to]," one participant asserts. "There are a few nice implementations [but] nothing which everyone agrees on, which means a disjointed user experience from site to site."

This adds yet another challenge that retail merchants must account for as they further enhance the online shopping experience. Given the number of people shopping online, however, the shift to ecommerce is something they must do.

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Friday, March 16th, 2012 at 10:07 am .