European alternatives for digital products

Re:European alternatives for digital products by open-source-ux on Monday December 20, 2021 @03:33PM (#29629936)

This has been discussed before. Although the EU is a marketplace of 27 countries, it is not a digitally homogeneous marketplace. Adoption and acceptance of digital tools varies by country. Language is also important - the tech giants localise their apps and tools. But many software companies in larger European countries (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, UK etc) concentrate on their home country first before they focus on international reach. That makes sense. However, in smaller countries, where the software market is also smaller, software companies have a more international outlook (i.e. eyeing the US market).

Even when there are local apps available, many small businesses (and larger ones) will stick with services from big, well-known tech companies. Why? I guess because of inertia, or simply because those products feel safe and familiar.

Where are the pan-European equivalents to eBay, Etsy, KickStarter, AirBnB, Shopify, AbeBooks, etc? Europeans use these services entensively. You'll probably find local equilavents in each European country, but they are not pan-European or global in scope.

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Re:European alternatives for digital products by cblconfederate on Monday December 20, 2021 @04:55PM (#29630843)

if anything the opposite should be true: A small homogeneous market with a language barrier is a great testing ground where a new product can grow and then become global. Facebook started in harvard, and some EU fintech startups are doing well in Sweden, i hear.

Global expansion is not an issue; every american company can easily reach the whole of EU. And there are many many european startups whose main market is america. Unless you mean that, products are so tailored to their home market that they don't have global appeal.

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