Retail sales in Europe have been hit hard by the economic crisis, but as retailers struggle to navigate through the storm, they shouldn’t lose sight of the region’s longer-term shopping trends. Online sales have been growing there—rising 31 percent across France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom in 2007, according to the latest available aggregate data. Some signs indicate that Internet sales will continue to grow during the recession: last December, for example, UK online sales were up by 30 percent, compared with those of the previous year—even as sales in stores fell by 1.4 percent, British Retail Consortium figures show.

Our research, conducted last year before the crisis hit in earnest, suggests that to develop successful online strategies in Europe, retailers will need a deep understanding of factors such as levels of broadband penetration and the shopping attitudes that differentiate European retail markets. We queried 20,000 consumers in four large and culturally diverse ones—France, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom—as well as in the United States, for reference purposes. The goal was to learn about the shopping patterns and experiences, online and offline, of different retailers and product categories.

Not surprising, we found that broadband penetration can...