Iceland Country Commercial Guide
Learn about the market conditions, opportunities, regulations, and business conditions in iceland, prepared by at U.S. Embassies worldwide by Commerce Department, State Department and other U.S. agencies’ professionals
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eCommerce
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General Overview

B2B e-commerce is growing in Iceland as companies are increasingly offering their services online. The high-tech and IT industries are flourishing in Iceland. Two of the largest companies in Iceland that provide IT solutions and services for businesses are Advania and Origo.

Digital marketing is widely used in Iceland. Many smaller companies only advertise on social media, mostly Meta and Instagram, and many use social media influencers to market their products. Larger and more established companies use digital marketing in combination with conventional marketing.

Legal & Regulatory 

Iceland follows European e-commerce regulations. 

Consumer Behavior

Icelanders have very high internet usage, and in the past couple of years, online shopping has increased significantly, both from abroad and locally. The largest challenges for international online retailers doing business in Iceland are high shipping costs, VAT added to all imported goods (24 percent for most products), and handling fees imposed by the local postal service.

Foreign e-commerce platforms are popular in Iceland. The more famous ones include AliExpress and Temu, which offer low-cost Chinese-made products, and Nordic company Boozt which sells fashion wares. Icelanders are also increasingly purchasing goods from American and European retailers, mostly clothing, baby and children’s products, as well as equipment and larger items like bicycles and bicycle products.
Icelandic firms.

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Global Business Navigator Chatbot Beta

Welcome to the Global Business Navigator, an artificial intelligence (AI) Chatbot from the International Trade Administration (ITA). This tool, currently in beta version testing, is designed to provide general information on the exporting process and the resources available to assist new and experienced U.S. exporters. The Chatbot, developed using Microsoft’s Azure AI services, is trained on ITA’s export-related content and aims to quickly get users the information they need. The Chatbot is intended to make the benefits of exporting more accessible by understanding non-expert language, idiomatic expressions, and foreign languages.

Limitations

As a beta product, the Chatbot is currently being tested and its responses may occasionally produce inaccurate or incomplete information. The Chatbot is trained to decline out of scope or inappropriate requests. The Chatbot’s knowledge is limited to the public information on the Export Solutions web pages of Trade.gov, which covers a wide range of topics on exporting. While it cannot provide responses specific to a company’s product or a specific foreign market, its reference pages will guide you to other relevant government resources and market research. Always double-check the Chatbot’s responses using the provided references or by visiting the Export Solutions web pages on Trade.gov. Do not use its responses as legal or professional advice. Inaccurate advice from the Chatbot would not be a defense to violating any export rules or regulations.

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The Chatbot does not collect information about users and does not use the contents of users’ chat history to learn new information. All feedback is anonymous. Please do not enter personally identifiable information (PII), sensitive, or proprietary information into the Chatbot. Your conversations will not be connected to other interactions or accounts with ITA. Conversations with the Chatbot may be reviewed to help ITA improve the tool and address harmful, illegal, or otherwise inappropriate questions.

Translation

The Chatbot supports a wide range of languages. Because the Chatbot is trained in English and responses are translated, you should verify the translation. For example, the Chatbot may have difficulty with acronyms, abbreviations, and nuances in a language other than English.

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