Start selling overseas with ecommerce

Today, your customers can come from anywhere. Nowhere is this truer than in ecommerce. Once you’ve established yourself as an online retailer, you are open to visitors from all over the world. Global communications and logistics, therefore, is an opportunity that shouldn’t pass you by.

By Gabriella Griffith

While the UK market suffers from ongoing economic woes, but selected international markets are posting better results – particularly to the east of the UK. So it’s important to understand where future opportunities willcome from and make sure you’re ready to take advantage.

Being a business with an international outlook is cheaper and easier than ever before.

“You’d think that ‘globalisation’  is something that only big companies can do, but you’d be wrong,”  says Phil Rothwell, marketing director of ecommerce software specialist, SellerDeck.

“While building a global corporate brand isn’t possible for small businesses, finding incremental growth outside the UK certainly is.”

Attracting and retaining sales from other countries isn’t just a case of hoping someone in Beijing stumbles across your site and likes what they see. You need to take action to prepare your site for the global marketplace. Think of it as going local….everywhere.

Read on for top tips on how to get started.

Research, research, research.

Start by finding out if your site has already had visitors from other countries. It would make sense to start tailoring your site to these places. Cultural differences exist not only in language but also in the way people like to shop so you need to be fully aware of this.

“Familiarise yourself with the basic customs and business practices of your customer’s region, taking into account the daily and weekly working hours (including time differences) and when the country observes national holidays,” says James Hardy, Head of Europe for Alibaba.com.

“Knowing something as simple as when your target market is celebrating a national holiday will help you tailor seasonal promotions and prepare
for fluctuating sales cycles.”

Language

It is true to say that a large portion of the global marketplace will speak English or at east have a decent grasp of it. But this isn’t the whole picture and if you want to make sure international visitors feel catered for, language is essential.

“Make sure you translate your website in its entirety, and use a native speaker to get it right,” says Andreas Kopatz, product marketing manager, Intershop.

“There might be a turn-of-phrase or tone in your language that might be misinterpreted if translated directly, or worse still, a brand or product name that can’t be translated might be downright offensive in your customer’s local language.”

IP Intelligence

There is an increasing amount of IP technology available which allows you to pinpoint where your visitors are coming from and therefore you can serve the relevant version of your site with appropriate products. There are many companies that offer this technology so you can harness the “local” online experience for your customers.

Providing geo-targeted content and offers should increase the amount of time customers are willing to spend on your site.

Comply with local rules and regulations

Each country has different rules and regulations about how you can oporate as an online retailer. You need to be aware of these intricacies and make sure you aren’t breaking rules in certan markets.

Be aware of shortcuts to new markets

Using a third party to gain access to a new market and help with distribution can be a massive help. Research will throw up a number of different services offered by some of the eCommerce giants out there.

One example is the Fulfilment service offered by Amazon. The online behemouth has one of the most advanced distribution and fulfilment networks in the world which you can harness.

By signing up, you can store your products in Amazon’s Fulfilment centres and they pack and deliver the good as well as offering customer service.

You can offer your products in Amazon’s Marketplaces Europe which services Germany, France and Italy) and they fulfil your orders from the inventory you have stored in the UK.