Ecommerce Expo at Olympia, London: the event was a blast!
From 28 to 29 September the eCommerce world witnessed a big event: the eCommerce Expo 2016 at the Olympia Exhibition Centre in London. There was no way Webinterpret could miss it so we sent our special eCommmerce task force to check it out.
One of our eCommerce reps was Marco Yammine, the Product Owner at Webinterpret. He arrived in West London to give a speech on how to double your international sales. Read on!
Interested in checking YOUR international sales potential on top marketplaces? Book a FREE consultation with our eCommerce expert!
The eCommerce Expo 2016 involved a number of eCommerce-related areas, e.g. payments, marketing platforms, solutions and cross-border trade. Over 180 eCommerce tech and product providers and 200 speakers created a unique and vibrant atmosphere at Olympia.
We were extremely happy for Marco: he was able to share his extensive knowledge with like-minded individuals interested in this mind-boggling eCommerce question:
How to make your online sales rocket to the top?
Thousands of eCommerce sellers can boast their success stories. For many of them the recipe is simple:
- Step 1: Launch your online store on international markets
- Step 2: Adapt the buying experience to foreign buyers
- Step 3: Watch your sales grow.
In his speech Doubling your international sales through a localised UX Marco focused on Step 2. To attract foreign buyers to your store, provide them with a localised user experience.
Doubling your international sales through a localised UX
Do you ever wonder whether you’re making the most of your sales potential? If you’re an online merchant trading merely on your domestic market … probably not.
Why? It’s simple: there’s an enormous purchasing power outside of your local market. Hence, so many online store owners replicate and localise their stores on international markets. Because they know that this way they can increase their sales by up to 25% in less than a month.
But here’s the catch.
The selling process on foreign markets is not the same as on your domestic one.
If you’re an English native speaker, you see the world from a different perspective. However, customs, culture and habits vary greatly in the purchase cycle of international users.
This is the reason why Marco stressed the importance of store localisation. During his speech he talked about the key elements that have had the biggest impact on doubling CBT (cross border trade) conversion for more than 25,000 British online sellers.
The factors in question include:
- Size conversion
- Currencies
- Quality in-context translations
- Shipping
- Internationalised branding.
To understand the importance of localisation better, we need to think like international visitors.
Think about travellers going abroad. Most countries have made at least some effort to accommodate foreign visitors, giving them an English-speaking experience. As a result, we don’t really know what it means not to understand a word whilst abroad.
We’re able to get around any major city without any communication hassle. This is a fundamental challenge when we try to put ourselves in an international visitor’s shoes. We want the international buyer to navigate through product offers hassle-free. Providing the online shopper with an experience in their own language is the first step in attracting them to our listings.
Consider the foreign buyer’s perspective when selling abroad
If the buyer is interested in products from abroad, they may be faced with different hurdles when going through the purchase journey. First of all, buyers tend to search in their own language and if your listings are in English, they simply won’t be found by non-English speakers.
Buyers just prefer to browse for products and make purchases in their own language.
Language is the starting point, but there’s much more that must be considered. For instance, if your products are in British pounds, non-UK buyers have to convert to their own currency. They also have to work out if they can get the product cheaper when considering shipping. Additionally, if you sell, let’s say, dresses, a conversion for sizes must be done too.
Your task as an online seller is to save the online buyer all that hassle.
Make sure that they’re not frustrated translating or trying to understand your listings. Make sure they have seen prices in their own currency. Make sure ladies will fit in your dresses and gentlemen in your suits.
Make sure that shoppers feel at home when purchasing from you and they will come back and drive your sales figures. Localisation is about overcoming various barriers for the international buyer so that purchasing is a straightforward process.
These are the different aspects of localisation that are crucial to international online sales success.
The Expo at Olympia was a great eCommerce experience
We asked Marco about his impressions…
Partaking in this event was a great experience, not only because of the incredible amount of positive energy that Olympia was buzzing with. Everyone’s enthusiasm and willpower to take their product to the next level was impressive.
Marco said it was amazing to learn from others and be exposed to almost 10 years of cross-border trade knowledge. This knowledge was acquired thanks to the feedback from sellers and resellers. Their viewpoints are extremely valuable when it comes to possible directions we could take to further improve our product.
What is the OnlineStores product about?
Webinterpret OnlineStores is a cross-border sales solution that localises online stores and upgrades the buying experience for international buyers. To use our product, it will take you just one click to install the plug-in and over 50 international stores will be created within 24 hours.
We will synchronise your product, images and stock, also offering an integrated design. You will receive orders the same way as on the domestic market and payments will be made directly to your account. Buyers will remain on your domain name. Finally, we will help you manage international shipping
What can you expect?
- Free 60 day trial for the first 50 signups
- High quality translations thanks to the extraction of elements that will help sell your product
- The localised product page on sellers’ own domain names
- Size conversion in line with specific markets & categories
- Live currency conversion
- Support from experienced cross-border trade experts
- Search engine optimisation of your store so it’s easily found by foreign buyers
- Customisation of the localised store to visually resemble the domestic store, e.g. colours or fonts
- Possibility of customisation of your website, including your logo, colours & images
- 24-hour preview mode before the localised stores go live.
Interested in a free trial? Sign up now!
Further reading & other sources
How to prepare your online business for global sales
Sell globally with your webstore: interview with A. Borgstrom & F. Richardson
International online markets at your fingertips: what, why and how to sell internationally
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