Maybe you’ve already established a business in your home market, and you want to take it to the next level. You might be thinking about expanding your ecommerce business on an international level, like tapping into global ecommerce shipping.
Scaling your ecommerce business is not an easy feat. But if you know what you need to do and the things that you’ll require to get there, then it’s achievable.
Explore nine practical tips on what ecommerce sellers need to do to go global.
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Last Updated on March 26, 2024 by Zeljko Drazovic
According to data, cross-border ecommerce growth has surpassed domestic ecommerce growth by 100%. International shopping is growing 2x the rate of domestic shopping. More and more people shop online and choose to use cross-border shipping such as eBay GSP and others.
What’s more interesting is that 10-20% of international purchases are considered high-value. Merchants who are selling on international markets, like eBay, are lifting their overall sales more than those not selling internationally.
Despite huge returns, figuring out how you can sell internationally can be a challenge.
That’s why you have to be aware of the most common pitfalls. You also need to take the proper steps on how you can overcome them:
One of the questions you’re probably asking is how to ship internationally? First and foremost, you first need to know whether or not the product that you’re selling is in demand internationally.
You might ask the following questions:
You’re selling luxury leather jackets to a country with a $100 threshold that triggers a per-item tax. Buyers will have to pay a customs fee that’s already equal to the product’s value. As a result, your product will be too expensive for the target market.
In a scenario like this, it’s more cost-effective to put a load of jackets on a ship headed to a warehouse and fulfill orders locally rather than shipping them via an international parcel service.
International sellers can also tap eBay international shipping to send items via regular shipping services. Alternatively, if they’re based in the US or UK, they can use eBay’s Global Shipping Program.
There are several ways to ensure that you’re working with the best suppliers. One way you can do that is to first-order product samples yourself.
It would help if you always put yourself in your customers’ shoes. Make sure that you see what international shipping will look like from their perspective.
Working with the best suppliers gives you a chance to know more about the product’s packaging. You’ll also get to see how long the delivery will take. You can even contact the supplier to learn more about the product.
Countries with powerhouse markets for dropshipping stores are the US, UK, Australia, and Canada. But other markets facilitate fast shipping. Countries like the Philippines and Malaysia also account for more dropshipping sales than their populations suggest.
There are plenty of reasons behind that in the international shipping process. Both countries have English-speaking populations with high Facebook penetration. Therefore, they’re tech-savvy and speak ecommerce’s biggest language.
According to data by Statista, 66% of international customers think that when purchasing something from a cross-border business, the items they buy will arrive much later than they’ve expected.
This belief deters many overseas customers from even considering purchasing from you. That’s why there’s a need to balance out shipping times.
Find the right balance between how long it takes for a shipment to arrive at a particular destination, the shipping costs in that mode of shipping, and the type of product you’re planning to ship.
Another essential tip for international shipping is to be transparent and communicative with customers when it comes to shipping costs.
Online shoppers make many decisions based on saving money. You don’t want to surprise customers by having unexpected costs during the checkout.
In the same way, automating the international shipping process makes your life so much easier. Nowadays, many providers offer fully automated and integrated systems that streamline the entire fulfillment and delivery process.
Ideally, it would help if you look for solutions that can do the following:
Another thing that you need to remember when shipping internationally is to double-check, making sure that everything complies.
Every country has its own rules and regulations stating how you can or cannot ship packages within their borders.
To avoid this issue, you can go with the three-step process:
Labels are important because many countries will need shipping labels that give specific information. For instance, if you’re shipping to a country like India, the label should include what’s inside the package, the manufacturing date, the maximum retail price, etc. These details are essential for the delivery to be successful.
In the same way, you should also familiarize yourself with international shipping regulations. Otherwise, you’ll be experiencing delays or fines.
Some countries will often prohibit the following items:
Finally, always keep your shoppers informed.
Providing them with a piece of detailed information is essential. Many ecommerce stores, especially the dropshipping ones, face the challenge of extended delivery times compared to ecommerce giants like Amazon.
While delivery times are entirely unavoidable, this can cause a sense of uncertainty for customers. That’s why you need to show transparent information about the shipping.
Include the countries you’re shipping to, how long it will typically take, if customers can easily track orders, etc.
Are you running a successful local ecommerce business? Don’t be afraid to scale internationally! Expanding your business abroad is a challenge. But the rewards that you’ll reap in the international shipping process will help open up a brand new customer base.
Fortunately, there are plenty of tools you can use these days to make your ecommerce journey quicker, faster, and so much more efficient.
If you want your global shipping expansion to be effortless, consider marketplace accelerators for a balance of control and ease of use.
Webinterpret enables online retailers and marketplace sellers on eBay and Amazon to instantly expand worldwide and boost their online sales.
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