Approaching Cross Border eCommerce

When consumers buy products from the merchants online across the border is called Cross Border eCommerce.

With all the product details present online it has now become accessible by consumers to compare goods and services online giving them wide options often to look outside the borders of their own country to achieve the best deal or any specific service which is not available in their native country.

Overview

According to Forrester, Cross-border shopping will make up 20% of eCommerce in 2022, with sales of $627 billion. Hence, it’s expected that online merchants will sell and deliver their merchandise worldwide, resulting in the global expansion of their eCommerce business.

China is expected to become the largest eCommerce cross-border region for both imports and exports whereas Canada is the world leader with 37% of the world’s cross border shoppers reside here.

Challenges in Cross Border eCommerce

International expansion of cross border eCommerce is quite challenging and has to overcome certain difficulties.

• Logistics – Merchants offering cheap delivery and free shipping attract customers. Timely delivery and shipping cost are important factors determining customer’s priority.
• Currencies – Consumers prefer to pay in local currencies and often withdraw from paying if the price is displayed in foreign currency. It is better to partner with the regional card payment sector that has legal aspects of online sales to manage transactions over one secure payment gateway.
• Legal Regulatory issues – Every country has its own sets of rules which each retailer must be aware of. Business law differs in each country and if your shipping goods do not meet these regulations, then you could be violating local laws in the customer’s country.
• Language and cultural differences – Optimize your website according to the language spoken by the client. To reach an international audience, the retailer should invest in translation and local cultural proof-readers.
• Budge-Cross border eCommerce set up requires time, staff, money, and quality traffic website.

There are a lot more challenges such as updating product listing, adapting to every market, order fulfillment, cyber security, return or refund policy, and increasing sales.

How to successfully approach cross border eCommerce?

The successful international expansion does not happen overnight. It requires detail analyzing and strategizing of the global marketplace. Double the time and cost of your estimation is considered a golden rule. Let’s see the steps to successfully expand eCommerce internationally.

Identify your Principal Market

The best step is to know the buying trends of the foreign market. Observe consumer behavior, analyze the potential of your competitors, and understand the dynamics of the marketplace. Once you have product-market fit figured out, then you can figure out the best way to reach your ideal customers.

Define Goals for your International Strategy

Plan out your goals, exactly what you want from the international strategy. Increasing sales is important but set your short term and long-term goals. Develop a localized strategy and business plans and make sure it aligns with your product or services. Set a realistic target and success metrics.

Observe your Competitor

It is important to observe the local competition because however unique your product is, it is not always easy to convince the local customers. Develop a local information technology infrastructure and observe al the buying trends and different purchasing habits of the consumers.

Optimize your Website

The range of content is wide so translate all images, blogs, infographics, etc. Try to communicate in the local language through newsletters, e-mails, or social media as it gains the trust of the buyers. If you plan to use English, make sure the site is free from complex phrases and jargon.

Legal Regulations

It is better to be aware of foreign legal regulations to avoid any kind of business trouble. Every country has certain dos and don’ts. Several categories of products like plants, leather, antiques, weapons, etc. follow a set of regulators and can be held liable for not meeting the requirements even though as an eCommerce business.

Manage Tax and Finances

Set a proper tax and finance infrastructure to ensure you are timely receiving the reports and that your foreign authority is following the local policies and procedures

Return and Refund Policy

Most of the international eCommerce sites do not offer return or refund policy as the cost of the return is higher than the cost of the item itself. So, it is important to be transparent and offer the same quality product as you have advertised to provide customer satisfaction.

Why is it important to sell internationally?

According to Statista, 20% of online shoppers worldwide stated that they purchased physical goods online every week.

It grows your customers and expands your market reach:

• Be one step ahead of your competitor, because if you don’t fill the gap then someone else will.
• Try to diversify in the marketplace as it will allow your business to sail with long-term risk deduction.
• Try to extend your selling hours.

Summary

If you are not selling cross borders, you are missing out on the potential customers living there. It gives your brand a big picture and global recognition.

Although the whole process requires immense knowledge and a big budget but gives you a scope of reaching a huge market and high profit.