Setting up an eCommerce business that is successful on a local or national level is a huge feat. You may now be looking to expand further and attract customers from across the world.
Trading internationally, however, isn’t always simple. There are extra constraints and barriers to consider if you want to promote and sell your products globally, but there are some steps you can start today to ensure your move to the global market goes smoothly.
Make sure you can take international payments
Being able to accept payments in multiple currencies from payees across the world is essential if you want to grow your eCommerce business internationally. Luckily, most payment platforms can accept different currencies, but customers will be discouraged if their preferred payment method isn’t available on your website. For example, while US customers are happy with Visa, Mastercard, or PayPal, customers in China will often prefer Alipay.
Offer international shipping and returns
In addition to offering multiple and internationally accepted payment methods, customers want to know that their orders can be shipped and returned internationally. Customers love free shipping and free returns, so if you’re committed to selling internationally you may want to increase the price of your products in order to offer this or offer a minimum spend for free shipping. Alternatively, providing a flat shipping fee for each country or region or real-time carrier fees that can be found easily by your website’s users will encourage international customers to make a purchase.
‘Glocalize’ your website
‘Glocalization’ is when you consider local conditions on a global scale when trading internationally. ‘Glocalizing’ your website means ensuring that international customers feel they are shopping on a website catered to them. This can include offering multiple languages, creating customized domains based on the user’s location, and displaying prices in the user’s local currency.
Research the international market
Before spending time and money on promoting your online store in, say, India, you should make sure that your product has a market there and that your price points are right. Researching the international market is a key step if you want to grow your business globally and it will help you decide which international markets you should focus your efforts on. To start, you can use Google Trends to search for your products and see what countries have the most interest in them.
Work with local influencers
Influencer marketing is an increasingly popular way to promote brands and products on social media. By working with local influencers in the countries you want to sell to, you can create a genuine link between your brand and potential customers in that country. Finding influencers with trust and popularity in your target country can start by scouring social media platforms like Instagram, but you can also use influencer marketing platforms like GRIN, CreatorIQ, and others on this list of the best influencer marketing platforms.
When you’ve found success in your home market, it’s only natural that you would like to grow your eCommerce business globally. Finding ways to make finding and purchasing from your online store easier for international customers is the key takeaway from this article, as, like your local customers, online shoppers across the world want to buy from trusted, accessible retail websites.
Founder Dinis Guarda
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