Selling internationally is a quick way to tap into a new audience and generate new revenue streams. There are, of course, challenges to do so, and those challenges will vary across industries and specific companies.
Here is a breakdown of stages for international commerce maturity:
- Your organization is not ready for selling internationally, and has turned off the ability for customers outside of your country to purchase products.
- You have enabled customers from a select list of countries to purchase from your website, but you have not optimized the checkout process. For instance, your shopping cart may or may not correctly calculate sales tax or VAT, the checkout fields may not be adapted to your customer’s country (eg, Postal Code vs. ZIP Code), etc.
- You have fully optimized checkout for your international audience by implementing the ability to display prices in local currencies, displaying estimates for customs/duty fees, accepting a wider range of international credit cards/payment methods, accurately calculated sales tax and shipping estimates.
- You have fully translated your content into the target countries’ languages (either using Google Translate to translate on the fly, or have used professional translators for higher accuracy), but are still fulfilling from your country. If English is your corporate language, you might consider selling to countries that speak English as a first international step.
- You have fully translated your content but have taken the extra step of accounting for your target countries’ culture, which may result in different messaging and design, you have a digital marketing strategy to drive traffic to individual country websites, and you have secured a local fulfillment partner.
- You have done all in the level above, but also have an offline retail presence in that country.
Our sweet spot is helping clients who are at level 1, 2, or 3 above, get to level 4 or 5.
If your organization is ready to test the waters with global e-commerce, contact us today for a free consultation.