“Big Things Start Small”, Jeff Bezos
We all have heard the exciting pioneer story of Amazon starting in a garage and becoming a global eCommerce giant. As inspiring as it is today, we can witness the penetration of international eCommerce everywhere!
Global eCommerce refers to the online selling of products and goods to buyers in foreign countries. It is a synonym of international eCommerce, although they may have slightly different connotations concerning the number of countries you are selling to.
In recent years, global eCommerce has been growing exponentially and even more so, empowered by the COVID-19 factor. Statista, for example, assesses international eCommerce market size to have reached as much as USD 4.2 billion, as, by 2024, this number is expected to surpass USD 6.39 billion!
But what are the benefits and the challenges of expanding our eCommerce business internationally? What are country-specific websites and how a multimarket strategy can help you increase your profits?
Build an international eCommerce store
Going global with your business will provide you with the unique chance to explore some new business options, respond to unexpected customer demands, and fine-tune your overall eCommerce business offering.
Country-specific websites
Building country-specific websites for your business allows you to dedicate a website for each market your web store operates in. Such action gives you the opportunity to improve user engagement by personalizing various aspects of the website, such as language, currency, and content. This step will have a tremendous impact on the overall business performance.
Key benefits from launching a global eCommerce business with country-specific websites
- Entering the international eCommerce market will certainly let you enjoy the following:
- Increase your sales – you will be able to attract new customers;
- Enhance your brand visibility – you will be enabled to communicate your brand to customers in each country
- Boost the overall user experience by sharing specific information to each county and improve page loading speed and website ranking.
- Explore new market demands – you will be able to address new market trends.
You may see the effect of some of these benefits as early as the research phase of your global eCommerce project. Yet, let’s look at what some other businesses have achieved by launching global eCommerce.
An inspirational example created by us
The NAP Lab is one of the biggest Swedish online stores for sleep commodities. The brand gains an impressive regional presence in the Nordics by implementing country-specific websites and migrating its old Shopify website to WooCommerce.
By introducing a multimarket strategy to 8 European markets: Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Germany, France, Netherlands, and Spain, the company enhances online sales. The NAP Lab improved its operation effectiveness by streamlining multiple integrations and adopting a country-specific websites strategy.
As explained in the example above, building an international eCommerce strategy can help your brand to operate effectively on the global stage and gain international recognition. This step will get you closer to your customers and help you personalize the user experience based on the local language, currency, and content. Remember that despite the challenges you may encounter, your international e-commerce website is vital to your global success!
How to reach out to the global eCommerce market?
Here is a straightforward answer: set your goals and design a strategy! Once you have a clear idea of what you would like to achieve, you may sketch the main steps of your winning plan. Some of the initial steps you will need to follow on your way to global eCommerce usually include:
- Choosing new markets by market research – You should be aware that the current market you already operate in will never be identical to the market that triggered your interest. So, try to explore new segments, their size, and shares, and new competitors.
- Learning new cultural specifics and localizing your strategy – You should do your best to study the new culture you are entering. That may even affect your product, website content, advertising strategy, etc. That’s why it is crucial to incorporate country-specific websites based on the needs of each local market.
- Ensuring compliance with the local laws and practices – National laws differ (e.g., there is a GDPR in the EU, but not in the US), and so do the online practices (payment methods may also be different), etc.
- Setting up your right international eCommerce solution – Your website platform should be adapted and enhanced to match the increased number of customers you are expecting.
- Finding your new global eCommerce business partners – You may need a new technology partner to help you out with your international eCommerce store or an operating partner to support you with your supply chain.
Although your specific steps may vary according to your goals, the simple list above is almost sure to be applicable to your case as well.
5 Tips for Your International eCommerce Website
Here are five tips to follow if you decide to address your new website needs along the way:
- Localize your website contents – this goes beyond the simple translation and does involve addressing the established eCommerce practices in the new country. You may need to adapt measurements, currency, mode of communication, and payment methods.
- Optimize your pricing and arrange for proper payments – you should never rely on currency conversion only.
- Calculate your “landed costs” – these include all additional costs that may be levied on your products, such as taxes, permits, tariffs, shipping costs, etc.
- Content Personalisation – Use personalized content to achieve better engagement with your users, boost conversions and build customer relationships.
- Assure appropriate customer service – do pay attention to the established cultural practices and norms of communication.
Key Takeaway
Transforming your online store into a global eCommerce with country-specific websites is an innovative way to increase your sales, strengthen your brand and give an overall impetus to your business. Having a specific website for each country you operate in is key to success, due to various reasons that include SEO performance, website speed, localization, content personalization, etc.
Build an international eCommerce and empower your business by adopting a multi-market strategy that brings results!
Good luck and stay tuned!
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