Global eCommerce has become a necessity for businesses that are craving success. It provides immense growth opportunities for businesses to scale their venture and generate additional revenue.
In this post, we will learn more about global eCommerce and how it can help eCommerce brands skyrocket their business growth.
What is Global E-commerce?
Global eCommerce refers to a business selling its products to customers in foreign countries with the help of an eCommerce website. Global eCommerce is also known as international eCommerce or cross-border commerce.
It is the expansion of any business into a new market with a huge demand for its products. It helps companies to go global and venture into non-native markets and reach new customers.
Global eCommerce leverages a custom eCommerce website or an eCommerce shopping platform, such as Shopify for selling products to customers situated in other countries.
Global eCommerce offers businesses numerous benefits for success and growth. Let us quickly have a look at a few of them.
- Seamless expansion into global markets - Global eCommerce enables businesses to sell their products online across geopolitical borders in foreign countries. Exposing the business to a global clientele, it helps your business scale to greater heights.
- Increased brand awareness - Global eCommerce helps businesses to establish their brand in foreign countries with a strong message and footprint. It amplifies your brand awareness and instills a sense of trust among prospects and customers.
- No capital investment - Global eCommerce does not require businesses to have brick-and-mortar stores or warehouses in the countries they sell the products. Creating a digital store is more than enough.
Global Ecommerce Growth and Statistics You Ought to Watch
- The global eCommerce market is expected to reach $58.74 trillion by 2028 at an astonishing CAGR of 26.55% during the forecast period (2022-2028).
- Around 218.8 million US customers are estimated to shop online in 2023. And, this number is expected to grow to 230.6 million by 2026.
- According to GlobalData's eCommerce Analytics, China continues to lead the global eCommerce market with around $2.1 trillion in sales this year. China is followed by the US (1.5 trillion) and the UK ($292.1 billion).
- The top five countries having the fastest-growing eCommerce market in terms of sales are Singapore (36%), Indonesia (34%), the Philippines (25.9%), India (25.5%), and Argentina (25.3%).
- 95% of purchases are predicted to be made online by 2040.
- The most common online purchases include clothing items, shoe items, electronic and technology products, toys, and pet products.
Top 4 Prerequisites for Setting up International Ecommerce Strategy
Like every business, setting up an international business can be challenging. Finding the right market, attracting the desired target audience, and increasing sales for long-term growth are some of the major aspects eCommerce businesses need to focus on.
To plan your global eCommerce strategy successfully, here are a few key areas businesses must evaluate.
- Product Pricing The pricing of the products plays a crucial role in the success of any business at the international level. If you are planning on expanding your eCommerce business overseas, you ought to understand the market and customers thoroughly and base your product pricing structure on the same. Be mindful of the currency conversions and your marketing budget before deciding on the final costs.
- Payment Methods According to Global Payments Report, 30% of global online shoppers prefer paying via e-wallets and credit cards for their eCommerce transactions followed by debit cards (21%) and bank transfers (6%) respectively. Hence, you must learn more about how customers in other countries and cultures prefer to make their payments.
- Customer Service Customer service is another key aspect you must consider when expanding your eCommerce business globally. Decide on the different methods of communication - phone, email, live chat, or more you will adopt to help your customers. Manage your customers well and provide them with excellent customer service across all stages of the buyer's journey.
- Logistics and Shipping Logistics and shipping usually pose many challenges to global eCommerce business owners. Conduct thorough research for international custom rules, logistics providers, delivery tracking, and more to tackle these challenges efficiently without any hassles.
How to Expand Your eCommerce Store to Other Countries?
Having an effective eCommerce strategy with well-defined plans helps in seamless business operations. Let us explore various aspects of eCommerce strategy in detail that will take your global eCommerce effort to greater heights.
1. Gauge the Product Demand in International Markets
Study the market of the countries you wish to expand your business. Understand the consumer demand for your goods and the likely competition for the same. This market analysis will provide intelligent insights into how your business would perform before you start investing capital into it.
2. Localize Your eCommerce Store
Customize your eCommerce store to suit the target country's requirements. Localization is optimizing your offerings to resonate with new potential customers. Translate your eCommerce website to a different language by researching what languages are commonly spoken in the said country. Be mindful of their culture and design your website's look and feel to match the same.
If you are using the Shopify platform, you can leverage the localization and translation features they offer to make your website more customer-friendly. Shopify offers you to translate your website into almost 20 languages.
3. Learn about Data Security Regulations for Each Country
Enquire about the country's data privacy laws and regulations of the local legislation. This will ensure that your business adheres to all the requirements and rules of regional legislation and protects your brand reputation in case of tedious situations.
4. Craft an Amazing Buying Experience
Focus on improving the shopping experience for your customers and boosting conversions.
- Optimize your eCommerce website UX. For example, analyze your website's loading speed and take measures to ensure it loads in less than ten seconds. Similarly, install Sparq Product Search and Filters plugin on your Shopify store to enhance product discovery for the customers.
- Offer various payment methods, such as credit cards, debit cards, bank transfers, online wallets, and more to customers to make their purchases.
- Partner with supportive shipping companies to handle your international shipping. As shipping couriers to foreign countries can be expensive, strike a deal with your shipping partner to keep the charges minimal while maintaining good profits.
- Set up an effective returns policy and procedures and inform your customers by stating it on your website explicitly.
5. Collaborate with Local Influencers
Research local influencers of the area on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and more to partner with them for your product promotions. 61% of customers trust influencer recommendations and prefer influencer-generated content over the content created by the brands. Local influencers are trusted by local customers and have the potential to encourage them to purchase your products.
Global Ecommerce Trends
Here are a few global eCommerce trends that eCommerce businesses must look out for in 2023.
- There will be a rise in the usage of smartphones for online shopping. In fact, 48% of customers shopped from their mobile devices during the Black Friday sale this year. No wonder mobile commerce is expected to grow in 2023.
- Social commerce i.e. use of social media platforms for promoting and selling products will continue to grow.
- Localization will no longer be restricted to changing the site's language. Businesses will make an effort to create all kinds of content in local languages to target the desired customers efficiently.
Wrapping Up
Global eCommerce is here to stay. With the help of thorough market research and the right technology, you can lay a strong foundation for your business' eCommerce growth. We are certain that this post has helped you understand global eCommerce better. Follow the step-by-step guide we mentioned in this post to take your eCommerce business global and scale it exponentially.
