Do you know the fundamentals of cross-border expansion? Selling on marketplaces is the order of the day, as it helps businesses reach new markets much faster. eCommerce is an essential channel for business success, and multichannel expansion is a step that isn’t always easy to manage. Here we explain how to move into new markets with marketplaces and succeed.
Choose the right market
Before creating a cross-border strategy, you’ll need to choose the right markets for your international expansion. Ask yourself the following before selecting your target markets:
- Do you already have international customers? Where are they located?
- Is there demand for your products outside your local market?
- Who will you be competing with in your new markets?
- Which communication and acquisition channels can you use to win customers quickly?
The first step is to optimize your resources and target a few select markets with the greatest business growth potential. Then you can establish your positioning in terms of value and price and identify the right sales channels for your business.
Identify the right marketing channels for your business
Consumers trust marketplaces and are more likely to buy products on well-known sites. Despite their strict requirements, marketplaces let retailers reach millions of potential customers.
A good strategy is to start with global marketplaces such as Amazon, eBay, etc., to test different products in several markets. However, when entering a new market, don’t ignore local players. Specialized marketplaces dominate several national markets: think of Zalando in Germany, for example. In France, marketplaces play a particularly important role, with several key platforms alongside the global leaders, such as Cdiscount, FNAC and La Redoute.
Cross-border selling fundamentals: think global, act local
When selling internationally, it’s vital to come across as local as possible to truly connect with your target audience. That means adapting your store’s language to the local culture and catering to market preferences.
Language matters
A study by Common Sense Advisory showed that almost 60% of online shoppers don’t buy from websites that aren’t in their native language. Both your product pages and your content marketing should be multilingual, including blogs, tutorials and videos. The key is to localize content rather than just translate it: use vocabulary, wording and expressions that resonate in the target market. Sizes, weights and volumes should follow local standards.
Consumers appreciate having a local email address and phone number to contact, especially so they can get in touch easily without paying international charges. Having a local, native sales and customer service team is essential to ensure customer satisfaction.
Know the market
Marketing promotions should coincide with holidays and events that are popular in your target market, such as Christmas, Black Friday, summer and winter sales, etc. The seasons can also have a significant impact on what sells and where. Consider, for example, launching a winter collection in Australia at the same time as in the UK: it will most likely fail in the market where it isn’t currently winter.
Deliveries and returns
On-time deliveries offer a real opportunity to increase conversion rates and build customer loyalty. When it comes to packaging cross-border shipments, minimizing costs is what matters most. More and more customers expect same-day delivery from online retailers in developed eCommerce markets such as the United States, the UK or Germany.
Return shipping costs, restrictive return policies and poor customer service are three key factors behind a bad customer experience when shopping online. To be safe, consider creating a separate set of terms and conditions for each region, country or even industry to align with their respective requirements and expectations.
Currency matters
Using local currencies has been shown to drive higher sales, and it’s mandatory on certain platforms, such as Google Shopping.
It’s often assumed that credit cards are the best and only way to accept payment for online purchases, but that’s only partly true. Although they’re the most popular payment method worldwide (accounting for more than 50% of the market in most countries), other payment methods carry weight in some countries.
As mobile shopping becomes the norm in Europe, cross-border online retailers must make sure their payment methods are mobile-friendly too.
To succeed, you only need one more thing: a tool to help you manage your business expansion into international markets through marketplaces. That’s why I’d like to introduce Lengow, the eCommerce solution most used by brands and retailers, which enables multichannel expansion of your product catalogs and manages them automatically across marketplaces, price comparison sites, affiliate networks, retargeting, etc. With more than 1,800 clients, the Lengow platform offers a powerful ecosystem to the 4,600 brands and retailers that use it in 42 countries around the world. One of the agencies that helps businesses get the most out of Lengow is Trilogi, which helps brands and retailers increase their online sales.
So, want to learn more about taking your business abroad? Get in touch with us: we can help you expand your business across borders.
