Cross-border eCommerce is an effective strategy for business expansion, allowing online brands to serve overseas customers by realigning their fulfilment capabilities and adapting their websites or joining online marketplaces to sell products internationally.
Selling overseas significantly enlarges your market, offering bigger and better business opportunities. By accessing new markets, you expand your reach, gain a competitive edge, and boost your bottom line.
The global cross-border eCommerce market is expected to exceed $1.5 trillion by 2027, up from $532 billion in 2020, with an annual growth rate of over 15%, presenting a massive opportunity.
Benefits of Expanding into International Markets
Incrementally and Exponentially Increase Market Size: Tap into larger customer bases.
Raise Brand Awareness: Create a global following of enthusiastic shoppers.
Leverage Different Market Cycles: Stay in demand year-round.
Shift Slow-Moving Inventory: Target new market segments.
Improve Business Resilience: Reduce dependency on a single market.
Overcoming Challenges in International eCommerce
While international eCommerce presents some challenges, many of these can be effectively managed to scale your business globally.
Language and Currency Conversion: Consumers often leave websites that aren’t in their language or don’t display prices in their local currency. Simple-to-install applications can automatically convert currencies and localise websites, such as Weglot.
Payment Methods: Different regions prefer different payment methods. Identifying and integrating the most popular payment methods in target countries, or using platforms like Shopify, BigCommerce, and WooCommerce, can increase conversions.
Fulfilment Operations: As you market to larger audiences and different countries, your fulfilment operations must handle higher volumes of orders seamlessly.
Regulations and Taxes: Ensure your products are free from restrictions, understand cross-border taxation, and know how orders will clear customs in target markets.
Shipping Methods: Understanding available shipping methods is crucial for determining delivery and return costs, impacting your shipping pricing model.
The Global Forwarding team excel in providing cost-effective, fast, regional shipping and international fulfilment solutions, offering localised shopping experiences that extend your market reach.
Our ChainGlobal system provides end-to-end supply chain visibility, which means that inbound inventory is ready to be sold within hours of arrival, while our eCommerce technology platforms simplify order processing, global courier management and returns.
Oriental Global Logistics (OGL) is the eCommerce subsidiary of Global Forwarding, with fulfilment centres in Hong Kong, New Jersey, and Heathrow for the super-efficient processing of inbound stock and returns.
VISIT the Oriental Global Logistics web site, or EMAIL OGL’s managing director, John Ruan, to learn more.
