Strategies for Building a Global eCommerce Business

Scott Galvao of InterCultural Elements (recently acquired by Buy Box Experts) shares expert strategies for selling internationally.

Making the decision to start selling internationally is easy enough. But taking that first step can be almost as daunting as the day you first decided to open up shop. And actually, that’s not too far off from what you’re doing! In opening your business to international customers and taking a more active approach to marketing your products abroad, you’re effectively starting over again.

Amazon is Earth's biggest marketplace with more than 300 million active customers worldwide. With services like Amazon Global Selling and Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA), Amazon makes selling internationally more attainable. But to truly leverage that incredible reach and ramp up sales, you need to maximize your potential in each Amazon marketplace. Keep reading to learn how to build a global eCommerce business.

Where Should You Go First?

There could be an obvious answer to this question. If you’re selling a large amount of product to a particular country without any active marketing, you may already be competitive there. That market would then be a clear target for a more active approach. Sometimes, though, your existing sales don’t provide you with a clear expansion direction. Then you’ll have to do some research. Start by asking yourself:

• What are potential barriers to international expansion, and how do I overcome them?
• Which markets are the most profitable?
• Who are my potential competitors, and how do I measure up?

Keep an open mind as you go through this process. Just because you’re competitive in one market doesn’t mean you will be in another. Or, perhaps you could become a top seller in two other countries you hadn’t even considered. There’s no magic one-size-fits-all international expansion strategy. You need to find what works best for your company.

European Countries with Strong eCommerce Markets

Measured by the number of online consumers, the United Kingdom is one of the strongest eCommerce markets in Europe next to Germany. It is followed by France, Spain, Italy, and, at the top of the emerging markets in Eastern Europe, Poland. Per capita spending on online shopping also shows potential for Sweden and the Netherlands.

But when you think about Europe, Amazon isn't the only marketplace out there. North American sellers are often surprised by the diversity of different local marketplaces, many of which retain dedicated buyer bases.

Focus on Your Bestsellers and Optimize Your Product Listings

As you go about building a global eCommerce business, you should analyze your products and the markets you sell in very carefully. What products have sold particularly well on which marketplace? Concentrate on your bestsellers and invest the time to adapt them exactly to the requirements of the respective marketplace in order to rank as high as possible in search results. Upload only this optimized selection of listings to new marketplaces, always keeping in mind the target group of the respective country as well as cultural specifics.

Provide Localized Product Descriptions for Your Customers

Don’t underestimate the effect of a perfectly translated and localized product description. Buyers want to avoid surprises, and if a problem occurs, they want to be able to contact a person using their native language. Especially in a new market, brands or retailers gain consumers’ trust by professionally translating listings.

For less complex descriptions, a combination of machine translation with human review by a native translator is a cost-effective alternative. Translators specializing in eCommerce optimize your texts for search engines and adapt them to meet cultural specifics. Professional agencies don’t charge you twice for identical descriptions within a text, and text repetitions should be discounted. This helps save costs, and your product descriptions will still stand out from the competition.

If you're requesting reviews for relevant Amazon orders with FeedbackFive by eComEngine, you can use professionally translated default request templates in the software or send the Amazon Request a Review message. It is automatically translated into the buyer's preferred language.

Increase Visibility with the Right Marketing Campaigns and A+ Content

Help your customers find your products! Selected bestsellers should be highlighted with marketing campaigns and A+ Content. In order to avoid delivery delays due to supply shortages, many customers will start buying gifts even earlier than usual.

Use this to your advantage by investing in marketing campaigns before Black Friday, for example, while prices are still significantly lower. By the time the critical holiday sales start, you can already benefit from recent positive customer reviews resulting in better product rankings.

Build a Global eCommerce Business with InterCultural Elements

InterCultural Elements has been creating customizable international expansion strategies for retailers since 2007. The European-based service provider can help you build a global eCommerce business by identifying profitable countries and marketplaces to target, managing your accounts, and offering multilingual customer service, translation, localization, and digital marketing, amongst other services. It also provides Amazon suspension appeals and account health checks in numerous languages. Buy Box Experts, LLC recently acquired InterCultural Elements to expand upon its ability to support brand partners in cross-border trade.