When you have an ecommerce, the only thing you want to do is sell, sell and sell some more! It is normal for you to want to do everything at once but, from experience, this never works. Patience, consistency and entrepreneurship are words that go hand in hand.

If you have just started out in the world of online selling, the first thing you need to do is establish your business in your own country. In other words, the first step is to focus on your country of origin and check that your business idea works, and then you will be able to reach other markets.

Before you start

If you are starting out, we recommend that you do so on the Shopify  ecommerce platform and focus on just one market. This is the simplest way if you don’t have much experience in ecommerce. However, if you have experience and you know what we are talking about, you can always start with the ecommerce platform that best suits your needs.

Now: You have a business that works and you feel ready to take the next step. You’ve made a decision, you’re going to internationalise your ecommerce.  But…. Where do you start in transforming your business into an international ecommerce?

Keep reading and don’t miss out on the 5 key factors that you need to bear in mind when selling abroad.

• Research your target market

Starting to sell in all countries at the same time is unfeasible.  That’s why we recommend you start by selling in one country, whichever is easiest for you, whether due to the language, proximity or knowledge. This forces you to carry out prior research into which markets are best for you to target. It will take you longer, but we guarantee it is worthwhile, as your efforts will be better focussed.

In your market research, you will need to find out the main aspects of your potential customers: how big is the market, how do they buy, what are their tastes and what problems will your product or service solve for them?

Apart from getting to know your potential customers in depth, you should also take an interest in the competition operating in your chosen country. To research your target market, you have several tools available to you. We name some of them below:

Google Trends 

Who hasn’t heard of Google Trends? It is undoubtedly the key tool for discovering current trends in a country or globally. It is free and very easy to use. Let’s try it out. Imagine you sell scooters. Go to Google Trends and enter the search term, selecting your target country:

You also have the option of comparing it with another word to see which works better:

And lastly, you can see in which region of your target country the word is most searched for.

Statista 

This is a very useful and informative tool, it offers you all types of statistics, studies and infographics about the topic you require. It works like a search engine.

Semrush 

This website is ideal for analysing keywords, websites belonging to the competition, contents, positioning…. a comprehensive tool that should be included in your market research. It is a paid website, but it offers you the opportunity to perform a certain number of searches for free if you register.

In addition to these three tools, there are many others such as Keyword Planner from Google, Google Analytics, Ubersuggest and many more.

• Internationalise your website

No, internationalising your website does not just involve translating it into the language of the country you want to target. It is VERY important that your website is translated and also localised. What does the latter mean? Localisation in translation refers to adapting the content to the target country. To do so, it is important to bear in mind the cultural aspects of that country. That way, when a native speaker reads the website content, they won’t notice any difference!

• Management of transport and logistics

When internationalising your business, there are many factors that you should take into account. If you are selling products, this includes the logistics. This is one of the most relevant points that you will have to decide, and you will need to study the options that the different transport companies offer you (delivery times, price, home delivery…). In this way, you can guarantee a fast and efficient delivery to the customer.

Here at BigBuy, we offer you ecommerce logistics services adapted to your needs. All you need to do is to take care of selling and we will take care of the rest!

• The laws of the country

The legal framework is another point you should bear in mind when it comes to operating your international ecommerce. The laws dictate whether you can carry out your business with complete peace of mind. Legal aspects may vary from one country to another, so it is essential that you thoroughly research the issue before starting out on the adventure of launching yourself towards internationalisation.

The country’s taxation or VAT rules are some of the legal requirements that you will need to consider when it comes to internationalising your ecommerce.

Marketplaces, the quick way to sell internationally

Opening yourself up to new markets is always a challenge. That’s why, when internationalising your business, another option available to you is to start selling on a marketplace.  Thanks to platforms like Amazon or eBay, selling your product in other markets is much easier, quicker and cheaper.  Before making a decision, we encourage you to find out about the differences between selling on an ecommerce and a marketplace.

It is also a way of testing whether your product or service “would work” in other countries. To start selling on marketplaces, test it out with a product that doesn’t have too much competition and look for the platform that best suits your needs and those of your business.

Advantages of selling on a marketplace

• Trust: Nowadays, nearly everyone has bought something through a marketplace. One of the advantages of selling on these platforms is that consumers trust making purchase there, since they feel they are supported by the company behind them.
• Secure payment:  The issue of payment is closely linked to trust.  Marketplaces offer many payment methods and moreover, if there are any problems, the consumer has the peace of mind that the marketplace will provide a solution.
• Traffic: Marketplaces have a lot of potential customer traffic. Consumers browse, looking for the perfect product for them, which opens up your business to a new world of possibilities.  According to Amazon, businesses that join its platform increase their sales by up to 50%. A real advantage, don’t you think?
• You reach the entire world:  As we mentioned earlier, marketplaces don’t have any geographical barriers, as you can reach the entire world with one click.
• You save on costs: By selling on a marketplace, one of the biggest advantages is that the initial investment you need is much lower. You don’t need to set up your own online store and everything else (logistics, advertising, SEO…) is “the responsibility” of the marketplace in question. All this is in exchange for a commission per sale, but even so, it is much cheaper than if you had to set up your own ecommerce platform.

Conclusion

Internationalising your business is a big step that requires a lot of  work. It has to be a premeditated decision and, above all, it has to be done when you feel ready. It is important for you to be clear about the actions you want to take in order to expand your ecommerce internationally. It isn’t a simple process! However, you do need to expand your business and open up to new markets.

Once you have your international ecommerce plan, you can start your cross-border strategy. You will always find a trusted supplier in BigBuy. We help you to set up your ecommerce store as well as to sell on marketplaces. You decide!