How to Prepare Your Ecommerce Business For The Global Market
The modern business world has become interconnected, with consumers buying products online across geographical borders. For many ecommerce businesses, the ultimate goal is to go global and rightfully so. If you’re an ecommerce business owner, the potential of accessing the global market is a great benefit worth considering to motivate you. The international market will widen your customer base and increase your sales and profit margins. But before you hit the global scene, you must prepare yourself and your business. And here’s how you can do that.
1. Study the international market
Before you hit the ground running, ensure you know what you’re getting yourself into. That involves studying the international market, which is crucial for finding your global buyers and pricing your products. Research should also help you identify if there’s a local brand you may have to compete with. Competing with a local brand may be challenging, especially if that brand has already monopolised that market. Buyers, in that case, will be more resistant to foreign brands. But research can help you identify customer pain points and how to improve your product and service to attract local customers.
2. Offer various payment options
While payment options like bank transfers and direct debits may be common in places like the UK, they may not be popular in other countries like the US. Platforms such as Paypal, Visa, Mastercard, and cash apps are more common in other parts, while Mobile Money platforms are more dominant in African markets. If you have a limited payment method, consider expanding them to make it easier for international customers. If you’re targeting special international markets, it’s advisable to find out what payment methods are the most common there. And speaking of payment, the next point is also important.
3. Improve your online security and prevent payment fraud
Going global increases your risks of online attacks and dealings with fraudulent entities. It’s important to put all the necessary strategies to prevent or lower your risk. You can prevent the incidence of online fraud from two angles. Firstly, adopt online security solutions that protect your financial systems and prevent incorrect payments. For example, you can use a control centre like Xelix to spot payment risks and keep you from making fraudulent transactions, so keep this in mind. Secondly, implement online security strategies to protect your business from hackers, phishing scams and external attacks.
4. Pre-calculate the shipping costs
Shipping internationally is more expensive than local shipping. And how much you can expect to pay depends on the delivery destination. You don’t want any shipping cost to take you by surprise or eat too deeply into your finances, so take the time to calculate shipping costs. Doing this will ensure you profit from each transaction, so feel free to consider this.
Additionally, you can find out if there are opportunities to lower your shipping costs. For example, consider storing your products closer to your customers or working out a deal with the shipping company.
