A Complete Guide on How to Improve Sales of Your Ecommerce Website Using Cross Border Ecommerce Localization Strategy
Global online shoppers usually buy from foreign countries to find better product availability and prices. As they shop online from these international websites, they expect the same services that they receive from local businesses. Businesses should focus on making a deep analysis of their target markets in order to offer the right product mix at a fair price. There are also a variety of barriers, both physical and psychological, that consumers face when shopping online abroad — online retailers need to carefully manage these issues and adapt their offering to the needs of their international consumers, focusing on reassuring customers about delivery, being as transparent as possible about shipping times, costs, and return policies.
1. Identifying the Audience
The Market Potential — Before creating a strategy or a plan, it is vital to select the right market(s) for international expansion. Rather than spreading themselves too thin over a variety of regions, it is best for online retailers to optimise their resources and target a few select markets with the highest business growth potential. Questions to consider: Are there existing international customers, and where do they come from? Is there demand for the products in this new market? Who are the local competitors, and how strong are they? Is the retailer already known in the market, and if not, what channels can be used to quickly gain customers and test the market?
In some cases, it may be necessary to create a need among potential customers if the type of product is new to them. While quite a challenging task, being in this position can present big opportunities and put online retailers at a significant advantage given the right momentum.
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Positioning Differences Between Markets — When entering a new market, it is important to establish a position in terms of value and pricing. In some cases, a different position than in the home market may need to be taken — for example, a product known as high-end in one country may be seen as low-end in another.
2. Identify the Right Marketing Channels
General or specialised, marketplaces are becoming essential in the current cross-border ecommerce landscape — sales on marketplaces represent 21% of the 40 biggest online retailers’ turnover. The strong traffic that marketplaces attract offers a real opportunity for online retailers to boost their bottom lines. The relative ease of setting up on a marketplace lets online retailers gain visibility in a foreign market without investing too much time or money. 82% of the world’s consumers have already shopped for products abroad, but for the most part they prefer to buy on global marketplaces with strong reputations, like Amazon or eBay.
Marketplaces offer retailers strategic and financial advantages by allowing them their first steps in foreign countries. They allow online retailers to position their products in new markets, get familiar with target countries’ trends and habits, and test their offer while limiting risk. Most marketplaces charge a very minimum fee to join, then a commission on sales that varies from 2.5% to 30% depending on the number of sales and product categories, charging only when a sale is made.
Libra Web Solutions service include: Ecommerce Multilanguage Platform Development, Multivendor Ecommerce Platform Development, Ecommerce Platform Development Services, Ecommerce Complete Platform Development.
A good strategy is to start with global marketplaces in order to test different products in several markets. After this, online stores can try to be more selective and choose a vertical marketplace to sell in a specific country to focus on their audience.
3. Going Local
When going global, it is vital to appear as local as possible in order to truly connect with a local audience. 60% of Europeans won’t shop from websites that are not in their native language, and not localizing your communications can have a severe impact on sales — 13% of consumers will abandon their shopping carts if the price is displayed in a foreign currency. The first step to adapting your website and other communications for your target market(s) is to translate everything into their native language.
Communicating your product globally can be tricky across cultural and language barriers. A significant percentage of purchasing power comes from cross-border sales — this is exactly where localization strategy comes into play. It’s important to localize your strategy so that you reach your potential customers on their level in a way that speaks to their needs, taking cues from your competitors in your target market while walking the fine line of exploiting the exoticism of your brand and acting like local.
The rise of the digital era makes going global easier than ever, and it’s certainly not something you should shy away from. There are so many benefits to going global with your ecommerce, but nailing your localization strategy is the first step to making it a success.
We at Libra Web Solutions are here to help you with all your business needs — contact us at info@librawebsolutions.com for all your needs to get answered. Libra Web Solutions transformed around 80 ecommerce ventures for customers from UK, Australia, India, Hong Kong, Singapore since 2008.
Sharmila specializes in business development, lead generation, and customer service. She has an interest in bringing traditional businesses online, and currently handles business development and customer support at Libra Web Solutions.