In the past, running a worldwide business is only possible for a large business who had sources and they were able to handle shipping, taxes, currencies, etc. But nowadays, technology has changed the game, it builds a bridge for any ecommerce merchants to reach out to the global market.
Table of Contents
1. Why your store should be expanded worldwide?
The simplest reason must be: It gives you more chance to make more revenues by extending the scope of targeting market. The more new customers you could reach, the more sales you make.
Shopify now having merchants in 175 countries. Since you have a Shopify store, this is an opportunity to broaden your business to a global scale. As reported in “THE 21ST CENTURY SPICE TRADE A GUIDE TO THE CROSS-BORDER E-COMMERCE OPPORTUNITY” of DHL, online shop owners have boosted their sales by 10% to 15% by presenting their product to international online shoppers.
2. When your Shopify Store should expand globally?
Does it sound interesting to you now? The next question you might ask is When is a suitable time for your ecommerce store going international? There are some signals to look for.
Your ecommerce business success at a local scale.
If your brand has sustainable development in the domestic market or your Shopify store has strong brand awareness in local, you are doing well. That’s means you have a solid foundation, taking advantage of this by offering your products to more people.
Your customers have “ad fatigue”.
Are your social media ads no longer effective? All of your potential customers have seen your advertisement too many time? Your ROI on ads starting to drop off the peak? This is called: “Ad fatigue”.
What can you do to cope with this situation? Simple, run your ads campaign in front of fresh eyes – new customers in other places.
You have done some analytics about the new market.
Analytics can help you find out customers in which markets are already interested in your products. That could be a suitable country for you to take the first step in an international journey.
You might want to look for geographic areas where a lot of overseas buyer abandoning buying process at the shipping or payments pages due to shipping fee or currency. If you could overcome those problems, this place certainly is a potential market.
3. Will your current successful products work well worldwide?
You might have wonder whether your products can make profits in the overseas market or not. Here are 3 main criteria you should consider when going on an international scale.
Delivery:
At the first phase of international ecommerce, international shipping is the biggest barriers. Problems solved when you could find a manufacture factory to be partner, warehouse and local shipping service. But it cost you a big fortune. Therefore, ideal products to start testing overseas market are the thing that has a small size and low delivery cost.
Culture:
The second significant question is: does your products you selling in local appealing to customers’ eyes in the target market? People living in different countries have a different lifestyle, clothes, food and taboo.
Example, a merchant in a cold climate country has really succeeded in selling humidifiers but if he tries to sell it in a humid tropical country, nothing to be sure about his success. Cross-culture can be a huge obstacle to block your way to global.
Technology:
The difference in technologies among countries is another thing to consider about. Especially when selling technology products, whether the electrical outlets in that country fit your charger products shape, when technology accessories lost or broke can they back up by the others. Make sure you have a fit when handout any add on plugin product before the customers have received their orders.
4. How to overcome difficulties when expanding the Shopify store global?
Now it’s time to reveal the secret. You can not jump into the strange area without getting to know it first, right? There are a ton of obstacle you might encounter in this journey.
Logistic:
The first step before going into an abroad market is finding a local logistic company which can have you the lowest price. At the first phase, you are giving a try in these countries so priority is finding a cheap and effective shipping package to deliver products to overseas customers. Some recommended ecommerce shipping services with low rates are Asendia, Firstmile and Shipmonk.
Or having a local store is another choice, using local delivery service is the best option for customers.
Currency:
This is obviously not a huge problem with Shopify ecommerce merchant. But take it easy, the multi-currency support is available on Shopify Plus, the online shoppers now can feel free to shop and checkout with their native currency. It will have location detect and auto-select currency fit with the location.
Language barriers:
You could avoid this problem by expanding your business in the countries speaking the same language. If your base language is English, there are various countries speaking English to target in U.S, Canada, Australia, Ireland, etc.
If your target countries do not use English, our advice for you is to hire a native translator do the work for you, native speaker know the best about their language and culture, they could convey your marketing content in the closest meaning.
Tips: Do not use automated translators. It’s probably free and fast but also comes with problems. Words by words translating can cause misunderstanding, the customers might find your website unprofessional and walk away.
Finally, the concept of expanding your Shopify store worldwide sounds appealing to you now, but it’s easier said than done. However, modern technologies have made it easier than ever. It’s impossible to guarantee that your business will 100% success with abroad market. Yet, if you insist on this journey, promised that the result will not let you down.
Do you think your Shopify set up is good enough to introduce to the international market? Need help on setting theme suitable for your target country? Contact HappyPoints to receive help!
