How to Make Your E-Commerce Store Go Global
When your new online store has passed the “proof of concept” phase, you are likely feeling really good about your company’s chances at success. If you are doing very well, and, more importantly, you have a lot of sales or interest from a demographic in another country, it is likely time to expand your operations internationally. How you do this, however, is far from simple. At the moment you can very likely accept payment from around the world, but the shipping fees will likely stop many international buyers from purchasing anything. So, how do you go about setting up a global e-commerce business? You follow this guide:
photo/ Gerd Altmann via pixabay
Have Your Business Audited
Before you go about expanding your operations, you first need to smooth out all of the creases and get your business as optimized as possible. This means transferring all your data into easy to use management systems so that you can keep better track of your data. It means auditing your supply chain for any big issues that cost you time or money. It means going through your website to ensure that it is optimized for search engines, that the design is easy to use and aesthetically pleasing, and that there are no broken links, lost pages, or other factors that would hurt its performance. Only once you have audited your business and made the necessary changes can you start expanding.
Redesign or Clone Your Website
One aspect of expanding your e-commerce store globally that not many people think about is that you will need to create different versions of your website for each market you open in. This could be another website entirely that you have cloned for the new market, or it could be an on-site filter that will change based on where the user accesses your site. Either way, global expansion is a huge order for any website to fulfill, which is why hiring www.blackbeltcommerce.com, which specializes in both e-commerce development and expansion, is a necessary step and can help with bilingual e-commerce stores. You want your store to work flawlessly in every region, and therefore your website needs to be able to keep up with demand.
Tip: If your regions expand to territories where English is not the first language, always hire a professional translator. It will result in much higher sales and engagement than trying to rely on automated translation services.
Accept Payment in Local Currency
Finally, you will need to add features to your site that will allow users to pay in their local currency. If they can’t, they will likely not buy from your site, and all your expansion efforts will be for nothing. Accept payment in their local currency, whether that means opening an account in that country or using PayPal.
Have Local Stores in Each Region
Once your website is up and running, it is time to get your product over to the new region you will be selling in. This can be done by opening up your own stores, which may be a physical store people can visit, or could simply be a storage unit. Regardless, you will need to partner with a management team that will fulfill orders and keep you updated on their stock for you.
Expanding internationally won’t be easy, but when done right, it can help you increase your sales and see true, international success.
Author: Carol Trehearn
[* Shield plugin marked this comment as “trash”. Reason: Failed GASP Bot Filter Test (checkbox) *]
[…] How to Make Your E-Commerce Store Go Global […]