International eCommerce Business Opportunities

By now, it’s an old story. The internet opened up the entire world to international ecommerce and created a single global marketplace.

Yet, many companies stayed focused on national markets. During the boom economic years, companies were making enough money selling within national borders. Even if a business knew that international ecommerce generated significant additional revenues, there was no compelling economic reason to venture into uncharted international markets.

The last year of economic meltdown has forced changes to global markets. National markets are tightening as consumers lose jobs and cut spending. Companies are looking for more opportunities and international ecommerce is seen as a way to generate new sales and increase profitability.

Online retail growth rates, while still strong, are slowing in the United States. But, international ecommerce is still growing at double-digit rates. As technological advances continue, more tools are available to correctly plan, implement and manage international ecommerce.

Europe, through the implementation of SEPA, became the 2nd largest international ecommerce market. The EU has over 350 million relatively prosperous citizens who have been conditioned to globalization though economic consolidation in the Euro Zone. The Europeans are savvy and sophisticated consumers and represent great opportunity for international ecommerce merchants.

Asia will account for 50% of all internet users within the next 3 years. China soon will have more internet users than the United States. Asia already surpasses the rest of the world in spending for online digital entertainment. Digital content and downloads are among the fastest growing categories for international ecommerce opportunities.

Companies can no longer ignore the global market. Any company that sells a product or service that can be used by buyers throughout the world must quickly figure out how to implement an international ecommerce strategy. Those who do not do so will fast be left behind as the world market continues to consolidate.

Although opportunities for international ecommerce abound, it can be a bumpy road for companies with little experience. International ecommerce can be complex. Companies must take the time to understand unique aspects of each new market.

Correct implementation of international ecommerce is more than simply slapping up a website in a local language. Correct translation is important. Amazingly, in an effort to save time and money, some companies rely on automated language translation software. They don’t take the time have sites reviewed and edited by native speakers to make sure website translations are correct. Would you buy from an international ecommerce which contained syntactic and grammatical errors?

Payment processing is crucial to an international ecommerce site. But don’t assume that accepting credit cards as payments will generate the maximum amount of sales for you. Credit cards, while popular in the United States and the UK are not widely used in other parts of the world.

Take the time to understand what payment types fit best with the targeted market. International ecommerce requires multiple payment types. Direct debit, bank transfers, mobile payments, prepaid cards, local credit cards are some additional payment types to consider.

The key to maximizing sales is to determine what payment type is used most often in the region to which you are selling. Present that payment type first on the checkout page. The time you spend in correctly researching your international ecommerce markets will be rewarded handsomely with more sales from buyers world-wide.