The 5 steps to international e-commerce success

There are still many myths and ambiguities surrounding cross-border e-commerce. It is true that expanding your online business to new markets is not the easiest thing to do, but it is also not the most difficult. With the right approach and preparation, it can be a huge success.
Today, more and more e-commerce companies are seeking to expand for a very clear reason – to be more stable by getting incomes from 2-3-4 markets instead of Latvia alone.
The e-commerce specialists at MakesYouLocal show you how to turn difficult, expensive and pointless into achievable, affordable and rewarding. All in 5 steps:

1. Choose a market!
Choosing the country you want to expand into is crucial. Many entrepreneurs fall into the trap of investing in markets without first doing a thorough analysis. Their shops are not properly prepared, they fail, and as a result, the owners not only lose money, but also the will to expand further. If it’s the very first expansion for you, we would recommend starting with Lithuania and Estonia, since all Batlic countries are very similar and if you are successful in Latvia, you already have huge chances to be successful in neighbouring countries.

But here are some tips to think about:

• If you’re already receiving orders from abroad, check to see where most are coming from and why. Is it Lithuanian people making the purchases? Or maybe Swedish? If you get orders from abroad, it’s a first signal that your products are needed in that market.
• Check your competitors in a new market. What are their prices? What is the delivery time? What payment methods do they offer? How wide is the product range? What are the customer reviews? What is the return policy like? Try to understand with whom you will compete in a new market.
• Once you’ve researched the competition, assess whether entering the market is definitely worth it for you. Is there something you can do to stand out and attract customers? How will you do this? What is your competitive advantage?

2. Localise your shop.
Fully localising your online shop abroad is the second essential step to successful expansion. Why?
Customers abroad, just like in Latvia, have their own shopping habits. They should not be underestimated. You should meet their expectations and thus win their trust. Remember one thing: try to understand what local customers would expect from the professional web shop? Would he/she expect professional translations, easy payments methods, local delivery methods, easy returns, local social media, local customer support etc? Probably yes. Otherwise, they will choose your competitors to place the orders.

3. Ensure customer trust.
A foreign buyer should feel at home in our shop as in a local shop he knows and trusts. Trust is the key factor in whether or not a customer makes a purchase in the webshop. Now that we’ve taken care of the local language version of the website and added the necessary logistics and payment measures, here’s what else you need to do to build trust in a new market:

• Add a local phone number. Even if your customers don’t have many questions or problems to solve, knowing that they can reach a live person from the country they are in ‘in case of emergency’ provides a sense of security.
• Add a local return address. Would you order the item yourself without the guarantee of a hassle-free return if it doesn’t work out for you? Would you send the product abroad, at your own expense, and wait patiently for an exchange or refund? Doubtful.
• Provide customer service in the local language. How often have you called the help line and been helped by a consultant in English? Or in German? When a product or delivery question is relatively simple, perhaps more people are able to rise to the heights of linguistic skill and actually get help.

4. Create a strategy
Once your shop is ready to enter a new market, it is essential to prepare a launch strategy. An effective strategy must include your fixed and variable costs, such as warehousing, shipping costs, customer service and returns. It is also essential to calculate how much you need to sell to be in profit. If you continuously monitor what works and what doesn’t, you can react quickly and make changes. But of course, first get the basics done (such as Adwords, Social media, newsletters etc) and later expand marketing channels according to the first results.

5. Be patient!
Expansion abroad is only possible with concrete plans and actions written out over time. And this takes time. Although we would all like to see immediate results, success is rarely achieved overnight. Building up customer awareness and interest in a brand or online shop is tedious work. Realistic expectations translated into defined marketing and optimisation activities will help accelerate the achievement of goals. The goals should be clearly defined and included in a schedule – necessarily with milestones marked accordingly.

Whether you are experienced in cross-border trade or not, it is always a good idea to consult with a local e-commerce specialist who can tell you how they think your shop’s website works (and looks!) and what could be improved. Such a ‘local hero’ will help you deal with official matters – for example, with taxes – opening a bank account or registering a company abroad.

If you run an online shop and are thinking about expanding overseas, the specialists at MakesYouLocal are happy to help you prepare and succeed.