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Selling successfully across borders requires attention, but exploring international opportunities can be done from the couch, so to speak. 'Just start with Google Analytics,' says researcher Sjoukje Goldman. She will be speaking at the CrossBorder Event, among other things about the importance of focus.
[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text]Goldman has been researching cross-border e-commerce for years. She holds a doctorate on the subject from the Free University and has now been with the Centre for Market Insights (CMI) at the Hogeschool van Amsterdam for more than four years.
Among other things, Goldman led a study of more than ten thousand online stores in 31 European countries. It showed (over two years ago) that most Web stores offer foreign consumers the ability to buy online, although that says little or nothing about the volume cum success of international trade.
Conscious choice
Goldman then examined the drivers and success factors of cross-border e-commerce. The researcher on the first aspect: 'For a merchant from a less developed e-commerce country, it is quickly interesting to focus on other, more mature markets in addition to the home market. There is more revenue to be made and more to be learned. The Netherlands, with its broadband penetration and logistics, for example, can be called a developed market. So for online retailers from our country, cross-border e-commerce is usually a conscious choice to generate extra revenue, or at least it should be.'
Success Factors
According to Goldman, international sales success is also in store for her study subject, smaller and medium-sized online retailers: "They will have less brand power and resources than larger companies, so they need to spend their time and money smartly. The key success factors? The first is orientation; a website must be adapted to the country in question to attract buyers. In Lithuania, we know from desk research by students, many parcels are taken from lockers at train stations. In addition, cash on delivery is very popular there, for example. You should take things like that into account. To achieve this you cannot escape focus: don't go serving the whole world, but make choices.'
'It should feel to the shopper like the site is set up in the buyer's country. Think language, currency, and information about delivery, shipping and returns. For example, our research has shown that offering the latest, clear info on returning products has a very strong positive effect on conversion and turnover, but also that it results in a high return rate. Also interesting is that conversion, order value, turnover and retention increase if you specifically mention in which countries you deliver, instead of communicating global shipping.'
The second success factor is marketing. Goldman: "Our research shows that social media, affiliate marketing and banner marketing are the most effective, respectively, even before SEO and SEA.
International opportunities
Selling online across borders may be easier said than done, but exploring international opportunities is relatively simple. 'Start with your own Google Analytics,' Goldman suggests. 'Look there to see what other countries you're drawing buyers from. Then inventory what the market there is like for your product. Is it popular, are there many other providers, and at what terms and prices do they supply? Then you can run a keyword analysis on it. There are many industry reports for each industry that can help you further. And of course, marketplaces like Amazon and La Redoute offer space to start cautiously."[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text]Source: Twinkle Magazine - interview Sjoukje Goldman[/vc_column_text][/vc_row][/vc_row]
