In e-commerce, you don’t need a physical storefront and can work from anywhere. This type of business has even more global potential when you think about cross-border e-commerce, in which your customers can buy goods from a different country to where they are based.
Cross-border e-commerce benefits include the opportunity to sell a wider variety of products, giving your customers the chance to purchase goods that are not available in their country. The pool of customers who would be interested in this includes expatriates who have moved to a new country, people who need technology that is compatible with their devices made abroad, and gourmet food lovers. These are just a few of the many reasons why customers may want to shop cross-border.
But what do you need to bear in mind if you are new to cross-border e-commerce? At Ubuy, we understand there are several pain points that customers may have when considering purchasing overseas. There are also several tactics anyone can take to address those pain points, as well as helping you make practical business decisions. Here are some top tips for anyone who is looking for advice in this increasingly popular field.
Brand positioning
A cross-border e-commerce business needs to have a target audience and a plan for reaching them. A business with a sense of consistency across its assets such as its website and social media accounts will help give it a professional edge – even if it’s just a matter of using the same fonts and color schemes. Another important aspect of brand positioning for anyone who is starting out is thinking about who their closest competitors are, and what differentiates their business from the others. This might sound general but it’s just as important in the e-commerce world as any other sector!
Partner with reliable delivery companies
It will help set your customers’ minds at ease about making a cross-border purchase, if they know a company they trust will be making the delivery. It will also benefit you – choose a delivery company that gives you a high level of customer service as their client, and it will improve your experience vastly. Of course, which options are available to you will vary, determined by where you are based, and where you are shipping to and from.
Have clear policies
If customers are confused about how returns work or anything else that would make them feel more comfortable and confident making their first cross-border purchase, you run the risk of losing their business. A business in the cross-border e-commerce field should have a website with a section where you clearly lay out your company’s policies regarding delivery, returns, pricing, and any customer loyalty schemes.
Leverage seasonal fluctuations
Selling your products internationally can actually help limit the risk that your business experiences peaks and troughs in demand throughout the year. For example, if you sell popular winter products such as gloves and scarves, you will have several periods during which your international customer base will be buying these. You can customize your online marketing campaigns to target customers in different countries with the same products at different times of year.
Use a highly secure payments system
If you are able to accept payments from digital wallets such as PayPal, which have a high level of security, this is another ‘green flag’ for customers. Customers want features such as ‘tokenization’, the process by which their payment details are encrypted, keeping their data secure and keeping them safe from fraud. One reason for PayPal’s popularity is its Buyer Protection program, which reassures shoppers that they can access customer support, refunds, and fraud prevention.
Dhari AlAbdulhadi is the founder and CTO of Ubuy and is currently based in Kuwait. He attended Kuwait University, where he graduated in 2008 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics. Later AlAbdulhadi earned a Master’s of Arts in Economics from Claremont University and furthered his education at this institution when, in 2012, he graduated with a PhD in Economics, specializing in International Monetary and Financial Economics. AlAbdulhadi has held positions in a number of companies since 2008, including as an Assistant Professor at the Gulf University for Science and Technology. In 2012, he founded Ubuy and is also the company CTO.