How to be Successful with International e-Commerce Sales

Ecommerce lets anyone with an internet connection and some business savvy (or at least the willingness to learn) to find success. Opening up your market to multiple countries gives you even more opportunities for success by giving you a much larger customer base and less competition. You just need to choose the right products to sell.

Once you’ve done the research and figured out the right products to sell to reach a wide audience without facing stiff competition, here are a few other things you can do to be successful with your multinational e-commerce efforts:

Get the Right Merchandising Tools
Good merchandising is going to be the most important aspect of your ecommerce business besides the products themselves. The right online merchandising tools will help you do everything from easily create gorgeous landing pages to track the metrics on your page to find ways to improve your sales funnel.

Once people are on your page, you must have a strong system in place for closing the sale, and the right merchandising tools will help you do just that. Merchandising tools will also help you automate the process so you can save time and generate a passive revenue stream.

Find Cost-Effective Shipping Options
The cost of shipping will have a big impact on whether people will shop with you. If you have a good price on your product but charge too much for shipping, people won’t buy the product. But if you absorb some of those shipping costs to make shopping more enticing to your customers, you could erode your profits.

You need to find a balance. The best thing you can do is find cost-effective shipping options. That might mean using a specific shipper, using different materials, using a slower mailing service, or combining shipments where possible.

Create a Brand Identity
Why should someone want to buy a product from you and not from your competitor? Since you are selling e-commerce, chances are good that you are selling through drop shipping or a big wholesaler that a lot of other people are using. So your customers will likely have a lot of other choices for finding what you have to sell. What sets you apart?

Establishing your brand identity is what will help you stand out. People should be able to recognize your name, and they should immediately know what your name stands for – the products you sell, the values you embody, and what makes you special. You create brand identity through your logo, the way you present your products, your company philosophy, your service guidelines, and more. Brand identity is a part of everything you do.

Build a Social Media Presence
Social media can help you reach people around the world. Facebook alone has nearly 2 billion active users around the world. Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube, and Pinterest are all powerful platforms for reaching customers also. It is important that you identify the channels that your customers are most likely to visit and to establish your presence there first. You should commit to a mix of organic social media marketing and paid advertising.

Differentiate Content
When you are focused on reaching a global audience, you won’t be able to focus on a single consumer persona. You will have multiple personas with different languages, interests, and needs. You must create content that reaches all these personas. The easiest way to do this is to create landing pages for each country or region that you are trying to reach, but you can also differentiate content with your blog posts, social media updates, and your email marketing. The more personalized you can make your marketing, the more effective it will be, and differentiation is the simplest way to personalize content.

Starting an ecommerce site gives you the opportunity to create a successful company right from your couch. If you do it right, you could generate a significant passive income that could help you meet your financial goals or even quit your day job. Getting started on the right foundation is key to success. Use these tips to help you get the strongest start and find the success you want. As your business grows, you can expand your efforts and increase your profits.