Tips for Succeeding in International E-commerce

Written by Max Riis Christensen

Ever since establishing MakesYouLocal in 2010, our goal has been to help brands and e-commerce companies, localise and sell online in new markets. 

The years since then have taught us that it takes more than just a perfect translation and a local payment method to succeed abroad.

In this blog post, we will assume that you as a webshop owner have already launched in a country where you are competitive, and focus on the post-launch phase.

Optimise - Establish Professionalism and Trustworthiness

After your webshop goes live, it is a common mistake to believe that your work is complete. In reality, this is where it begins for your customers. Take the time, maybe a week or more, to gain a good understanding of the market. The crucial area to focus on initially is your ability to convert visitors into customers.

Are you emphasising the right selling points? Are you able to convince visitors about your ability to deliver products in time and also are you offering a competitive return policy? We always recommend our customers establish a dialogue with the visitors and get direct feedback.

Another important thing in this phase is to make sure logistics and customer service processes are in place. Check the actual delivery time and check also your customer service, are they able to answer the questions in a way that satisfies the customers?

Grow – you need volume to succeed!

There is no way around this phase. When running a webshop abroad, there are fixed costs every month. Customer service and warehouse operations require daily attention, while management invests valuable time discussing the project's progress.

Therefore it is crucial to establish enough volume to make the project profitable. This creates a positive buzz around the project and gives momentum to take it to the next level and create a solid return on investment.

Competition in foreign markets can be as tough as in your home market. When faced with complexities, delve into the details. This applies to international growth in the e-commerce industry as well.

Our approach involves examining the marketing strategies employed in your home market and combining that knowledge with insights into the online marketing landscape of the new country, as well as a thorough understanding of the competition. Based on this information, we develop a focused marketing plan.

In this plan, we ensure that goals and budgets align, establishing key performance indicators (KPIs) to monitor the plan's effectiveness. KPIs are essential because we work with a moving target. We must be able to adapt the plan as customers change and competitors react. By maintaining the right focus through KPIs, we can adjust and optimise the plan as needed.

Succeed abroad – you have arrived!

If the growth phase is executed successfully, you will have achieved a volume that enables you to renegotiate with payment providers, distributors, and potentially MakesYouLocal if you have worked with us.

At this stage, you can consider yourself successful, generating profits that can be reinvested in other projects or utilised for further growth.