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In today’s increasingly interconnected world, companies that focus only on building their business within their home countries are missing out on major opportunities. In the 21st century, more tools are available than ever before to help on how to expand business across physical and political borders. Curious about what your business is missing out on if you don’t make the cross border leap? Read on for more insight into why the global marketplace is truly the future of business expansion, and how to ensure you don’t miss out.
The Scope of Cross Border Sales
For starters, selling in international markets has become big business. As reported in a recent piece, digital global transactions are on track to reach $6 trillion by the year 2022. This means necessary changes are needed for digital businesses to compete in a larger global marketplace. This means that businesses in all industries will have to adapt to meet their customers on all digital platforms.
If you’re already doing business on digital platforms here in the U.S., then you’re moving in the right direction. But it’s time to start thinking about growing your business outside of our own borders. New global markets are catching on to e-commerce, which means it’s time to figure out how to position your business to these new global buyers and take advantage of this new growth area.
No matter where you decide to take your business, you’ll find good opportunities to grow, but certain countries offer truly incredible expansion opportunities. For example, some analysts predict that India’s e-commerce industry is set to become the second largest in the world, exceeding that of the United States by 2034.
So, what are those “necessary strategies” needed to tap this major market?
Beyond Language: Why Customization Trumps Translation
The key to selling cross border isn’t as simple as translated website copy. Rather, instead of small moves like translation services, a clear localized digital strategy can create long term e commerce success in another country.
In other words, expand your thinking to include the operational and logistical challenges of selling cross border, and only then will you be able to take your brand into new territories like the Hong Kong business market. New digital tools allow companies to customize their options and create optimized platforms that respond to the ways that your new market actually accesses and shops on the internet. By putting in the up-front time to understand whether your new market prefers a tablet, laptop, or mobile phone for their shopping, you can better optimize your e-commerce sites to meet the needs of the customer. Similarly, solid analysis of the popularity of social media sites by country can prevent you from placing too many resources in a platform that’s actually not used very much in your new market, despite its popularity in your home market.
The challenges of selling cross border are myriad, but the potential to expand your business makes global e-commerce a worthy pursuit. If you’re looking for solid tools and expertise on how to handle the operational and logistical challenges of international e-commerce, there are companies that offer integrated tools to bring global commerce right to your company’s door. There’s even on-the-ground expertise designed to help companies scale up in today’s market. The right global e-commerce solution can give your new customers a truly “localized” experience that’s way beyond a translated web page.
