Selling Internationally With Amazon

Transcription

1 Selling Internationally With Amazon In this ebook you will: Examine the international selling opportunity with Amazon Explain how you can get up and running on overseas Amazon marketplaces Explore how Amazon FBA and a whole host of other tools can help Be encouraged to take the plunge and go global with your Amazon business In association with

2 Introduction Go global with Amazon This ebook is aimed at marketplace sellers who are already selling on Amazon in the UK or are considering making that jump anytime soon. That said, even if you re already an accomplished seller on Amazon you ll likely learn something new. If you re looking for growth in your ecommerce business and want to develop your profitability, looking overseas is a no brainer. And Amazon is an obvious place to start. In 2015 it became the fastest company ever to achieve $100bn in annual sales. 1 And Amazon is global with operations in many of the major markets across the globe including the US and UK, Germany, France, Spain, India, Japan and Canada. Whilst there is no doubt about the huge potential opportunity offered by trading internationally on Amazon, there are also challenges and difficulties to overcome. Dealing in multiple currencies, and languages, isn t straight forward. Fulfilling across borders isn t always easy. You will face customs (tariffs and paperwork) issues when trading outside the EU. But none of these problems are insurmountable and the rewards are potentially great. So read on to discover how you take your Amazon sales international. Dan Wilson and Chris Dawson Editors, tamebay.com As an ambitious seller, it makes sense to surf Amazon s dramatic expansion to propel you to international selling success. You can pick and choose which international marketplaces to sell to and expand as you wish. Every online retailing business is different so your choices will be informed by what you sell. In association with 02

3 Amazing Amazon Total Amazon sales in 2015 worldwide were 2 $107bn Amazon has an estimated 310 million customers worldwide 3 There are over 70,000 entrepreneurs with sales of more than $100,000 a year selling on Amazon 4 Amazon has over 54 million Prime members who subscribe to expedited and cheaper shipping. And the number is growing all the time 5 Amazon makes TV shows like House of Cards and The Man in the High Castle 6 Amazon employs 268,900 worldwide

4 Reasons to sell internationally You might need a bit of convincing that selling to buyers across the world is a good idea. Here are just a few of the advantages of selling internationally: A bigger customer base: This one is obvious. By offering your products to other countries you greatly increase your potential customer base. That gives you the scope to make more sales. Better margins: Not all countries have access to the plethora of consumer goods we take for granted in the UK so selling to foreign buyers can mean that you get better prices for your goods than you do from a domestic shopper. And don t forget too that shoppers from other countries love British goods and brands. Beat seasonality: Whether it is Single s Day in China or Thanksgiving in the USA or Canada, there are all sorts of special occasions that spur people on to shop that we don t have in the UK. Going global means you can exploit worldwide online shopping trends and make more sales. A word about Brexit The result of the UK referendum on 23rd June 2016 means that, in all likelihood, the country will leave the European Union (EU). British sellers in particular will worry that this could cause problems down the line for international trade and may be reluctant to invest in developing an overseas selling strategy. We say: Don t panic. There s great uncertainty about what Brexit will mean for trade with the EU block, not least because under the current arrangements there is the free movement of goods amongst the 28 member states, and that means tariff and paperwork free exporting. It s worth remembering that nothing will change until at least the middle of 2018, probably later. And there are some advantages to the referendum fall-out. In particular the sterling has weakened against the dollar and the euro and that is usually good news for exporters because international buyers have more spending power. 04

5 Setting up an Amazon account for international selling Amazon has five European marketplaces that UK sellers can easily plug into: UK, Germany, France, Spain and Italy. And the process for getting registered on all of them is different depending on whether you already have a professional selling account or not. Tamebay tip: Don t bite off more than you can chew as you start selling overseas on Amazon. There s lots to learn and it s best to take baby steps to start with. Start with a few key lines and gradually ramp up your activities. And make it easy on yourself by starting with the EU in the first instance. It s easy to make your products available within Europe and shipping is straightforward too. Getting started: If you have not previously registered, the first step is to establish your professional selling account. It s not tricky but it can sometimes be time-consuming. Often Amazon will have your application processed in no time at all but some sellers will tell you they waited weeks. What you will need: Credit card Phone number Company registration details Primary contact person information Owner information Bank account information You don t have to be a limited company to register with Amazon. Sole traders are welcome too. The documentation you need to supply will depend on your status. For more detailed information visit this page on Amazon. Tamebay tip: It s best to plump for a Pro account if you re going to be a serious seller. It s honed for merchants who will be selling more than 35 items a month and gives you more benefits and features than the basic account. Before you incur selling fees, there s a 25 monthly subscription If you have never registered as a seller, do so via this link on Amazon and you will be automatically enrolled to sell across all 5 European Amazon marketplaces. Selling on amazon.com To start selling on Amazon s US marketplace, you ll need to establish a distinct Amazon account. For that you ll need a separate address but you can use all of the other information (including bank account) that you have on your UK login. Tamebay tip: By getting an account set up on amazon.com (the US site) you can also automatically sell to Canada and Mexico. And don t forget about Amazon Japan Amazon has a marketplace presence in Japan too although it s not a service many European merchants utilise. Like with amazon.com you need to establish a new account and provide your business details. Japan is a big market with a great love of British goods and brands, especially fashion and music. So it s well worth exploring, although postage costs to Asia can sometimes make exports prohibitively expensive. Tamebay tip: Don t worry if you don t understand the Japanese language, you can administer your amazon.jp account in English. There is an English language Seller Central so you can deal with your listings and sales in English. 05

6 Start selling With your Amazon international account now up and running, you re ready to start listing your products on Amazon marketplaces abroad so overseas buyers can start purchasing from you. Build International Listings: If you already have inventory on Amazon UK you can easily get those set up on an international marketplace using the Build International Listings feature Amazon provides. You can find the tool in Seller Central. Tamebay tip: When it comes to cataloguing your sales, especially if you re selling unique goods that you brand or produce yourself, you ll need a unique product identifier (ASIN, GTIN, barcode etc.). Such things are reasonably inexpensive but don t go off piste and buy cheap barcodes. The official provider of barcodes is GS1 and they are the only supplier that Amazon recognises. Failing to use correct product identifiers could cause you to be sanctioned by Amazon. Catalogue: Amazon works on a catalogue basis which means that if an identical product is available on an overseas marketplace then you can attach your inventory to the relevant listing at the click of a button. Amazon will also help with pricing if currency exchange rates fluctuate. Listing translation: Amazon can also help you translate your inventory descriptions from and into English, French, German, Italian and Spanish. Not all verticals are included and it s a bespoke service so you ll have to apply for a cost and price. To find out more, visit this page. 06

7 Selling internationally with Amazon FBA Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA) is a service whereby Amazon holds your stock on your behalf and despatches it as if it were their own. It s a great service for Amazon sellers who want to start selling to overseas customers because you can put your stock in Amazon s warehouses around the globe. This means that you can offer super-quick despatch from within the country your buyer lives. You can also send your goods to fulfilment centres in the USA. Aside from taking the strain when you fulfil items, there are two huge benefits of using FBA that are worth remembering. Firstly, using FBA helps you win the allimportant Buy Box that gives you prominence in Amazon search and makes you the first choice for buyers browsing. Secondly, it means that you have access to the big spending Prime members who, according to Amazon, spend roughly twice as much annually than the average Amazon shopper. 8 And FBA is a fantastic tool to help you deal with expanding your business or dealing with peak business periods. If you re growing your operations and taking on new stock then FBA can offer you the opportunity to increase sales without necessarily needing bigger premises. And in terms of seasonal peaks like Christmas, FBA means that if you need greater capacity for a few weeks to deal with the seasonal rush you don t need to take on more space or staff for a short period. Tamebay Tip: As is inevitable in a warehouse or storage, sometimes stock gets lost or damaged. Obviously Amazon recognises that and they will reimburse you for stock lost or damaged whilst under their care. But, needless to say, they don t make it easy. To find out what Amazon owes you, run the report in Seller Central. Remember that you need to do this proactively at least once a quarter. Tamebay tip: Amazon offers a pan-eu FBA service that helps you get your goods to your European buyers more quickly and easily. You send a single shipment to Amazon and then they split it up amongst different fulfilment centres in different European countries depending on their knowledge of how much will sell and where. You can find out more on this page. Flexible FBA You don t need to put all your stock, or even all your lines, into Amazon FBA. It can flex to your needs. Because FBA attracts a fee (roughly 30% of sale price) it s a good idea to use it for your best selling, best margin items. 07

8 Tool up for Amazon success Part of finding success as an international online retailer is harnessing the help that s available out there to create an effective selling machine. Nobody has all the experience and skills necessary to manage a business that s selling to multiple countries, dealing in various currencies and conversing in numerous languages. For every problem, there s a solution. You just need to seek it out. This section of the ebook will examine the variety of tools and services that are out there. Don t forget that there are plenty of tips for useful providers in the Tamebay Guide and your multichannel software provider, such as ChannelAdvisor, will also be able to advise you on essential services to grease the wheel of international trade. Foreign exchange services: Dealing in multiple currencies is one of the aspects of international trading that offers an opportunity. By engaging a specialist firm to help you, it could be that you can save money by offering preferential exchange rates. The banks aren t honed to providing the services that an ecommerce business needs and are often not competitively priced. Specialist firms can help you with a number of tasks. They can collect your money overseas without the need for a bank account. They can also provide you with fixed exchange rate products to help you plan. And they can help you pay suppliers overseas. There are a number of firms out there who can help, you just need to choose the one that suits you. Tax advisors: Even if you re just trading within the confines of the EU, there will be issues regarding tax that need to be addressed. In particular, sales taxes such as VAT need to be accounted for. This could be a complex area to understand but services out there exist to take the pain out of paying your way. Analytics: Making strategic decisions about what to sell and where is a crucial aspect of being a successful merchant, but how do know what s going to make the best return on your investment of time and money? You need to crunch the data and there are tools available that will help and ensure that you re not flying blind. They combine historical data and competitor intelligence to inform your stock buying choices and maximise margins. You can use a third-party service or your multichannel software partner, such as ChannelAdvisor, may have an analytics tool included in the package. Translation services: You ll need tip-top Amazon listings to drag in the buyers so optimising your key listings in foreign languages is essential. Specialist companies can help you there. Overseas customer support: Amazon expects sellers to be fastidious in their dealings with buyers. One stipulation is that sellers respond to buyer s within 24 hours or otherwise receive a penalty. It s hard enough to deal with the s in your native language but doing it in multiple foreign tongues requires help. There are companies that specialise in providing such a service. And don t forget, if you use FBA, Amazon deals with the customer service side of things also. International returns: Amazon requires sellers to offer a returns service to buyers, even if the transaction is cross border. This represents a headache for merchants, especially if you sell relatively low value items. If the cost of a return is greater than the value of good then the cost becomes prohibitive. Consider a service that makes a merit of this problem. You can engage a firm to take a return in the USA, for instance. They don t send the item back but rather take the return themselves and sell it again, on your behalf. This can minimise your loss. 08

9 Conclusion: Fortune favours the brave Starting out on a journey to sell internationally is a no-brainer decision if you ve already built a successful domestic ecommerce operation. The basics are identical. You buy goods to sell, list them on a marketplace and fulfil the orders and satisfy your customers. But the international aspect does bring with it complexities. The trick is to build a machine that draws in help and expertise from third parties to overcome the barriers. Whether it s a specialist tool to optimise your currency exchanges or shipping services with localised international knowledge, it s vital to choose the right companies for you to partner with. As an international retailer, at the hub of your global enterprise will be a multichannel software provider, such as ChannelAdvisor, that will knit together all the threads into an effective back office. That will leave you to do what you do best: source the best stock and delight your buyers. Even in these uncertain times there is an enormous opportunity to increase your profitability with overseas trade. And thankfully many of your competitors may be too timid to take the leap. Fortune favours the brave. And don t forget, once you start selling internationally, it s vital to keep an eye on the developments. New opportunities will emerge and changes will occur that will impact your business. Keep learning every day to retain your commercial advantage. And one tried and tested approach is to start small. You don t have to start selling all your wares to all of the world. Choose lines that you think will appeal to international buyers in a single territory and branch out from there. Good luck. 09

10 About ChannelAdvisor ChannelAdvisor (NYSE: ECOM) is a leading provider of cloud-based e-commerce solutions that enable retailers and branded manufacturers to integrate, manage and optimise their merchandise sales across hundreds of online channels including Amazon, Google, ebay, Facebook and more. Through automation, analytics and optimisation, ChannelAdvisor customers can leverage a single inventory feed to more efficiently list and advertise products online, and connect with shoppers to increase sales. Billions of dollars in merchandise value are driven through ChannelAdvisor s platform every year, and thousands of customers use ChannelAdvisor s solutions to help grow their businesses. For more information, visit About Tamebay Tamebay is a news and information website dedicated to anyone who sells online, with a specific marketplace focus on ebay and Amazon. Whether it s the latest news, comment or how-to information thousands rely on Tamebay to get their daily fix of ecommerce news. Tamebay also produces the popular Tamebay Guide. Footnotes rp-amazon-prime-numbers