WHITEPAPER. How to Scale Your Ecommerce Business. 3 Factors to Consider Before You Expand Globally

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1 WHITEPAPER How to Scale Your Ecommerce Business 3 Factors to Consider Before You Expand Globally

2 The Ecommerce Landscape The rise of global ecommerce is impossible to ignore. The U.S ecommerce market has grown to the second largest in the world, and globally the ecommerce industry is worth $7.7 trillion with B2B sales outpacing B2C. There s no better time than now for businesses to look towards a global ecommerce strategy. So, where should businesses focus? There are a number of things to keep in mind that go beyond the Buy Button when developing your ecommerce strategy and selecting a solution. This includes everything from processing multiple types of payments, the shopping cart experience, product fulfillment, chargebacks, and global tax/vat compliance. Check out three essential factors you should consider before you expand globally. Whitepaper: The Future of Ecommerce for Digital Businesses 2

3 Factor #1 Offer a modern checkout experience that encourages purchases. When shopping online, consumers aren t afraid to step away from making a purchase. In fact, almost 70 percent of online shoppers who begin a purchase will ultimately abandon their carts before completing it. As a customer, you might not think twice about leaving an item to waste away in a shopping cart. But cart abandonment is a serious problem for businesses as it represents a direct loss of revenue. That s why you need to focus on building modern ecommerce checkout flows that enable shoppers from around the world to buy quickly and directly from your website. 5 Key Characteristics of a Modern Checkout 1. No Redirects. Buyers are weary of any purchase experience that requires extra steps. This is especially true for mobile audiences. 2. Multiple payment options. Make it easy for customers from all over the world to make a purchase using their preferred payment method. 3. Localization. Automatically feature prices and currencies based on your website visitors location. 4. Automated tax management. No matter where your customers are purchasing from around the world. Your checkout should automatically feature the appropriate taxes and fees required for every purchase. 5. Multi-device friendly experiences. Whether your customer is visiting your website on a laptop, their mobile device, or a tablet your checkout needs to look great and function properly. Dynamically populate a Ecommerce Tip: With the right ecommerce solution, you have the ability to update your store and products instantly. Want to run a flash sale? Or share a promotion for your loyal customers? Automatically add special discounts and offers directly into the checkout to help your customers save time. One key point to keep in mind is that customer needs are always shifting, so your business should evolve their pricing strategy and checkout flow to match. Whitepaper: The Future of Ecommerce for Digital Businesses 3

4 Factor #2 Provide a localized experience for every customer. One of the incredible benefits of the online shopping experience is that every consumer and business can interact regardless of physical location. It s also a doubleedged sword. Just about every country has their own preferred languages, currencies, and payment methods. The combination businesses choose can have a profound impact on revenue. The businesses who showcase product pages and checkout experiences in multiple languages and currencies are more successful than those who only have one. In fact, a study of 50 successful SaaS companies found that those with localized pricing outgrew their competitors by 30% or more. The languages, currencies, and payment methods your business decides to support depend on your unique audience. If the majority of your business is originating from Japan, then it makes sense to showcase prices in Yen. Or if your customers are primarily from South America, your product pages and checkout will be more successful if they are translated to Portuguese. Consistent and accurate analysis of your customer base will help you understand the best mix of localized experiences for your business. Ecommerce Tip: If your business is planning on expanding globally, the role of localization becomes critical to your success. A comprehensive ecommerce solution will automatically support the languages, currencies, and payment methods your customers expect. You will have the ability to dynamically populate a localized ecommerce experience for every customer based on the location of your customer. Whitepaper: The Future of Ecommerce for Digital Businesses 4

5 Factor #3 Automate your back office operations. Managing the core ecommerce functions while your businesses is scaling globally is a challenge. Maintaining successful checkout flows, staying up-to-date on complex global taxes and regulations, reviewing detailed reporting and analytics, and providing comprehensive customer support there s enough day-to-day work on your plate to keep you busy. So what can you do to grow your business globally while making sure the existing structures don t fall apart? It s all about working intelligently. To pull it off with in-house resources, you are going to end up dedicating a heavy investment in time, money and effort which may hold your business back from the level of growth you are hoping to achieve. For many businesses, the optimal solution is to team up with a trusted partner to outsource all their ecommerce functions. Think of all the time and money your business can save by outsourcing the heavy-lifting to an industry-leading ecommerce solution. There s no question that having a successful business that expands into the global marketplace is a lot of work, but with the right tools and partners to support you, it s possible! Ecommerce Tip: An all-in-one ecommerce platform will support all of the essential back office ecommerce functions that are necessary to the success of your business. Your customers are automatically charged the proper amount of taxes and fees based on their location, 24/7 fraud detection helps maintain your business privacy and security, and constant reporting and analytics let you know how you re doing. With the right solution, you and your customers will benefit from quality support. Whitepaper: The Future of Ecommerce for Digital Businesses 5

6 Get Started with FastSpring Have you outgrown your in-house or DIY ecommerce solution? Learn how FastSpring is leading the digital commerce revolution with our robust, end-to-end ecommerce platform. FastSpring enables global subscriptions & payments for thousands of digital businesses around the world. FastSpring.com Copyright FastSpring. All Rights Reserved.