In what situations should you consider selling abroad?
Start by asking yourself the above question. The obvious answer seems to be: when you want to get more customers and increase sales. However, the less obvious ones are sometimes just as important. Here are some important situations in which you should consider expanding into nearby markets.
When you want to grow your business and (literally) push the boundaries
Ambition is a powerful motivation. Your online store doesn’t have to be one of many – it can be one of the best. So if you want to expand your sphere of influence and prove yourself in foreign markets, way to go! Of course, as long as you have the right capabilities – and it’s not just about money.
Ambitious plans should be seriously considered before implementation, and decisions should be made sensitively. So, if you want to operate in several (or dozens of) foreign markets, start with one, so that – once you’ve managed to kick-start operations in your chosen country – you can gradually expand your influence. Simultaneous expansion in several directions is a solution reserved for large stores that have enough human resources to create separate teams to oversee operations in multiple countries. It’s also worth gaining experience, so take your first steps abroad carefully.
When it’s harder to make money in the local market
The market situation can sometimes be dynamic. Recent years have shown that in business almost anything can change in a few moments. Pandemics, war across the eastern border, political turbulence, natural disasters – all of these have contributed to a decline in the country’s purchasing power. Many consumers cut back on spending and focused on saving, which prompted businesses to cut margins – all to maintain sales or, in exceptional cases, to save their companies.
Consider launching a cross-border business when there is no prospect of being able to raise margins and sales are not growing. A cautious move into markets farther away from the factors that are hampering business may prove to be a remedy for your company’s problems.
When you are a leader in the local market
A market leadership position is a dream for many companies, but not so easy to maintain. Getting to the top (or getting close to it) is a good time to plan for diversification. A wisely executed expansion will allow your company to conquer another foreign market, thus breaking through the wall you’ve stumbled upon. Remember, however, that local competitors will not sit back and will try to take advantage of the dispersion. If you want to maintain your leadership position, you can’t neglect development in your home market.
Operating abroad is also a safeguard for the future. In case of problems similar to those we discussed in the previous section, your business will already be on standby.
List of needs, or how to get started with cross border e-commerce?
If you want to sell abroad, you must first choose the market where you intend to start your business. Assuming your store is based in Poland, it will certainly be easier to start international expansion into the rest of the European Union than to start selling goods to customers in the US or Canada, for example.
What aspects of your chosen market do you need to consider?
Size
How many customers does the market have, and is there room for another online store? How affluent are the customers in your country? How much are they willing to spend on the products you offer?
Competitiveness
Are there similar companies in the selected market?
If so:
- What are the prospects for breakthrough, given their presence?
- What unique things do you have to offer?
If not:
- Is there a real demand for the offered products in the selected market?
- what are the causes?
Marketing costs
Entering a new market with an unknown brand means incurring considerable marketing costs. Without first trying to estimate them, you may fall into the trap of ever-increasing expenditures from which results do not follow. Check out which advertising platforms are particularly popular.
The assumption that running ads on Google and the most popular social networks (Facebook, TikTok, Instagram) will always be the optimal solution is wrong. In some countries, other solutions – such as local search engines or Pinterest – also have particular marketing potential.
Logistics
If you want to ship products from your store to overseas customers, you need to partner with an operator that already operates in your chosen market. Remember, too, that you need to develop a customer-friendly and practice- (and law-) compliant return policy.
Also consider the fact that when planning to expand abroad, you will need employees who have the right competencies – they know how to operate in other countries, they know the language and the realities.
Also consider distance – especially if you are manufacturing locally. The farther away you deliver products, the higher the cost of the venture.
Legal issues
Don’t forget the need to comply with the current regulations in your market. The cost of legal services is an expense that does not make sense to overlook. A lawyer who is well versed in the realities of local regulations will help your company save trouble first and foremost, and therefore also money.
In extreme cases, you may find that products that you sell easily in your home market are burdened with additional restrictions or even not allowed to be sold elsewhere. Besides, the onus is on you to comply with local laws – no one else will do it for you.
The above list is long, and a detailed study of all the aspects listed is a demanding and time-consuming undertaking. For this reason, many companies start by commissioning a professional market study. Although expensive, such a solution will provide your company with an influx of relevant information that will facilitate key business decisions. The contractor will check the situation in the selected market specifically for you, and set the acquired data in the context of your company. You will learn in this way, among other things:
- Who the potential recipient of your offer is.
- Who the key competition is,
- Which products from similar to those offered by your company are finding buyers, and which ones have so far failed to break through,
- At what prices similar products are sold,
Important!
Each foreign market has its own characteristics. Of course, you will find some, perhaps even a lot of similarities with the Polish market, but many things will differ. So remember that activities, especially marketing, that are effective here will not necessarily work abroad.
What’s more, even small nuances (for example, an innocuous product name in Poland that may sound similar to a vulgar term in another language) can determine the effectiveness of your actions. Remain vigilant and plan your next moves carefully, without expecting them to work the same way as they do in Poland.
Cross-border trade: own e-store or marketplace platform?
In theory, you can run cross-border e-commerce on your own website. All you have to do is translate the site into a language your new customers can understand and it should work, right?
Not really. Launching your own website abroad is extremely difficult, as it requires time-consuming positioning – so that customers in the new market can reach your store at all. For a start (and more), a good solution is to use thriving marketplace-type platforms in your chosen market. In exchange for various types of fees (most often sales commissions or fees for products put up for sale), the marketplace allows you to reach thousands of customers with your offerings virtually from day one.
However, if you plan to do business abroad long-term (and it’s hard to do otherwise), consider developing a foreign version of your own online store at the same time. Making your business solely dependent on sales platforms is a risky path.
Examples of marketplaces in markets close to Poland
When looking for the right marketplace to start selling on, check out the list below – we publish the most popular platforms where you can sell your products online.
Marketplace in Germany
In our western neighbors, Amazon.de reigns supreme, which, as will become clear later, should come as no surprise. Ebay.de is also popular, and the most important marketplace of German origin is third-ranked Otto.de.
Germans are also eager to use the local version of Zalando and Kaufland‘s online store, where more than 8,000 sellers offer products.
Czech Republic: the most popular sales platforms
If you want to start selling your products abroad from the Czech Republic, check out what Amazon (which does not yet have a regional branch in the Czech Republic), Allegro (which has merged with the popular Mall.cz, and is also available in Slovakia or Hungary) or the similar-sounding and equally similar-looking Aukro have to offer for sellers.
Marketplace Kaufland also operates in the Czech market and offers a very wide range of products, going far beyond groceries.
Where to sell in Sweden?
Here, too, no surprises – the lead among marketplaces is led by Amazon.se, but the Cdon.se platform, which covers all of Scandinavia (Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland), is also very popular.
The Swedish market also has Zalando, H&M and Adlibris – the first two are marketplaces known also in Poland, focusing on fashion in the broadest sense, while the last is Sweden’s largest bookstore, which we can compare to Empik.
Logistics and delivery in foreign markets
IIf you want to succeed abroad, your company will face considerable logistical challenges: especially if you operate in an industry that transports heavy and bulky goods. Current systems and developed solutions are certainly not enough to offer foreign customers competitive solutions. Customers are used to receiving complex orders in 1-3 days, so when they see that they will have to wait a week for delivery from your store… they will most likely choose the competition.
Thus, in the context of logistics, the selection of partners – cross-border carriers and local suppliers – will be crucial. Verify which suppliers are exceptionally popular and trusted by customers in your chosen market, and which are better avoided. Check the range of services they offer. Don’t assume that similar delivery options are available everywhere as in Poland (parcel machines or parcel pick-up in stores are not common solutions, despite appearances). Research the specifics of the market and customer expectations.
How about fulfillment?
An interesting service, especially in the context of foreign operations, is fulfillment. This is nothing more than outsourcing the handling of orders to an external company. Under fulfillment, your company is responsible for delivering goods to the warehouse. The rest – inventory, warehousing, order picking, packing, shipping or handling returns – is up to the operator.
Fulfillment does not have to be very expensive – much depends on the service package you choose. However, in a situation where you are just starting out abroad, such a solution can prove to be a lifesaver, as it does not require you to build structures locally.
Payments in cross-border sales
We could start almost every aspect of foreign trade with a mantra: remember that the solutions you use in Poland are not necessarily optimal abroad. However, it is worth remembering – especially in the context of payments.
While the main principle should be to make the widest possible range of flexible payments available to customers, at the outset it is worth paying attention to those forms of payment that are particularly popular in the chosen location. So, like a boomerang, we return to the need to thoroughly research the market before starting to sell. Here are some universal solutions:
Don’t force customers to pay in foreign currency
Currency conversion and the unforeseen costs associated with it can effectively discourage customers from shopping at your store. The problem doesn’t exist if you use marketplace-type platforms, but it’s worth keeping in mind.
If you don’t have the ability to make payment available in the local currency, make sure to have a transparent calculator available from the ordering level. For consumers, there is nothing more annoying than noticing an offer for a “cheap” product that becomes completely unattractive after adding a few “small” fees.
Provide support for mobile payments
Google Pay and Apple Pay are standard in Europe and the US. Customers are increasingly willing to pay with their phones, and it’s hard to give up the convenience of this solution.
Consider what percentage of customers in your chosen market use mobile shopping – for them, other forms of payment often might not exist. Take care to implement the increasingly popular deferred and installment payments.
Marketing strategy in cross-border e-commerce
To effectively advertise your online store in a new market, you need to prepare a completely new marketing strategy. While it’s true that many tools offer automatic translations of content such as product descriptions or blog articles, it’s not enough to make a name for yourself abroad. What do you need to rock the promotional machinery of your store?
Take care of international and local SEO
Give your store visibility in local search results. Take care of content translations along with keyword matching. Research the phrases that work in your location and don’t rely on translation alone. Even within a single language, phrases for products or issues can differ significantly depending on which location they relate to.
Also make sure your content for a foreign market uses units of measurement, currency terms and distinctive phrases that are appropriate for that market.
Take care of hreflang attributes so that local search engines will automatically move customers from a particular country to the appropriate language version of your online store.
It will also be a good idea to get quick reviews from customers coming from the country where you are starting your business or to establish partnerships with local sites that will provide your store with backlinks.
Start a loyalty program
Even in the first stages of doing business abroad, you should think about starting a loyalty program. This way you will retain customers more easily – even those you acquire in the first weeks of selling abroad.
Offer them to earn points for their purchases, leave feedback on the products and the store itself, and be able to redeem them for discounts, special offers or free shipping.
Social commerce, or selling on social media
In addition to your brand’s social media presence itself, you can also sell directly on Facebook, Instagram or TikTok. This is not new, but you need to keep in mind that the popularity and availability of sales features on these platforms varies from country to country – we discussed this in detail in the article Selling on Facebook – is it possible?
Summary – how to prepare the expansion of your online store?
Launching an online store abroad is a long-distance run through hurdles. If you set your mind to the fact that your business will face a lot of difficulties, and the expansion will require full concentration for a long period, you will not be surprised. When planning to enter foreign markets, you need to consider dozens of factors, and treat each market separately – one of the biggest mistakes you can make is trying to translate your operations from one market to another in a 1:1 format.
Knowing your list of needs, having knowledge of the pitfalls lurking in your business and experience from operating in the local market, however, you have a full toolkit for successful expansion abroad. Add a popular marketplace for starters, but don’t neglect your own website – this will allow your business to score a successful start, but also prepare for independent operation in the future. Good luck!
