Business without borders — how to set up your operations to receive payments from abroad.

One of the most effective and exciting ways to enhance your brand is to offer it to a larger pool of consumers. This is exactly what happens when you make the momentous decision to sell internationally. But what exactly goes into this huge step, and how do you go about making it happen for your ecommerce store?

The benefits of international sales.

When you run a business, your overarching goal is to provide superb service while furnishing excellent products to an ever-growing number of customers. Selling internationally means that you can take advantage of several benefits that mesh perfectly with this goal. They include the following.

• Widen your reach. In Europe alone, there are more than 296 million people who shop online, with at least 16% of those already comfortable shopping across borders. You might as well get in on this potentially lucrative market.
• Keep up with your competition. There are numerous hungry merchants out there. If you don’t introduce your products to customers abroad, you can be sure that someone else will soon go to those people with something similar. You might as well be the one making the money.
• Sell seasonal products year-round. If some of your merchandise is only popular for half the year because it is seasonal in nature, why not sell to people in other parts of the world who live in opposing climates? This way, your profits can come in throughout the year, and you can allocate your resources more efficiently.
• Adding time zones means your site will be bringing in business during more hours of each day.
• With careful product placement and research, you can often find a way to sell your goods to international customers for less than they would spend for similar items made in their homeland — in spite of international shipping and cross-border fees.

There is no time like the present to optimize your store to accommodate international buyers and accept payment in multiple currencies.

Decide how you’re going to sell your products.

The internet provides an excellent vehicle that you can use to market your products abroad. Essentially, there are two ways to use it: via your own ecommerce website or with an online marketplace like Etsy or eBay.

• Custom-built international ecommerce sites are available through a number of providers. The good news is that you don’t need to be a coding expert to create your site; it can be done with just a few clicks. Additionally, these platforms give you the support and tools you will need to sell internationally while also providing predictable and consistent hosting and domain costs.
• Online marketplaces like eBay, Alibaba, and Amazon enable you to tap into an already established and loyal community of consumers. Without the need to go through the steps involved in setting up your own ecommerce site, you can quickly get started on one of these marketplaces. All you need to do is upload your products and select your preferred options. While this comes at a cost, many merchants find the convenience to be well worth the expense.

Of course, you can also opt to get the best of both worlds, operating both your own ecommerce site and one sponsored by one or more of the major players.

Carefully select your markets.

It isn’t enough to choose the country with the most potential online shoppers or to pick the nation that is the most internet-savvy. Instead, take these other factors into consideration as well when determining your target market.

• Import/export licenses.
• The culture of the consumers as it relates to your products.
• Language spoken.
• Cost of shipping.
• Political and economic stability.
• Tax laws.

Once you get a grasp on all of these variables, you will be in a better position to decide where to begin your international sales journey.

Localize your store.

Although there may be buyers who are especially attracted by the idea of obtaining products from a Western supplier, your business should not feel alien or unapproachable to your customers from abroad. It is vital that you take steps to make international consumers as comfortable as possible so that they feel good about doing business with you.

For instance, the most effective international payment processing happens when you accept payment in multiple currencies. Don’t make shoppers strain their brains trying to convert dollars into their native monetary denomination when you can set up your system to provide automatic pricing in yen, euros, yuan, or any number of other types.

Additionally, take the time to provide textual content in the languages your customers speak, and consider hiring service representatives who can fluently answer questions and address concerns in your clients’ native language.

By taking these steps, you will demonstrate to buyers that you want to make their shopping experience with you as friendly and friction-free as possible even if you are headquartered an ocean away.

Offer multiple payment options.

This comes back to knowing your customers. Buyers in some nations will opt to make their purchases using standard credit cards such as Visa and Mastercard, but others may prefer bank transfers.

Be sure you know what your customers want, and then set up your ecommerce site accordingly to ensure that you don’t lose any sales at the last minute out of frustration.

Learn about tax expectations.

Regardless of which nations you choose to sell to, you can be sure that you will be required to obey tax laws. Before you dive in, find out exactly what will be expected of you so that you can build the added costs into your pricing if necessary. This also minimizes the chances of nasty surprises down the line.

Consider choosing a fulfillment center.

Instead of going through the constant expense of shipping merchandise from the U.S to your target country, consider storing your goods in a fulfillment center closer to where your customers live.

Although you will need to pay for the service, these centers are experts at packing and shipping merchandise quickly and efficiently, thus heightening client satisfaction and maximizing convenience on your end. Many also help to facilitate returns.

Selling internationally has the potential to explode the popularity of your brand and significantly expand your profits.

While getting started can be stressful and overwhelming, following the above advice can go a long way toward ensuring that you have the knowledge and infrastructure in place that will maximize your chances of solid success.