Selling Online InternationallyDespite the huge potential, many online merchants based in the United States are only selling domestically. If you are not selling internationally but have thought about it, now is the time to give it a try. With the U.S. dollar at an all time low against the Euro and a 31 year low against the Canadian dollar, the purchasing power of international online shoppers is the best it has ever been. Suddenly that jacket you have been selling online for $80 doesn't look so expensive from abroad. If you are going to sell internationally, there are several things you should consider. Put yourself if the shoes of the buyer.
One of the first tasks that you should tackle is enabling a currency converter in your shopping cart. International shoppers want to look at products in their own currency. With currencies in flux, make sure your shopping cart application is updating currency values at least once per day. Because the dollar is currently at a low, displaying products in the customer's currency of choice will make it clear that they are getting a good deal. Additionally, it tells the customer that you cater to international shoppers and that good will goes a long way.
As you can imagine, another big issue for international online shoppers is shipping costs. That $80 jacket you are selling isn't going to look like such a great deal if you are charging $40 to ship it. Check the international shipping rates with all of the shipping carriers and use the carrier that quotes you the best rates. USPS typically offers the most competitive rates for international shipments, but tracking can sometimes be an issue. If tracking (or lack there of) becomes a burden for certain ship to countries, it may be worth it for you to offer another carriers methods for that country even if the cost is more. Generally speaking, however, offering the shipping method with the least cost will improve your conversion rate.
Once you decide to ship internationally, you need to make sure international customers are visiting your site. If you have only been selling domestically, the chances are that you have your Google AdWords campaigns set to only display in the United States. Be sure to edit the Location Targeting Options at the campaign level. You may also want to adjust your campaign scheduling preferences, keeping in mind that some of the buyers in other countries are in time zones much different that yours. In addition to Google AdWords, check with your other online marketing channels to see if your ads are being displayed abroad.
One of the biggest issues with orders placed internationally is fraud. The fraud rate is typically twice that of orders placed domestically. Many online payment gateways have fraud detection settings in their systems, however, they don't all work well with international orders. There are some things you can keep your eye on with international orders to minimize fraud. The first is the location of the IP address that the order was placed from. Make sure the IP address country matches that of the bill to and ship to country of the order. If it doesn't, there is a good chance it is fraud. Also, if someone orders many of the same product, that is a red flag. Why would one person need 10 of the same jacket? If the same person in a foreign country places multiple orders with you within a short time span, that should be a red flag. Finally, if there are multiple orders placed from the same IP Address but with different customer names this is a huge red flag. It is likely someone with a list of fraudulent credit cards looking to take advantage of you.
Selling online internationally will significantly improve your growth potential. If you are going to try it, now is time. The falling dollar is news in other countries and foreign customers are excited about ordering from U.S. based merchants.
