Benefits of international e-commerce

Selling abroad via an e-commerce platform can be a very rewarding strategy for a small or medium-sized company. Here are some of its major benefits:

1. Expanded customer base

Selling online can open up markets around the world. A company can escape the limits of a brick-and-mortar store, or even a chain of them.

2. Increased visibility

Going online makes it easier for customers to find your products—and, when they do, to buy them.

3. No physical location needed

Many traditional exporters feel it’s necessary to set up a physical presence in a new market, even if it’s just a sales office. Using an e-site instead can sharply decrease the cost of doing business abroad.

4. Lower marketing costs

Instead of depending on traditional marketing strategies, you can use more cost-effective online approaches such as Google AdWords, Facebook and search engine optimization. This can be especially important abroad, where marketing by conventional means can be expensive, difficult and unpredictable.

5. Adaptability

You can adapt quickly to shifts in sales channels. Shopping via mobile platforms is increasing rapidly, for example, and is likely to become the most common way of buying online.

6. Streamlined business operations

You can keep all your customer data, order history, credit information, inventory and sales records in one integrated, readily available database.

Better customer experience:

Easily provide customers with detailed product information whenever they want it

Offer deals, bargains, coupons and other sales incentives

Use customer search and sales histories to tell buyers about other products they might like to buy

Respond to customer questions quickly

Stay open for business all year, every day, around the clock

eBay lowers exporter costs, increases diversification

“With traditional exports,” says Andrea Stairs, managing director of eBay Canada, “every time you add a new market, there are a lot of up-front costs in terms of distribution deals, agency deals and so on. But on a platform like eBay, it’s a click of the mouse and you’re suddenly exporting to Australia, for example. On average, small and medium-sized Canadian exporters reach about 2.5 different countries annually, but eBay exporters are reaching more than 20 countries every year. That’s a great benefit in terms of diversification. If one market has a tough year, you can offset that with another market that’s doing better.”

Date modified: 2019-02-04

Chapters