International Online Sales

If you are thinking of internationalizing your online store, that is, trying to sell in another country that is not yours, or if you receive orders from another country, what questions should you consider to do it in the best possible way? How do I internationalize my online store?

International ecommerce

1-The language:

We must reach the native language of our target audience. This in the European Union is somewhat complex as there are so many languages. Spanish or Castilian is great for Latin America but the export costs are much higher.

We must translate our online store. We can use automatic translations but they negatively affect your SEO or positioning on the internet. You can use official, sworn or native translation services, which is a good option, but if you generate traffic in the destination country, you will need the same level of translation, which should tie up costs. And we can incorporate a native or native into the template, which can be a good option in the long term, but at the same time the most expensive.

2-Customer service.

Most customers prefer to buy it in a store that offers service in the language of the regional country, they are even willing to pay more for it due to the distrust generated by an online store without customer service in the regional language.

3-Sell my products or services.

Unless your product or service is very exclusive, there you will have competition, of course. You must find the reason why they will buy your products or services and not those of another already installed there. If you are a manufacturer, you should carefully analyze your market niche, the quality of similar products that are sold in the country where you intend to internationalize and their prices. If you are a retailer, you compete primarily on price or alternative brands that have not arrived in the countries you intend to enter. Market analysis must be exhaustive to guarantee the success of internationalization.

4-International shipments.

Cost of international shipments. If you have volume of shipments and your agency offers shipments to the rest of the world, it will be easier to negotiate the international rate, otherwise the rate will be higher.

Transport agencies tend to work by zones, each zone generally delimited by a country or group of countries will have a cost per kg and defined delivery times, as well as different rates depending on whether the transport is urgent or economical. Transport companies that only operate in Spain can serve your merchandise to other countries but in many cases you will lose traceability since when the package crosses the border, another company is in charge of delivering the package and your initial tracking number stops tracking. It can be useful for making punctual shipments, but you will have to find a solution when you have a high volume of shipments.

5-Culture and customs of the country.

It will depend on the country of destination to which we are going to sell abroad and on the type of products and services. You must open your point of view and try to position yourself instead of your target customer.

That client does not think like you, may not value the things that you value the same and will surely have different preferences and tastes, as well as a lifestyle that may have nothing to do with yours.

6-Taxation and currency abroad.

Forms of payment: study which ones work in the country of destination, for example, while in Spain cash on delivery is not common in Nordic countries.

Currency: in the EU, the euro simplifies the matter, but if the destination country works with another currency, you should consider exchange rates, swaps,…

Customs: if you sell outside the EU, the issue becomes complicated and you depend on the customs processing in each country of transit and destination.

Taxation: In tax matters it may be convenient to receive specialized advice. You must bear in mind that there are billing ranges and limits to bill with Spanish VAT in other countries, there will come a time when you will be required to formalize a company in the destination country.

7-Legal issues.

Find out about all the legal aspects related to the sale of the products so as not to incur any type of sanction.

Especially if you sell products related to food, health … Certain products are protected in some countries, you may even be selling products in Spain that are prohibited in other regions.

In the same way, the regulations applied to the online store, the privacy and data protection policies are different in other countries and especially outside the European Union.

8-The Marketplace as an alternative.

A marketplace is a platform that acts as an intermediary between sellers and customers. That is, within a marketplace you can find numerous brands and stores, whose products or services are sold through this website and not directly through them. It is an alternative in the initial steps.

9-Planning.

The internationalization process requires planning. It is important to know the destination market (competition, prices, differential value …), connect with the interests of your customers there, have an international marketing plan (web and hosting, blog, social networks …), a valid ecommerce platform (multi-store , means of payment), logistics (stock, terms and forms of delivery, returns …), customer service (language of the country …). Internationalization is an attractive and positive project that must be done with care.