Cross border trade in multi channel retail has been a hot topic for some time now, making it the perfect opportunity for Volo to discuss best practice. Ecommerce growth has started to slow down in Western Europe, but this doesn’t have to be seen as a bad thing. Western Europe’s market (where online retail accounts for 6.3% of all retail sales and cross border is 14%, PFS Web report) is one of the most stable in the world. This means investments are safer and more trustworthy.
The UK leads Europe in ecommerce sales, and it also has the highest percentage of online retail sales in any country in 2014. However, you would be right in thinking the UK is becoming ‘overcrowded’. From a Currencies Direct report out last month, the UK came out as the top country for exporting, and predicted that 18.5 million cross border shoppers would be spending £18.0 billion by 2018. Many multi channel ecommerce sellers and retailers already sell overseas, but what are the best countries to target? If you want to achieve brand status internationally, cutting corners is not an option. Being as clear and relatable as possible is essential for targeting audiences abroad.
Recently, research giant IMRG reported that over half of UK retail site visits were from mobile devices. More than a third of sales were completed on a mobile device. These statistics only account for UK ecommerce. If you consider the data on a global scale, the opportunity for growth is huge. This can be seen especially in the Far East. Mobile tech has become increasingly more of a necessity in countries like China, with smartphone use surpassing 700 million. mcommerce therefore represents a huge potential market for multi channel ecommerce businesses.
From a platform perspective, Volo can help you test the water in new areas. We can also help you immediately multiply the addressable market from a UK audience to an international or global one. This will help you figure out where the greatest demand is for your products, what the seasonal demands are, and how much of your stock you want to list where. You can then plan investing in local language presences on eBay’s international sites. You can be safe in the knowledge that as you sell and ship your products the multi channel ecommerce platforms automatically synchronise your inventory and stock levels. This can be across all the sites you trade in, removing the risk of dangerous overselling situations.
What our Cross Border Trade Business Class attendees said
The first of our successful ‘Business classes’ was held last week on the subject of Cross Border Trade (CBT), with attendees commenting that they “really enjoyed the range of topics covered” and “all the talks extremely informative with a lot of value in each”. If you want find out more on the event and future classes, look out for more information coming soon.
Watch a taster of one of the classes, with ZigZag’s CEO Al Gerrie
If you want to learn more about selling internationally, click here to download the Volo ebook
