Our friends at Econsultancy have put together their 11 C’s of internationalising your e-commerce operation, which will help evaluate the specific challenges of each market, as well as give you some good insights into which particular markets to enter. As we all know, reaping the rewards of e-commerce relies a lot on scaling up your operation, and often times in small markets (like our tiny island of Singapore), it is key to look outside our own borders in order to get more sales and new loyal customers. 11 C’s are a lot to go through; you can see the full list here.
Here are a few ‘C’s that stood out:
- Country: There are many out there, all with their own e-commerce pro’s and con’s. If you’re trying to decide which one to go for, analyse what data you already have, and for smaller, local players, the key here will be looking at web traffic patterns to determine where your referral traffic is coming from in order to make the right choice.
- Customers: There will need to be some analysis of your potential customers to find out which market to head towards. What are the levels of engagement, adoption and interaction with online tools in Country X that you are evaluating? You’ll need to know this, as well as trying to line up the demographics of the market with the product or service that you’re offering.
- Culture: This is crucial, and can sometimes be the deciding factor as to why entry into a new market can sometimes fail. Even the design of your website might need some tweaking depending on where the intended audience comes from, besides the obvious language considerations. Then there are trends in online purchasing (are they comfortable with using credit cards for online shopping), and operational and fulfilment concerns revolving around various national holidays etc.
- Currency & Payment: Offering a variety and the types your new customers are familiar with will be key. “For example, Germans have a low adoption of credit cards and prefer to pay through ELV and direct debit. A significant percentage of Scandinavians prefer to pay by cash on delivery.”
In Asia there are a lot of new entrants to the market, and very strong local players in each market. Indonesia particularly is a tough nut to crack, but many of those who have are speaking at The Internet Show Indonesia this December in Jakarta. Amongst the line of distinguished speakers include Google, Nestle, Facebook, Fimela Shop, Oakley Indonesia and Accor. Click here to see the full list of speakers.
If you want to find out more about online shopping in this massive market, register today! Majalah’s members are entitled to a 10% discount off conference tickets. Click here to register directly or quote RLFF. Alternatively, contact Richard at +65 6322 2715 or email to richard.lugtu@terrapinn.com to register.
