e-commerce

1. E-businesshasbecome standardoperatingprocedure forthe vastmajorityof companies.Settingupand
running an e-business, especially one that processes a large number of transactions,requires technical,
marketingandadvertisingexpertise.Consumersliketoaccesstoproductsandservicesona24-by-7basis,
and the easiest way to provide that is to move operations online.The businessesthat provide the most
reliable, most functional, most user-friendly and fastest services will be the ones that succeed.
Industriesare movingall of theiroperationsonline,asitbecomesclearthatthe Web,not constrainedby
geographic boundaries, is a more efficient vehicle for their servicesand allows them to work on a truly
global scale.People are currentlyable topaytheirbills,writeandcashchecks,trade stocks,takeoutloans,
mortgage theirhomesandmanage theirassetsonline.Moneyaswe know itmaycease toexist,replaced
by more convenienttechnologiessuchassmart cards and digital cash.Intelligentprogramswilltake care
of the financial and logistical aspects of the interactions between both the individuals and the
corporations who populate the Internet. All that a person needs to do shopping is a connection, a
computer, and a digital form of payment.
Howevere-commercehasfacinglotsof problems
1: Technical Infrastructure
Launchingsitesininternational marketsdoesn’talwaysmeanthose sitesshouldbe hostedbyserversin
those markets.Inmanycases,that isn’tpossible due tolocal infrastructure limitations.It’soften
unnecessary,too:latencyissuesare usuallyuncommonwhenusingrobustsolutionsthatsmartly
distribute serverloadsacrosslargerregions(suchasEurope).
However,the needforlocal hosting—orgeo-basedserverloadbalancing—canbe quite highinother
international markets.ContentDeliveryNetworks(CDNs) andgeo-loadbalancedserversare oftenused
by companiestoimprove domesticsite speedorreliability,whendeliveringtheirprimary-marketsite
content(ofteninEnglish) tocore customers.However,ininternationalmarkets,CDNshave the added
benefitof makingiteasyto“playnice”witha country’slaws.Thisoftenoccurs inChina.
Findingasolutionorturn-keyvendorthatprovidesdedicatedITresourcesandgeo-loadbalancing,when
appropriate,isimperative.Geo-loadbalancingdirects“aclientrequesttothe service node thatis
[geographically] closesttothe client,ortothe node withthe most capacity,”writesMotionPointclient
Rackspace.“Choosingthe closestservice nodeisdone usingavarietyof techniquesincludingproactive
probingandconnectionmonitoring.”
The result?AsLogan Lenz,a Global Online StrategistforMotionPoint’sGlobalGrowthteam, explains:
“The systemfunctionsatoptimumspeed,whichisgreat.Butthere’salsoanongoingcomponenttothis.
Observationandcare overtime can helpidentifyoptimizationstoensure loadtime isdecreased,and
site functionalityremainsintact.”
2: Logistics/Geopolitical Status
The Internetande-commerce have usheredinaneraof untoldchangesincross-borderconversation,
culture andconsumption.AccordingtoBongoInternational,aproviderof international shippingservices
for businesses,savvycompaniesthatshipoverseascanincrease theirrevenue byanaverage of 17%.

2. But inthe end,governmentsandbureaucracieshave the finalsayinthe flow of mostcross-border
commerce.
Your companywill needto“playnice”withinternational markets’importregulations,tariffs,taxesand
othernuances.(Thisincludesshippingprohibitedandrestricteditems,whichvaryfromcountryto
country.) Your organizationmustabide byexportlaws,too;some governmentssimplywon’tpermit
companiestolegallyshiptospecificcountries.
Further,some international marketsare infamousforlocal corruption,supportingterrorism,orare in a
locale that’sprone tonatural disasters.These thingsandmore can threatenreliable e-commerce
transactionsanddelivery.
There are a fewkeywaysto mitigate these risks.
“Firstly,alignyourproductor industrywiththe potentialthreatsof anarea, andhave solutionsforthose
problems,”Logansays.“For instance,some shippingprovidershave issuesshippingpackagesto
countrieslike Pakistan.Othersdon’t.Choosefulfillmentoptionsthatcan accommodate your
international expansionneeds.”
You can alsopartner witha vendoralreadyfluentinthese marketplaces,andtheirunique challenges.
Theycan educate yourcompanyon bestpracticesin these markets,viable fulfillmentand marketing
options—orinsome cases,advise youtoengage othermarketspoisedtodelivergreaterreturnsatless
risk.
3: In-MarketCustomerSupport
Companieskeentoexpandintointernationalmarketsshouldn’tforgetaboutthe customersupport
needsthese marketswill inevitablyhave.If yourorganizationprovidescustomerservice viae-mail,
inboundphone callsor“contact us” forms,itshoulddeploylocalizedversionsof these experiencesfor
newconsumers,too.
While alocalizedwebsite withacustomer service FAQ(translatedintothe local market’slanguage) will
dramaticallyreduce customerservice requeststhroughself-service,yourcompanywill still fieldcallsand
e-mails.Thisoftenmeanstranslatinge-mailcontent,andprovidinglocal phone numbersforcustomer
service representatives.
4: RelevantPaymentMethods
“Withoutusingan all-in-one fulfillmentpartner,”Logansays,“mostpaymentprovidersbymarketallow
for simple adoptionintoCMS/CRMplatforms.Lookforpartnerswhocan identifythe properpayment
methodsforeachmarket.Reputable vendorsuse trackingalarmsandQA teamsto ensure these
paymentmethodsare workingcorrectlyatall times.”
Indeed,U.S.retailersare veryfamiliarwithcreditcardsandPayPal,butmostdon’tunderstand that
those paymenttypesaren’tactuallyubiquitousbeyondU.S.borders.If these customersdon’tsee their
preferredpaymentoptions,theywon’ttransact.
Our researchabsolutelysupportsthis.Loganrecallsone clientwholaunchedane-commerce site,and
acceptedonlycreditcard paymentsforthe firstfew monthsonline.“Butafterintegratinglocal payment

3. options,revenueskyrocketed,”Logansays.“Withinweeks,afull thirdof itssite revenuehailedfrom
these local optionstransactions.Orderswereup,too.”
Anotherclientalsosawamazingliftswhenadoptinglocal paymentplatforms.Itsconversionrate grew
by 217%, the quantitypertransactionincreasedby33%,and revenue grew 210%.
WrappingUp
The takeawayisclear: International online retailis where the actionis—andwhere it’ll stay.Companies
that partnerwithworld-classvendorswhohave athoroughunderstandingof the markets’cultures,
politicsandcustomerexpectationscanwinbig,yearafteryear.
How to improve e-commerce
Increased Visibility
1. Optimize Your Website for Search Engines. ...
2. Use Pay Per Click Advertising as a Balance to Search Engine Optimization. ...
3. Use Social Media Marketing to Talk with People and Share Your Best Content. ...
4. Build a List Loyal of Customers Using E-mail Marketing.