Global ecommerce involves selling products or services online across international borders, allowing merchants to reach new markets, but is dominated by a few major companies. Key considerations for launching a global ecommerce business include pricing strategies, payment preferences, customer service expectations, and shipping logistics. While it offers advantages like increased brand awareness and a broader consumer base, it also presents challenges such as lack of personal interaction and complex regulatory issues.

1. Global Ecommerce

2. Global Ecommerce
• Global ecommerce is the process of selling products or services online
across geopolitical borders to customers in foreign countries.
• Compared to local ecommerce, in which a retailer only sells within its
country of origin, global ecommerce allows merchants to expand into
non-native markets and reach new customers.
• With so many ecommerce platforms, marketplaces and digital
solutions available, there are practically no limits for merchants
looking to sell online, which makes it easier than ever for businesses
to go global.

4. • However, you may be shocked to hear that 58% of global ecommerce
market share is held by just six ecommerce companies:
• Taobao.com (15%) and TMall.com (14%) (both owned by Alibaba
Group),
• Amazon (13%),
• JD.com (9%),
• Pinduoduo (4%) and eBay (3%).
• And only 5% of market share is taken up by other big-name retailers
Rakuten, Walmart, VIP.com, Sunning.com, Apple and Shopee.

5. Establishing Your Global Ecommerce Platform
and Integrations
• Areas to consider when launching your business abroad:
1. Pricing
• According to Harvard Business Review, how customers perceive
pricing is just as important as the price itself.
• Currency conversion is another pain point to consider. In the face of
fluctuating exchange rates, many global retailers instead set a fixed
rate, which helps ensure consistency in pricing.

6. For example
• In high-context countries like China, India, Brazil and Argentina,
products sell better when prices end in zero (such as $10.00), and in
low-context markets like the US, Australia and Norway, customers
respond better to prices that end in 9 ($9.99).

7. 2. Payments.
• According to Statista, in 2020, credit cards and digital/mobile wallets
tied as the most popular ecommerce payment methods in the US,
both holding 30% of the total payment count.

9. • However, looking at payment methods from a global standpoint, the
rankings are a bit different.

11. • This goes to show that customer payment preferences vary from
country to country — so you can’t expect customers abroad to always
pay in credit card.
• For example, in Mexico, 86% of all payments are cash, and in
Southeast Asia, only 15% of the population owns a credit or a debit
card, while almost a third of the population doesn’t own a bank
account.

12. 3. Customer service.
• Customer service is equally as important for your global markets as it
is for your domestic market.
• Thus, when expanding globally, you’ll need to be mindful about how
to address each country’s return policy depending on the preferences
of the market.
• While many American stores have a no-questions-asked return policy,
shoppers in France often assume that all purchases are final, and in
Japan, many stores won’t accept returns for arbitrary reasons.

13. • Another key aspect of customer service is the method of
communication.

15. • Looking at the graph above by Statista, it’s clear that the preferred
communication channels vary widely from country to country,
although phone/voice, email and live chat consistently hold the
greatest popularity.

16. 4. Shipping and logistics.
• According to Statista, the majority of challenges that business owners
face in global ecommerce are related to shipping and logistics:
• Navigation customs: 44.5%
• Cross-border logistics: 37%
• Cross-border returns: 33.5%
• Managing delivery expectations: 34.5%
• Tracking deliveries: 27.5%

17. Benefits of Global E-Commerce
• Global e-commerce may, however, be advantageous for both clients
and clients’ enterprises when implemented intelligently and
effectively.

18. For Businesses
Business advantages include:
• More brand awareness: By developing your brand in other markets,
you may reach a larger audience of potential customers. This
ultimately boosts sales by increasing brand recognition and trust.
• Expanded consumer base: Expanding into new areas and raising
brand awareness to expand your company’s potential clientele.

19. • Discovery and development of new locations: It is a significant factor
in why an online company can try to reach a worldwide clientele.
Before opening a physical site in a foreign nation, expanding your
business abroad enables you to ascertain whether specific sectors will
be profitable.

20. For Customers
Customer advantages include:
• More product preferences: Customers worldwide gain from e-
commerce by obtaining a more comprehensive range of products.
• Rapid growth in information between customers and the business:
A well-planned global e-commerce program makes it possible for
companies to communicate more effectively with their customers.

21. • E-commerce also increases productivity because it is quick to get a
product and make a payment while purchasing online.
• There is no need to visit physical stores, so you can also save time on
transit. Because numerous wholesalers engaged in offline retailers,
consumers had to pay more.

22. Disadvantages of eCommerce
• 1. Lack Of Personal Touch
• 2. Price And Product Comparison
• With online shopping, consumers can compare many products and
find the lowest price. This forces many merchants to compete on
price and reduce their profit margin.

23. • 3. Need For Internet Access
• There's a chance of excluding visitors who have slow connections.
• 4. Credit Card Fraud
• 5. IT Security Issues
• 6. Complexity In Taxation, Regulations, and Compliance