lfcommsgroup

Many companies are looking at new overseas markets to help increase and sometime just maintain their company revenue. Spring Global Mail, a provider of international mail services, has compiled the following top tips to ensure your international operations are the best they can be.

1 Market research: Conduct proper research before entering new markets. A competitive price/service ratio is imperative for success. You can choose to promote only a selection of your range for international customers, so look for products that are unique, exclusive, or hard to find outside of the UK.

2 Website: Restyle your website for your target country market. Language, currency, product offering, and look and feel should be just right. Do not rely on your home market formula.

3 Search engines: Check your SEO activity. Make sure you are top ranked in the search engines most commonly used in your target countries. It might not be just Google.

4 Payment: Don’t stick with credit cards or standard UK payment methods, but find a payment provider that is able to offer the most commonly used payment systems in your chosen country.

5 Fulfilment: In the early stages of your expansion into international sales outsource your fulfilment. Achieving economies of scale, scalability and operational excellence are essential elements for a successful online store.

6 Compliance: Does your business comply with the rules, regulations and tax regime of your destination country?

7 Parcel delivery: Most of the time, a postal solution is the most cost-effective way to send your products to customers around the world, but sometimes a traceable parcel service is needed. Free delivery to your customers is a way to boost sales, if you can justify the cost.

8 Customer service: Customers may need information that is not available on your site. Make sure you have proper communication channels in place for emails and phone calls. Use a third party supplier to arrange this for you in the local language with a local salesforce.

9 Returns management: Make it easy for overseas customers to return their items. Do not make a complicated returns process a barrier to purchase.

10 Environmental regulations: EU regulations regarding electrical goods (WEEE) mean that branded companies and resellers must take back end-of-life electrical goods. Consumers could be allowed to return these goods at any point of sale, including online stores.