eCommerce Merchants Successfully Tapping Global Marketplace

Merchants ignoring the international market could be foregoing that level of potential revenue. But in a seeming contradiction, only 59% of medium and larger web merchants choose to pursue the international sales channel, despite the success noted above. The reasons for this are explored in the new survey -- first among them is fear of fraud. Merchants that accept international orders report their online fraud rate is four times the rate they experience with U.S. and Canadian orders. (This corresponds almost exactly with findings in CyberSources Fifth Annual Online Fraud Report, published late last year.) The full list of reasons cited for not accepting orders from outside North America are, in order of importance, 1) fear of fraud; 2) logistics of order fulfillment, 3) payment infrastructure; 4) tax issues; 5) export regulations; 6) support of local payment options; 7) management of currency conversion; 8) lack of demand or product fit. Companies that accept international orders say they do business with virtually all areas of the world, the U.K. and Germany having the highest percentage of participation (91%), and Asia outside of Japan having the lowest at 72%. But fewer than half those companies support common international payment methods, suggesting there are significant gains to be made in this arena by expanding acceptance of country-specific payment mechanisms.