Gain an onshore advantage: 4 elements for a successful global ecommerce strategy

Expanding into new global markets represents a tremendous growth opportunity for ecommerce brands, but it also comes with significant challenges. There are important customer engagement considerations like creating brand awareness and demand for your product while providing a compelling shopping experience. But equally important are the back-end functions that make it possible to operate your ecommerce business in a new foreign market.

You need to consider things like payments, transaction processing, fulfilment, compliance, and tax remittance. All of these factors can be unique to each new market. So, successful global expansion really comes down to mastering localisation: looking, feeling and operating like a local company. This is a concept that we call The Onshore Advantage™.

Here are four top insights on what growing brands need to do to manage the complexities of global expansion and successfully break into new markets. 

1. Devise a macro entry strategy

All of these things come together to provide a comprehensive view of the market so you can devise a macro entry strategy. That strategy, coupled with a growth mentality instilled at every level of your company, should guide your decision making throughout your expansion into new global markets.

2. Understand your customer

While ‘know your customer’ may seem like a basic concept, it is extremely important to dedicate time and resources to get it right. Even companies with high brand awareness and demand in new markets have failed in their global expansion efforts because they made assumptions about the local customer, instead of thoroughly checking the market reality.

To avoid these mistakes, build a robust voice-of-the-customer program that involves interviews, surveys, or other means to drill down into what makes those local consumers unique. Maintain your brand promise, while also targeting it to those nuanced differences. Because no two countries are the same, you won’t be able to transpose sales strategies to new markets based on previous market data. Therefore, make sure to repeat your customer analysis processes in every new global market you’re looking to enter.

3. Create a comprehensive system of record

For successful global expansion, companies must invest properly to create a company-wide system of record for all customer records, no matter where they are located worldwide. One example is investing in technology that allows you to join your global customer support data with your sales database to provide a premium customer experience. The goal is to build comprehensive marketing and sales strategies based on a complete picture of the customer, from acquisition to the end of their lifecycle.

This holistic approach to customer records will allow you to be more successful in demand generation and develop localized sales strategies that get results globally. So, making an early decision about having a system of record for your global customer data is absolutely vital – and may require partnering with brands who can provide this for you.

4. Leverage partnerships effectively

Focus on your core competencies and try to find vendors who truly understand your company and bring your company DNA into the process. When expanding globally, choose a partner who can take on things like payments, tax, fraud and compliance, so you can focus on creating the products your customers want. That way, you can create a truly excellent customer experience and achieve global ecommerce success in your new markets.

Want to dive in further?

If you are interested in learning more about expanding your commerce operations into new markets and how your brand can gain The Onshore Advantage™, grab your passport to global commerce in our new ebook here. 

About Adam Coyle

Adam Coyle has spent over 25 years in the financial technology industry in a wide range of executive roles. Adam joined Digital River as CEO after spending three years as a Digital River board member and executive partner at Siris Capital. Before joining Siris he was executive vice president of strategy and corporate development for Vantiv (now FIS WorldPay), a role he assumed after serving as the president of one of Vantiv’s major subsidiaries, National Processing Company. Adam’s prior experience also includes time spent as an operating partner at Advent International, a leading global private equity firm, and a variety of senior leadership roles at First Data Corporation.  He is a current or former director of numerous companies, including Transaction Network Services, Intralinks, FirstBank, Paymentech, NYCE and First Financial Bank.

About Digital River

With more than 25 years’ experience, Digital River has mastered the ins and outs of global commerce. Established and fast-growing brands alike rely on our flexible, API-powered solutions to sell directly to their customers. Our modular platform, global expertise and advanced partner ecosystem let brands focus on creating seamless buyer experiences, while we work behind the scenes to handle payments, fraud, taxes and compliance on your behalf. Brands benefit from our Global Seller Services, expertly designed to help accelerate global expansion, grow revenue and protect their business from risk.