Many ecommerce site owners automatically assume international shipping is a pain in the neck. It’s going to be too much trouble. They’ll get scammed. People won’t pay the shipping costs to ship their products overseas.
But that’s all changing in today’s economy. With a weaker US dollar, shopping American is now considered a bargain for the international community, who has to pay a much higher price for the same goods in their own country. That is, if their country even has those goods available. And where American consumers are tightening their belts and anxious about spending this holiday season, smart ecommerce shops are looking abroad for new customers.
A few of my clients have recently opened their shops to accept international orders to a select list of European and Asian countries, and the response has been highly promising. With the currency exchange rate favorable to international orders, even the higher shipping costs do not negate the bargains the US shops offer and the orders are flowing.
It’s a great time to test the waters. For most ecommerce sites, accepting international orders is fairly easy to set up within your cart’s administrative system. First you’ll need to add the countries you feel comfortable with, and ensure that your shop is able to handle international address field inputs. Also, you’ll need to make sure your payment gateway’s fraud parameters are set up to accept international credit cards.
Next you’ll need to figure out how to handle international shipping. We’ve found that the simplest way to handle shipping is by setting up a simple zone-based table rate configured by price or weight, and define each country accordingly. The shop then displays international shipping options based on the ship to address at checkout. It’s a simpler method that doesn’t allow for express shipping options, but has worked for us so far. This requires some rounding of actual shipping costs, but using the table rate method keeps the process simple, allowing the shop owner to tweak shipping charges if the actual costs are generally higher or lower.
Finally, don’t forget to advertise that you now accept international orders! Put it prominently on your site, so international visitors quickly know they can actually SHOP at your site and not simply BROWSE. American branded products are still hot sellers overseas, so why not take advantage of it and open your doors a little wider? It doesn’t cost a lot to test the waters, and you might find a whole new market eager to order the great products you have to offer. Good luck!
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