
Shipping internationally
One of the things that worry ecommerce traders who haven’t exported is the fulfilment side. But if you’re methodical it isn’t an issue. It’s important to use an ecommerce platform which allows you to create multiple, customised shipping plans. These will need to vary by country, weight or order value, meaning a merchant can choose different delivery companies to suit each option (if required). Free shipping is a powerful marketing tool, though you may want to restrict it to certain countries where it makes financial sense to offer it. Peter Kennaugh Snr of Three Legs Cycling sells exclusive indoor cycle training DVDs and digital downloads featuring his son, 2012 gold medallist Mark Cavendish and other world class riders. This is his experience: “Slower shipping times for international orders can be a real problem, so we make sure customers are made fully aware of delivery lead times upfront. To offset the slower delivery we started offering free worldwide shipping, which has made a huge difference to customer satisfaction.”International pricing and payments
Selling abroad isn’t just confined to physical goods. Ken Holmes is principal consultant at Public IT, providing information security, business continuity and IT service management solutions. He says: “We started out using PayPal as our main payment method, but have now added WorldPay as an extra option as this allows customers in countries such as Nigeria to make purchases too.”Share this story
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