Expanding beyond borders, have you identified your next export market yet?
As more people get comfortable with e-commerce, online cross-border shopping can be the thing for your business.
It’s time to sell online. We’ve discussed this before, whether how to get it started or what it actually takes to do it.
Actually, it might be time to roll-out to new and bigger markets.
The logistics industry is growing at a fast rate and might be one of the few industries repeating the rewards of this pandemic and hellish 2020 year. They are sometimes struggling to recruit and grow at the face that the market demands as home-shoppers grow and grow.
Now let’s be clear from the start, this is no easy task. There’s a lot of details to work out from production and shipping partners to actual payment collection – and let’s not forget understanding consumer behavior in your new global marketplace.
You need to decide on what channels you will be using and the budget you are able to allocate. It’s an investment, just like the one you did when you first started your business. It can hit and it can miss. There is no right or easy way, there will be lots of trials and errors. But with proper research and a smart way of approaching an educated guess might be your best chance.
You can try using Google’s Market Finder to help you identify more markets based on the products and services you sell. You can even consult Google Trends to dig into top searches in the country you’re aiming at before you being your efforts.
Once you've identified potential markets, there are ways to test which one is the right for you and to explore it before you fully deploy. Here are some quick examples
- Pre-orders via Facebook Lead Ads
- Use broad campaigns to see results from multiple countries. You then rate and weigh each country's performance and judge accordingly.
- Offer freebies as part of a questionnaire to survey and understand potential markets
It might not be the way forward for your business or it might. However, it’s something you should consider and be prepared for before you’re way behind to even attempt it. You don’t want to find yourself lagging as more and more brands expand their international presence and seek out their targets.
No one can predict the future but you can be ready to respond quickly when the trends shift quickly.
We’re not saying we have all the answers either but we know the right approach to tackle an expansion. You don’t have to make this decision alone. Let us help.