International E-Commerce

International e-commerce are commercial transactions that happen over the internet which involve people or businesses located in different countries.  In the modern world, many consumers now shop online and there are a plethora of opportunities available to market to a potential online international customer.   

According to a report published by UPS 71% of European online shoppers have purchased from an international retailer, with 73% of those people have bought from a retailer within Europe and 57% having purchased from a retailer outside of Europe.  The most sought-after goods online in Europe fall under the clothing and footwear categories. 

The biggest concern for international e-commerce shoppers in the previously mentioned report is payment security 75% of the shoppers saying it was important to them.  This is reflective of the overarching online issue of security of information.  It seems every couple of months a new data breach of a company happens to a large company.  Last year Equifax was the major hack with about 145 million Americans’ information being stolen. If you are looking at setting up an e-commerce arm of your business, effective security measures are a necessity.  The second most cited concern in this survey was the total cost being clearly stated.  This measure is usually fairly easy for a company to comply with as long as duties, tariffs, and shipping costs which apply are thoroughly researched in target markets.

While international e-commerce is growing there are some places where consumer awareness of the opportunity to shop internationally online is lagging.  South Korea, India, China, and Japan are cited as countries where customers are most unaware of the opportunity to buy products from other countries online.  As consumer awareness grows in these large markets look for large growth trends in international e-commerce in these countries as well.