E-Exporting Tools for Small Businesses that Go Online
Every year, millions of new buyers connect to the internet throughout the world. This expansion is reflected in electronic commerce, particularly business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce. Because of the Internet's worldwide reach, it provides a cost-effective way to sell products and services internationally. Companies who develop a corporate website to promote their products and services can create an electronic system for safe and secure electronic transactions, track orders, give a customer care interface, and disclose technical details for their products. Small and medium-sized businesses can expand their foreign market presence by implementing user-friendly e-commerce or electronic business practices for non-English speakers.
What Is E-Commerce
It is the act of using the internet to buy and sell products and services. The transaction is performed via an electronic network that includes the vendor's, a web host's, and the buyer's computer systems, all of which are connected to the Internet.
Electronic Commerce in International Trade and Business
Small and medium-sized enterprises seeking for new markets for their goods and services might considerably benefit from using the Internet to do worldwide commerce. The Internet is used by more than a billion individuals throughout the world. For the entrepreneur, this presence opens up a huge potential consumer base. Simultaneously, business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce has exploded. Many marketing initiatives in Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America are progressively shifting online to seek new business in regions and nations previously deemed to be beyond their means.
They're also looking for new suppliers and services to satisfy their internal requirements, as well as partners with whom they may share production and marketing obligations. GE, for example, has moved all of its sourcing and bidding operations to the Internet. Going online minimizes the variable costs of worldwide marketing for specific sectors, products, and services. Order processing, payment, after-sales support, marketing (direct e-mail), and advertising may all be done online, potentially lowering the expenses of foreign market expansion compared to traditional "brick-and-mortar" market penetration tactics. There is one important caveat to remember: even if English is spoken in many countries, it is still necessary to look into the languages spoken in the countries where your company's e-business strategy is intended.
Your website should be built to appeal to the broadest possible audience in the languages spoken by that population. Electronic trade must be seen outside of the traditional business arena in the context of the Internet. Marketing, production, and consumption are all affected by e-commerce. Customers' information collected through online retailers may be utilized to modify items, estimate demand, and plan company strategy. Consumers use the internet to not only pay for goods and services, but also to research items, bargain with sellers, and show their preferences through their shopping habits.
E-commerce has a lot of potential for American businesses looking to use the Internet as another means of exporting. You should, however, be aware of the measures required to make your company's website e-export-ready. Many American businesses have a website that serves one or more marketing roles specific to their industry.
Website for Business Transactions
A transactional website can be an online storefront for a brick-and-mortar store or a catalog company, or it might be a showcase for a manufacturer who wants to sell directly to the public. Customers can look for, buy, and pay for things online, as well as contact the firm for aftersales care, with transactional websites doing full "end-to-end" transactions through the website. By connecting the transaction process with back-office systems like accounting, inventory, service, and sales, the most advanced websites provide efficiency.
A website with useful information
Rather than facilitating online transactions, an informative website increases revenues by raising business awareness. It functions similarly to a brochure in that it contains product or service information as well as contact information for making a purchase. Because such a website is frequently static and does not necessitate the software systems required for online transactions, design, and maintenance costs are lower than for a transactional website. Companies that sell products and services that cannot be given online or things that cannot be sold online would benefit from an informational website. A modified version of this service allows buyers to shop online for the best price from rival merchants offering the same goods, such as approved vehicle manufacturers. The buyer may view the configuration and get an estimated price for the car using the information on available options for a specific model.
E-Marketplaces
These websites are market makers since they connect buyers and sellers to make transactions easier. Participating in a brokerage can be a cost-effective approach to locating customers without having to construct a transactional website from scratch. Auctions, virtual malls, and matching services are some of the several types of brokerages.
eBay, Amazon, and Alibaba, situated in China, are just a few examples of marketplaces. Some of these platforms make bulk purchases from suppliers and organize all logistics themselves as they create fulfillment centers throughout the world in their bid to be closer to consumers and deliver goods faster.
Web-based market development
Market development is a crucial aspect for websites of all sorts, just as it is for brick-and-mortar businesses, and it must be an intrinsic part of your company's e-business presence on the Internet. As an extension and component of your business growth goals, your organization should analyze and assess the benefits of internet advertising. Advertising messages are frequently seen on portals and other websites that attract visitors with content (such as news and information) and services (such as e-mail, chat, and forums). You could want to target a certain demographic or advertise on search engines with a lot of traffic.
Some portals charge for preferential link placement or advertising based on certain search phrases in a user's query. Companies may also consider employing an ad network, which distributes adverts throughout a network of websites, allowing for large-scale marketing campaigns. These choices are available in English or other languages in the United States and globally.
Direct e-mail marketing is a low-cost and effective technique to reach out to thousands of potential consumers. Depending on the market, product, or service, direct e-mail can be used to advertise and strengthen web presence. However, direct marketers should be cognizant of regulation in various countries that governs unsolicited commercial e-mail. According to the Direct Marketing Association, direct e-mail campaigns should include:
1. A truthful topic line
2. There are no falsified headers or technical ruses.
3. The sender's identification, including a physical address.
4. A clear and easy-to-use opt-out clause
Before using e-mail marketing, be mindful of the possibility for consumer reaction against unsolicited e-mails from people who are overwhelmed by the volume of such e-mails they get. To guarantee full compliance with the legislation, businesses should review the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing (CAN-SPAM).
Assessing Your Company's Online Readiness
Companies that want to build a web presence must first determine whether or not they have the essential information technology (IT) solutions in place to achieve their online objectives. IT refers to a collection of computer systems and software programs that are used to manage websites and other technical resources. With the growth of cyber assaults on government and business websites, investing in security solutions can assist you and your customers avoid downtime and identifying theft.
• What are your company's current IT needs?
• What are your company's current IT needs? Are they being met right now? What plans do you have for more IT investment to update existing systems?
• Which business applications are most suited for e-commerce, whether B2B or B2C?
• Have you conducted a cost-benefit analysis of all potential IT projects?
• Have you recognized existing and prospective security vulnerabilities, as well as a plan in place to address them?
How to Get Started on the Internet
Before your organization can conduct business over the Internet, you must create the framework. Customers need to know who you are and how to contact you. Then, if customers wish to acquire what your firm has to offer, you must make the exchange of money for your goods as simple as possible.
Choosing a Website Address
Your web address, also known as your unified resource locator (URL) or domain name, is crucial for both the domestic and foreign markets. Customers in the target market expect it to be brief, straightforward, descriptive, and memorable. Every nation (with the exception of a few regions) has a reserved two-letter country-code domain (for example, the United Kingdom's two-letter domain is ".uk").
An online exporter may decide to buy web addresses that are specific to the target markets. Locally branded web addresses have the potential to boost brand visibility and memory, as well as affect brand sales and loyalty. Furthermore, by restricting search results to include only local country-code web addresses, local search engines may give emphasis to locally relevant material. If your firm wants a local web address, you'll need to understand the legislation of the nation you're interested in, as registration procedures differ.
If your business is looking for international clients, you might want to consider an internationalized domain name (IDN). An IDN is a web address that is written partially or entirely in a language-specific script or alphabets, such as Arabic, Chinese, Cyrillic, or Tamil, or in English-style letters with characteristics above or below letters, as in Spanish, French, Turkish, and Vietnamese. For instance, a firm called Bright Light Bulbs that wants to sell in China may create a web address that includes the Chinese characters for "bright light bulbs." Customers may search and access websites in their local language using IDNs.
Search Engine Visibility
Because the majority of people use search engines to find information on the Internet, your website must be visible in the appropriate search engines, including regional/local search engines that cater to certain languages.
Major worldwide search engines like Google and Bing go out of their way to identify new websites and catalog the information they uncover based on the quality, quantity, and perceived utility of the material. To check where your firm and products rank in search engine results, you should do your own searches.
If you are having trouble finding yourself on major search engines, you may need to reevaluate your website and its contents, either by conducting your own SEO or consulting with web content or SEO professional.
Additional search engines are frequently designed to promote material in one or more local languages or dialects, and they appeal to either a region-specific language or a more local demographic. For example, Baidu, a significant Chinese online services company, operates China's most popular search engine.
Search engines locate and display websites in a variety of ways. Always do your research on the search engines utilized in your target market(s) and, if required, register your site with them so that it appears in search results.
Choosing a Web Hosting Service
A web host is a corporation that keeps website files on a server. Many Internet service providers provide a variety of free and subscription-based web hosting options. Web hosting services frequently involve web address registration, website design, and search engine registration in addition to website management. Some online exporters may find it more practical to employ a web host in their target market to take advantage of the host's localized services. The location or country of the website host does not usually influence the site's accessibility; nonetheless, your organization should make sure that the host's servers are housed in secure infrastructure and are regularly maintained for maximum uptime.
Website Content Localization and Internationalization
Companies who wish to reach out to a global audience should either localize or internationalize their websites. They may also provide a combination of the two methods. Localization is the process of modifying a website to match the linguistic, cultural, and commercial needs of a certain market. Without the need for substantial redesign, internationalizing a website allows a corporation to be bilingual and attentive to cultural traditions. The online exporter's company plan for website and business development must include localization or internationalization. The following are some features to think about for your business:
• Payment preferences
• Pricing in the right currency
• Currency converter
• Language
• Cultural subtleties, such as color associations and symbols
• Payment preferences
• Pricing in the appropriate currency
• Metric measures
• Duty and tax information for your product based on important country markets
Getting Your Website Noticed
Setting a shop does not ensure a steady stream of consumers. You can't wait for people to find your website if you want it to be successful. You may market your website without spending a lot of money in a variety of ways:
• Send short pieces about your firm and website to trade journals that serve your target market's bigger industry or business sector (s).
• Include your URL on business cards, letterheads, envelopes, packaging, and other promotional items.
• Inquire whether international visitors would want to receive "opt-in" advertisements, which are basically e-mails offering impending bargains or new items. Encourage visitors who have agreed to get the opt-in advertising to forward them to a friend or family member. People who agree to get opt-in advertising are seven times more likely to make a purchase than other visitors.
• Consider sending a follow-up e-mail with a coupon for a discount on your products and services to people who visited or registered on your website but did not buy anything.
• Promote your website, goods, and expertise using social media.
Execution of Orders and After-Sales Support
Handle your online purchases the same way you treat your offline orders: be educated about payment methods and conditions, shipping and price, customer support, and taxation, as well as other issues covered in previous blogs.
Terms & Conditions of Payment
Companies that use the Internet to communicate with consumers in other countries usually utilize their website to handle orders and take payments. Because payment behaviors differ by nation, it's critical to discover and implement the most common payment methods into the website's order-processing component.
Using a Credit Card
Many international clients utilize credit cards for online purchases in B2C transactions; nevertheless, credit cards are not a universally preferred means of online payment. A corporation must open a credit card merchant account with a bank in order to provide credit card payment services. In exchange for a charge, the bank will conduct the transactions.
Companies should examine bank charge structures to see which one works best for the size and quantity of transactions they anticipate. Although the transactions are quick, credit cards come with their own set of concerns. For online exporters, chargebacks may be quite costly. Fraud, a disagreement about the quality of the product, non-receipt of merchandise, or an inaccurate amount charged to the card are all common grounds for chargebacks. If your organization accepts online credit card transactions, you should be familiar with the regulations of credit card issuers and banks regarding chargebacks, as well as how to avoid them.
Transfers from one account to another
Many nations use account-to-account (A2A) transfers, in which money is transmitted electronically between a customer's and a merchant's bank. A2A transactions, which take place in real-time, have the added benefit of lowering the risk of fraud and chargebacks. Unfortunately, because A2A transactions are uncommon in the United States, just a few banks in the United States provide this service.
Transfers from one person to another
Many businesses provide person-to-person (P2P) transfers, in which money is given electronically to a third party, who then deposits it in the merchant's account. PayPal is one P2P service provider that handles cross-border transactions. PayPal allows anybody with an e-mail address to securely send and receive online payments using a credit card or bank account. PayPal will also handle currency conversion, allowing customers and merchants to conduct business in their preferred currency. A comparable feature is provided by Google Wallet. Other P2P services, such as Western Union's BidPay, receive a credit card payment from the payer and send the payee a money order.
Services of Escrow
This time-honored mode of payment is increasingly being employed for export. By definition, an escrow service, such as escrow.com, decreases the risk of fraud by serving as a trusted third party who receives, stores, and disburses cash according to the instructions of the exporter and importer.
Other Important Considerations in Sales
Setting up an international website necessitates taking into account a number of additional issues, notably in terms of foreign legal and regulatory regulations.
Protection.
Organizations in the United States that collect personally identifiable information online should clearly display their privacy policies and provide their data subjects (e.g., customers, employees, and other business contacts) with choices about how their personal information is used.
Customers should be able to opt-out of having their personal data shared with third parties or used for marketing purposes. Many nations have privacy regulations, and businesses must abide by them or risk being prosecuted.
The European Union, for example, forbids the transfer of personal data to non-EU countries that do not fulfill the EU's privacy "adequacy" requirement.
The US Department of Commerce, in collaboration with the European Commission and the private sector, has devised a safe-harbor structure that allows US businesses to comply with EU standards in a simplified manner.
At export.gov/safeharbor, businesses can self-certify to the safe harbor.
Safety
Consumers frequently cite security concerns as a justification for not using the Internet to place orders. The Internet is secure compared to traditional modes of consumer purchasing—as long as the online merchant takes reasonable business measures. If your company's exporting business includes a transactional website, you should include a security statement to reassure consumers.
Signatures by e-mail
In legal words, an online sale is a genuine and binding agreement that may be enforced. In certain international marketplaces, however, a contract is only binding if it is signed "in writing." Such governments do not accept electronic signatures and would not enforce an agreement reached by e-mail or a website in the case of a dispute. Despite the fact that many nations have changed their laws to recognize electronic signatures, online exporters should double-check that their target markets accept them. If they do, the next step is to figure out which signatures are prohibited, if any, and which technologies are authorized.
Commercial E-mail that has been sent to you without your permission.
Because its usage is contentious, unwanted commercial e-mail (UCE), often known as unsolicited bulk e-mails (UBE) or spam, is relevant to international e-commerce. Many businesses view UCE as a cost-effective and rapid way to market their products and services to a large number of potential clients. UCE, on the other hand, costs individuals and organizations a lot of time, money, equipment, and productivity. There are laws against UCE in many local and foreign countries, and violating them can result in sanctions.
Furthermore, several e-mail service providers, such as America Online and Yahoo!, have policies prohibiting the transmission of UCE. Visit thedma.org for more information about UCE.
Content for Advertising
Most nations have advertising content rules that might apply to websites, banner advertisements, and marketing e-mails sent from the US. Before launching a marketing campaign, online exporters should investigate the advertising rules of their target market. If you export highly regulated items and services, such as medicines or insurance, you may be subject to disclosure requirements and claim restrictions. Companies should stay away from:
• Comparative advertising (i.e., contrasting your company's goods or services to those of a rival)
• Children-targeted advertising
• Use of lotteries, competitions, contests, games, and betting as part of a promotional offer
• Use of pictures or sounds that may be deemed intellectual property and may require the artist's consent
At iccwbo.org, the International Chamber of Commerce provides standards for advertising and marketing on the Internet.
Region
Online exporters should be aware that they are conducting business in a foreign jurisdiction, which means the goods and services they sell are subject to the rules and regulations of the target market. An online medical equipment exporter, for example, should confirm that the equipment has been certified for usage in a foreign market. Companies should be aware that the transaction may fall within the jurisdiction of a foreign market. In other words, the contract laws of the foreign market may apply.
Sincerity
Customers rely greatly on reputation, thus dealing in good faith is possibly more vital for internet firms than for brick-and-mortar organizations. Furthermore, in most nations, acting differently is unlawful. If you do business online, you must:
• Follow ethical business, advertising, and marketing practices
• provide accurate, clear, and easily available information about your firm and its products and services.
• Ensure that customers understand the terms, conditions, and expenses of the transaction before concluding the purchase
• Address consumer complaints and challenges swiftly and fairly
See the Federal Trade Commission's advisory for businesses at 1.usa.gov/1xTK95c for additional information on online good-faith transactions.
Marketplaces for E-Commerce
Of course, you may sell only on third-party e-commerce sites like eBay, Amazon, Alibaba, and others. Their payment methods, as well as their shipping and logistical services, are available to you. All third-party platforms offer web-based capabilities for managing sales and costs.
Alternatively, you may try a mix of channels, such as various distributors, your own e-commerce site, and third-party e-commerce sites. The sales numbers will help you assess which alternatives will benefit your firm the most over time.