If your company has chosen to expand internationally, you may encounter the issue that your current eCommerce platform is not easily scalable to multiple countries. This limits your company's growth potential. You want not only a good strategy for internationalization but also a scalable eCommerce solution. In this blog, we discuss common problems when going international and how to make your expansion a success.
The four challenges of international expansion
An international expansion requires time, planning, and a solid platform. In practice, there are some common challenges to consider when expanding with your current platform. We list four well-known challenges for you:
- Your platform does not support country or location-specific VAT rules and multiple currencies. In the best case, you can solve this issue with good integrations. However, this can reduce the efficiency of your platform and incur higher costs. In the worst case, this prevents your organization from expanding internationally. You can avoid this problem with a platform that supports and calculates multiple currencies and VAT rules. If this isn't possible, or if these calculations are too complex, Avalara is a useful integration, especially in the U.S. market where different VAT rules apply at the postal code level.
- Lack of flexibility in integrating local payment providers. Many traditional solutions only offer standard Dutch payment methods, making international payments complicated. If your platform primarily targets the Netherlands, it may only support payments via IDEAL and possibly credit card. In some countries, payment systems like PayPal, Afterpay, or cryptocurrencies (like Bitcoin) are more common. It is essential to thoroughly research the different payment service providers that your eCommerce platform needs to support.
- Limited scalability of logistics and inventory management systems. The complexity of international shipping, regulations, and cross-border inventory management is often not considered in the platform's design, making it difficult to manage these processes efficiently.
- Lack of support and technical capabilities for content localization. An international strategy requires localization, with multilingual capabilities being a critical aspect. This feature must be well-embedded in the platform, allowing you to provide everything from images and contact forms to payment options in your desired tone-of-voice, tailored to the target country. Without this capability, you miss one of the best ways to meet country-specific needs.
How to approach international expansion?
Choosing a scalable and flexible
platform with automatic updates and adequate support ensures that your international expansion doesn't get stuck. Opting for a strong and scalable platform directly contributes to your success. The practical question remains: how do you get started?
The local marketplace as your international starting point
After selecting a platform, you'll want to expand as quickly as possible. To do this properly, it's wise to start by gathering as much data as possible. A good first step is to support local marketplaces and distribution channels. To make cross-border eCommerce a success, you can connect with local
marketplaces, which can quickly boost brand recognition. How?
Local marketplaces not only help you generate brand awareness in a new market but also provide an entry point for distribution. Additionally, they offer insights into the competition and can be used as a temporary investment. Starting your international expansion on a local marketplace doesn't mean you have to use it long-term. If used as a temporary investment, these marketplaces can help grow your brand recognition before competing through your own eCommerce webshop.
Tailored customer service for successful international expansion
The (local) culture, language, currency, and shipping are all factors that your customer service will encounter when expanding abroad. The personalized approach that characterizes B2B requires investment compared to your regular Dutch customer service. You need to consider different currencies, delivery expectations, and potential cultural differences. The individualistic and flat business culture of the Netherlands differs from how companies operate in countries like Taiwan, where businesses tend to be more hierarchical and less individualistic. Therefore, it's essential to tailor your customer service to the market. The
Country Comparison tool can assist with this. It allows you to easily and freely compare countries based on six value dimensions, helping your customer service take the first steps toward international expansion.
Successful international expansion in practice: Secrid
How to successfully execute an international expansion and give your company a boost is demonstrated by the Dutch company
Secrid. Secrid aimed to expand its international presence and needed a B2B eCommerce platform to automate order flows and phase out the Excel sheets that retailers used. Additionally, Secrid wanted to achieve a 5% conversion rate, create a
mobile-first B2B shop, and a
headless B2C shop.
By choosing a platform that met their requirements, Secrid managed to recoup the B2C webshop within three months. Four features contributed to this success:
- Link-building status: Secrid uses a single top-level domain: secrid.com, offering SEO advantages over country-specific top-level domains. This approach enhances your link-building status, allowing your webshops in other countries to benefit from the original webshop's status.
- Headless eCommerce: Secrid's B2C sales channel is headless, providing complete freedom in front-end development. This allowed Secrid to continue using its custom and trusted CMS environment. Additionally, both the B2B and B2C sales channels are managed from a single eCommerce environment.
- Localized content: Secrid's focus on localization ensures that their webshops for each active country are available in the local language, with country-specific payment options and compliance with local laws, meeting the international needs of customers and building trust.
- Local VAT rules: Secrid's platform supports country-specific VAT rules, enabling them to use price lists that account for the VAT regulations applicable to each country.
By cleverly addressing local needs and choosing a scalable platform, Secrid was able to establish a solid foundation for international expansion in a short period.
Make your expansion a success
Besides conducting thorough market research to identify opportunities for your eCommerce business, ensure that the foundation is solid before starting an international expansion by choosing a scalable platform. Map out the culture, investigate data processing regulations (such as the Dutch
GDPR or European
GDPR), explore the possibility of starting on a local marketplace, and ensure your platform is scalable and localizable. Following these tips will set you up for a successful international expansion.
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