13 Nov Key business drivers and opportunities in cross-border ecommerce
The term cross-border ecommerce has emerged only recently. But consumers have found ways to buy products from foreign markets for decades. Both legally and otherwise.
Expats living overseas, for example, often seek out their favorite brands of chocolate or tea. Price-savvy travelers buy tech goods in Asia. Brits cross the Channel to pick up walletfriendly French wine. Canadians hop south to access a wider selection of retailers in America. Cross-border commerce has existed in a number of guises, long before the age of the Internet.
More recently, improved accessibility for shopping cross-border has evolved. With the proliferation of high-speed Internet, advanced Web and ecommerce technology and more mobile-connected consumers across the world, shoppers frequently cross invisible borders to buy products online. When they do, they often accept hefty import duties, long delivery times and complicated return processes. But, crossborder ecommerce has empowered consumers to shop overseas from the comfort of home, and the advantages often outweigh the complications.
In 2015, there has been a fundamental shift in cross-border ecommerce. It is getting smoother, faster, and cross-border payments are becoming cleaner. This shift, contrary to popular belief, has not been driven solely by increased consumer demand, but mostly by merchants. Historically, a foreign customer brought more complication and liability to a business than their custom was worth. Merchants, particularly in the US or the UK, were unenthusiastic to cater to a global customer. Now, merchants largely see cross-border ecommerce as a profitable venture.
With China proving itself as the strongest ecommerce market at the end of 2014 by some margin, and growth rates still strong despite a rocky economy in 2015, merchants can no longer ignore the Eastern cross-border customer. Our survey results indicate that, not only are merchants more engaged in cross-border ecommerce, they are focusing on emerging markets more than ever before.
Today, cross-border ecommerce is a significant contributing factor to total global ecommerce value, driven mostly by the ‘Big Three’; China, the US and the UK.
No Comments