Buying British has never been more popular among the world’s online shoppers. And one business already reaping the rewards is Chain Reaction Cycles (CRC). CRC was once a small local shop in Ballynure – a village in Northern Ireland founded in 1984. It is now the world’s largest online cycle store, with annual sales of £140 million and a team of 700 staff who pick, pack and dispatch around 80,000 items every week. CRC now sells to over 100 countries and its mobile-optimised website offers eight languages and ten transactional currencies. 70 per cent of sales come from abroad.
PayPal has been working with CRC since 2007, so I caught up with the company’s Ecommerce Director, Michael Cowan, and discussed his top tips for maximising this huge growth opportunity and how other businesses can tap into the vast, borderless potential of international e-commerce.
1. Think global
Our first point of discussion was the businesses need to have an international mind-set. In Michael’s words: "CRC has always had an attitude of ‘thinking global’ – even in the days before on-line we initially started selling through advertisements in cycling magazines and if someone called from Sweden and said ‘can you sell me this’, we said yes… and then figured out how to get it there." That quickly evolved into launching a website with a specific focus on cross-border sales.
We agreed that you don’t just consider what UK shoppers are looking for but invest in appealing to a wider, global audience. This could include translating your website into local languages, engaging with potential shoppers using widely used social media platforms – such as the popular Chinese channel WeChat – and offering payment options in foreign currencies.
2. Do your research
With that in mind, businesses looking to build a successful, international business need to understand who they’re selling to. Each market will be unique – and shoppers will have their own traditions, holidays, habits and customs that affect how and when they buy.
At CRC, Michael works alongside a customer service team of local market specialists who advise on the cultural nuances that impact marketing and sales activities in each country. However, smaller businesses who are also looking for local market expertise can find useful resources online, including on PayPal’s website PassPort, which offers free tools and country-specific guidance to help boost overseas sales.
3. Confidence is key
It’s asking a lot from people to buy from the other side of the world – and Michael advises businesses to look into ways of building overseas shoppers’ trust in your brand. CRC found that providing customer service in the customers’ native language was instrumental in fostering their trust, so now, their team of native Japanese, Russian, French, German, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese speakers offer direct support to international customers.
Partnerships with well-known global and local brands also proved invaluable. CRC works with a range of delivery carriers each of which has strengths (or strengths of reputation) in particular countries and has found using PayPal to process payments has given customers extra confidence in purchasing from CRC overseas. Michael said, "It’s asking a lot from people to buy from the other side of the world and PayPal gives customers extra confidence." Italy, Australia and Spain are among the countries where PayPal has proven particularly popular for CRC.
4. Don’t underestimate smaller markets
Whilst the majority of CRC’s sales come from a number of key markets – including Ireland, Australia, USA, Canada, France, Spain and Italy – Michael stresses the importance of not ignoring the combined power of smaller countries.
"We get some brilliant feedback from the long tail of other countries. People from far-away places tell us 'I simply can’t get these products where I live'."
Identifying future growth markets is also crucial. CRC has ambitious plans. There are many parts of the world that have yet to experience a surge in cycling popularity but when they do, CRC will be there and be part of driving the market forward. Other businesses looking to expand their international sales should consider less established high-growth markets as part of their overseas strategy.
NOTE CREDIT: http://www.virgin.com/entrepreneur/four-tips-for-growing-an-international-business-online