2. About The Author
Jared P Shaner
A student of the game who believes there
are no limits to learning nor humility. I
absolutely love staying on top of the
emerging trends and technologies for my
clients and learning from those far wiser
than myself.
Ohh and I’m a Makers Mark Ambassador so
it’s fair to say I love me some bourbon and
the fine smell of mahagony
About Plum Tree
The Plum Tree Group is an Interactive Marketing and Technology
firm, we work to implement enterprise level eCommerce
solutions leveraging Magento Commerce.
jared@plumtreegroup.net
plumtreegroup.net
@Jaredism
www.linkedin.com/in/jaredshaner/
3. Expanding Your Business
Overseas
Selling Your Products in International
Markets
I will start this article with one simple principle, Don’t Let Selling
Internationally Scare You! Many online retailers choose not to
expand their business to international markets for no reason other
than pure fear. The reality is that with proper planning and precaution
the opportunity of taking your business international can be truly
rewarding in respect to increasing sales and brand exposure. In the
course of the ebook I will review three of the most crucial aspects of
international expansion that our agency has seen as the biggest
points of focus for brands large, and small, that have found success
and ease in their transition into selling internationally.
4. Speaking In Native Tongue
Handling Translation
There needs to be a major focus on making sure that there are
proper precautions taken to ensure a successful translation of a
company’s current site is reached. The reality is that despite great
advances in technology associated with this process, this is one of
the areas left within the ecommerce technology space that should
still maintain a level of human touch.
Through our experiences with assisting successful international
business expand into foreign nations we have found there are at
least three crucial pieces in insuring a successful translation
process is achieved.
5. Speaking In Native Tongue
Handling Translation
The following three practices
can be applied to the
translation process and any
and all ecommerce platforms.
Obviously there are other
options and crucial pieces to
the puzzle but if focus is given
to these aspects the
opportunity to success greatly
increases.
1) Pre-translation glossary development
Many clients have linguistic resources available to them, and it can
be very beneficial for them to work together with your translation
partner’s
linguistic teams in the early stages of a translation project. Glossary
development involves providing a first round of translation on
selected key words and phrases extracted from the content to be
translated. Since linguistic choices can be highly preferential, it
is helpful to agree upon the translated terms to be used upfront, prior to the actual translation of the full content.
6. Speaking In Native Tongue
Handling Translation
2) In-country mother-tongue
translators, editors and proofreaders
working with translation technology
Although there are many very capable translators based in the US.
For the best results we have found that the best logic is to take
advantage of the translators based in the country for which the
translation is intended. This is due to the fact they are more in the
loop in respect to local verbiage trends and lingo that may not be
standard.
7. Speaking In Native Tongue
Handling Translation
3) Post-translation on-line Quality
Assurance prior to site launch
Just as with the coding of the
original site, it is crucial to go
back at the completion of the
project and do a thorough audit
and run quality assurance on
the translations.
Translations should also be
checked to see how they display in
the website’s CMS or other
environments.
8. Getting The Package
Handling Distribution
Shipping is usually regarded as one of the biggest headaches in
respect to taking one’s business international. This is usually for two
reasons:
Shipping Costs
•
•
They are high….
There are usually hidden
costs for the customer that
they might have not
anticipated
• Duty fees, import
taxes, etc
Quality of Other
Countries’ Postal
Service
• China has horrible local postal
service
• Depending on customer
country, theres not always a
best choice
• Example: UPS is better than
Fedex for certain types of
packages
9. Getting The Package
Tips For Success
There are a number of technology solutions on the market today
that can help to streamline and take the worry and work out of
shipping overseas. International retailers should take full advantage
of leveraging these resources such as automated international
shipping and duty calculators. In addition, there are a couple more
considerations that can make for smooth sailing with international
shipping.
Choose Products Wisely
Focus on products that are:
• Small
• Light
• Easy to ship
There are some products that
are just inefficient to try to sell
internationally due to the fact
that the shipping costs are
prohibitive
10. Getting The Package
Tips For Success
Understand Country-specific
Regulations and Requirements
Some countries have very strict and
at times unusual rules regarding
specific shipping regulations and
requirements. Retailers should
always check such constraints when
deciding to expand to internationally
to specific countries.
Some are obvious .. Most places
don’t allow grenade shipments!
However, some countries have more
out of the box and uncommon
restrictions such as ….
Vietnam where shipping
calendars from foreign nations is
illegal!
11. Getting The Package
Tips For Success
Target Specific Countries
Companies should have a focus on a small select group of
countries to target first and then proceed to expand from there.
There are certain countries that are more accessible depending
on where the original business was set up. For example, US
based business can more easily ship to Canada and Mexico then
Guatemala.
12. Getting The Package
Tips For Success
Know What the Shipping Costs
When a U.S based retailer ships a tshirt from New York to Boston, there
is a single shipping rate. But send
that same t-shirt across a border
and a whole new set of duties and
taxes apply. Understanding the total
cost of sending an order
internationally is referred to as the
“landed cost” and it is important that
retailers understand this cost before
sending an order
Needless to say, if a customer
is hit by an extra $20 duty
charge upon delivery they
could be less than pleased and
you might even end up stuck
with the lost order and freight
costs. Luckily almost all of the
major carriers offer services
that will calculate these costs
and input directly into your
current ecommerce platform
13. Getting The Package
Tips For Success
Use Fulfillment Services
If you would just like to all but banish all the stresses that causes the need
for some of the tips I provides, simply hire a fulfillment service Shipwire or
many others to manage international orders.
In most cases, the retailer will pay a flat fee per order and the fulfillment
service will manage packing, labeling, shipping, and monitor all of those
pesky rules and regulations
