How to start shipping internationally: a guide for e-commerce businesses

Analyze your markets

The world’s a big place, but your brand needs you to focus your time and energy on the markets where demand for your product (or service) is strongest. Otherwise, it might not make financial sense for your business to venture into international markets.

Google Analytics can help you uncover the existing international traffic your e-commerce business already attracts. The platform monitors and details user activity across different devices and platforms, helping you to understand your customers’ buying journey using metrics such as unique visitors to your website and engagement rate. Importantly, you can then combine these metrics with specific dimensions – such as location, allowing you to see which international markets hold the most potential for your business.

Evaluate which countries have the highest demand for your product, and where there may be a gap that your brand could fill. You should also investigate local spending habits, buying motivations, and possible logistics challenges when shipping to those markets. All of this will help you build a detailed profile of the market and determine the scale of the opportunity.

Track where your competitors are selling to – after all, if they’re shipping to a certain market, it must be because there’s enough demand there to make it worthwhile.

Understand rules and regulations

If you’re shipping internationally, it’s important to check the customs and import regulations of the destination country. If you don’t, you risk your shipments being delayed, resulting in late deliveries to your customers – a critical mistake in e-commerce.

Each country has its own rules– some stricter than others, with tough penalties for incorrect paperwork. If you’re exporting to several markets, the administrative burden can quickly become very daunting and time-consuming. That’s where partnering with an international logistics specialist like DHL can really pay off. Every day, our dedicated customs teams around the world help e-commerce businesses ship to international customers, taking care of all the required documentation on their behalf.. This means accelerated global shipping with minimal hassle for you.

Anticipate extra duties and taxes,

Taxes are imposed on imported goods, with the rate determined by the destination country – although some free trade zones do exist around the world. The payment of duties and taxes is typically the responsibility of the receiver – i.e., your customer – although DHL does offer a Duties and Taxes Paid (DTP) option to account holders. This means DHL will invoice the shipper – your business – to cover the cost. The benefit of this is that the end customer will not receive an unexpected tax bill when their package arrives at customs, helping prevent any negative impact on your brand.

If you do decide to pass these costs on to your customers, make sure to be fully transparent about the fees throughout your e-commerce website – “unexpected shipping fees” is one of the leading reasons for cart abandonment during online transactions. Even better, consider absorbing these transport costs into your product prices so you can give your customers a simple, all-in-one price at checkout.

4. Optimize your e-commerce website

There’s no better time to fine-tune your e-commerce website than when planning how to manage international shipments. Remember to incorporate these key features:

• Translate your website into the local language for all markets you’re targeting.

• Offer localized payment options: did you know that online shoppers are 70% more likely* to finalize a purchase if their preferred payment method is displayed as an option at checkout? Analyze the most popular payment methods in the country you’re selling in and offer them at checkout. Be sure to display prices and allow payment in the local currency, too.

• A smart approach when shipping abroad for the first time is to launch your brand on an established online marketplace like Amazon first. This allows you to begin on a smaller scale and assess demand for your products before investing heavily in a localized, independent website. You’ll benefit from the marketplace’s reach, instantly putting you in front of millions of customers.

• A final tip: take DHL’s website health check. This quick questionnaire will help you identify weak spots in your e-commerce logistics strategy. It could be the smallest thing that makes all the difference!

5. Decide what you’ll ship where, and how

If you’re coordinating orders across multiple countries, avoid a “one-size-fits-all” approach. Your marketing and sales strategy should be tailored to each country depending on local shoppers preferences. Perhaps one of your products is more suitable for one market than another; you’ll also need to consider each country’s major shopping events – such as Black Friday in the US, Singles’ Day in China, and others.– All these things will impact your inventory planning. The key is to test and optimize your sales approach along the way, and over time, the customer data you collect will help you to refine it. Don’t forget to check out DHL’s Country Guides.

While you focus on scaling your operations, entrust your shipping to DHL. We have extensive experience helping B2C businesses of all sizes manage cross-border expansion. To streamline your processes, make sure to open a DHL business account and leverage fast international shipping to stay ahead of the competition. Contact us today and we’ll get started – the world is waiting!