Convincing Foreign Buyers to Purchase from Your
Online Store
"Do US citizens buy from countries other than the US?
Obviously, there has to be something available that
exceeds US offerings (on price, performance etc.) but
even then, will they click, even with free shipping
etc.? I am a UK resident and consider myself quite an
e-shopper (80% of my spending is online, including
groceries), and even I have to shamefully admit that I
rarely buy outside the UK. So as the nervous owner of a
new online enterprise, I wondered if there were
rule-of-thumb figures that I could use to estimate my
expected conversion rate from US customers? (My UK
conversion rate is a measly 12.5%.)" -- John Ellis,
Prop-Forward
A UK conversion rate of 12.5% isn't measly at all.
Rather, it's pretty good and can probably be improved.
But the focus of your question is how to sell to US
buyers.
In contacting a number of US government agencies, I
couldn't find any figures on Internet purchasing
patterns of US citizens at sites outside the US. No one
seems to be tracking this. Graham Mudd at comScore
Networks told me that studies they've done for their
clients show that 10% to 15% of e-commerce sales of US
retailers are to purchasers outside of the US. Much of
that, I'm sure, is to Canadians. Americans and Canadians
are quite comfortable purchasing from each other via the
Internet.
Beyond that, we prefer to purchase in our own country --
out of patriotism, perhaps, but also because we believe
we have a better chance of getting our money back if
something goes wrong with the sale. The exception is
downloadable software, e-books, or services, which are
commonly purchased across borders.
For a laptop stand, such as you are selling, you'll have
to work harder to close the sale with US shoppers. It
helps if such a product isn't widely available
elsewhere. Here are some tips for selling to US buyers
-- though the principles apply whenever you sell across
borders and distances.
Use a .com domain for US sales. For sales to France, by
all means purchase a .fr domain.
Sell in US dollars. You may need a separate shopping
cart in the language and currency of the target
audience.
Translate your site into American English and idioms.
British spellings ("labour" vs. "labor") and vocabulary
("lift" vs. "elevator") should be changed to American
usage. Check with a native speaker.
Find a US resident you can list as your agent. This
could be a cousin or business friend, but someone who
will answer the phone or return calls appropriately.
Don't disguise the fact that yours is a UK company, but
list your agent's address and phone number as your "US
Office." Purchasers need assurance that they can get
their money back if there is a problem with the sale.
This will help.
Free shipping eliminates your purchasers' concerns --
they may not even need to know your product is shipped
from the UK unless it takes a long time to arrive. Build
shipping costs into your price for your US-centric site.
Alternatively, ship a case or two to your US agent and
have your US orders shipped from the US. Of course, free
shipping may be prohibitively expensive for some
products.
US residents can sell successfully to Europe, Asia, and
Africa using the same techniques, if they're willing to
work hard and be flexible. Happy selling.
Article found on:
http://www.wilsonweb.com/art/ecomm/foreign-buyers.htm
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