Many consumers around the world are shopping on retail websites outside their home countries, looking for goods they can’t find at home, better prices or products they trust. Meanwhile, retailers and brands increasingly are seeking to serve these global shoppers, and the prospects for growing sales and profits from international e-commerce have never been greater.
While it is still early days for international e-commerce for many North American retailers, merchants and brands report that selling globally via the internet is easier than ever. Among the factors opening the door to international web sales are the growth of online marketplaces that provide an avenue to reach millions of shoppers, improved services from vendors for handling everything from customs clearance to fulfillment and the growing comfort among shoppers the world over in shopping online.
Retailers are affirming the promise of international e-commerce both by what they do and what they say. Several leading North American brands and retailers have expanded their international and cross-border operations in the past year. And many see global expansion as an important source of growth, according to a survey earlier this year of 111 retailers and brands by Internet Retailer and the Global E-Commerce Leaders Forum, an organization dedicated to helping retailers and brands sell internationally via e-commerce.
Nearly 48% of survey respondents reported 2017 growth in overseas web sales of at least…
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