One of the most valuable sessions at the Payoneer Forum 2019, was delivered by Barney Willis, Managing Director Managed Partners at We Are Pentagon. Following the presentation of a raft of marketplace opportunities for merchants who wish to go beyond the UK borders and expand globally, Barney brought things back to reality to discuss preparing yourself for global domination and shared his Top Tips for International Trade.
Top Tips for International Trade
Barney provided a check list of his top tips for international trade, things to be aware of and steps you need to have in place to ensure you are prepared for global domination. Split into 8 sections, Barney also advised outsourcing what you can’t do yourself. Payoneer, the hosts for the day can assist with the payments side of trading internationally and We are Pentagon is one option for outsourcing some or all of the other expertise you’ll need.
‘GLocal’ – Dominate your local market
Barney’s first tip is to become an expert in your local country before you even think of trading overseas. If you don’t get the basics ironed out domestically, challenges will only be exacerbated when you’re trading overseas with different norms and expectations, different languages, more challenging delivery and returns logistics and probably a different legal framework.
- Master your art before taking over the world
- Improve local SEO
- Increase positive online reviews
- Use email marketing
- Target Paid local results
Logistics
- Build your infrastructure
- Ensure customers are kept in the loop through the entire journey
- Ensure back-end supports detailed reporting across multiple carriers
- The shorter delivery time the better
Returns
- Fraud prevention
- Supply chain excellence is the differentiator
- Hassle-Free = Customer loyalty = More sales
- Avoid returns! Get your product detail right
Legal & Regulations
- Brexit!
- Unclear rules on jurisdiction
- Do you need a local entity
- Establishing and maintaining contacts
- Stay up to date with the latest security regulation
- Local compliance, carbon neutral returns
Translations – Language and Culture
- Think like a customer in the local market
- Language really matters
- Measurements need to be local too
- Price in local currencies
Brand
- Adapt and localise content to accepted cultural norms
- Invest in marketing and demand generation
- Integrate with marketplaces own promotional calendar, member database and marketing channels
- Use marketplaces for their customers, their marketing and their brand
Payment Solutions
- Barrier on payments
- Complexities of taxation
- Test via established marketplaces first
- Time and economic burden
- Find a great low cost payments provider…. (That’s what Payoneer do!)
Your Customers
- If you don’t service your customer someone else will
- Most marketplaces can tell you regardless
- Risk reputational damage
- What are you waiting for?
Use an expert!
- Product optimisation and data transformation
- Account Management
- International fulfimlment, logistics and returns
- Day-to-day store management
- Multi-lingual local language customer services
- Market research and reporting
- Marketplace fees / Payment gateway fees
- FX Fluctuations
- Currency conversion and repatriation
- Financial consolidation and customer invoicing
- Local customs, duties and tax registration and compliance
- Technical integration to multiple marketplaces
