Shambhavi Prakash Pai, Marketing Manager at GFS, explores growth levers for UK ecommerce considering international shipping as the next lever to pull:
No matter how much fear-mongering exists around it, international growth remains one of retail’s biggest opportunities.
Cross-border eCommerce now accounts for roughly 20–25% of global online sales, and over 50% of online shoppers say they’ve bought from an overseas retailer. The demand is clearly there.
But here’s the challenge.
Nearly half of shoppers abandon their baskets due to unexpected costs (taxes, fees, other surprise costs), and operational inefficiencies continue to erode margin for retailers expanding internationally without the right delivery and carrier strategy in place.
So the opportunity isn’t simply “go global.”
It’s about identifying:
- Where genuine demand exists
- Which markets are commercially viable
- How delivery strategy impacts conversion and margin
- What operational infrastructure is required to scale viably
In our upcoming webinar, Where’s Left to Grow? How Retailers Can Win in New Global Markets, we’ll explore how retailers can rethink international expansion with a sharper, more commercially focused lens.
We’ll discuss:
- The markets still showing sustained cross-border demand
- How to assess expansion opportunities beyond surface-level metrics
- The operational realities of international delivery
- How to grow globally without adding unnecessary cost and complexity
International growth is still very much alive; but it rewards strategy, not surface-level expansion.
If global sales are on your agenda for 2026, this session will help you focus on where you can truly win.
You can register here.
