International Shipping

According to numerous reports, a large portion of e-commerce orders in the next few years will be from online sales. For a lot of smaller online retailers, the task of shipping boxes internationally, understanding the regulations, rules and risks is daunting. According to the Australian publication Dynamic Business, twenty percent of all e-commerce purchases will be in international shipments by 2017. Since 2016, users in the millions have been shopping online from Mexico, Brazil and China. This totals 3 billion individuals worldwide. International selling has become a marvelous opportunity for the online retailers. Many owners of small businesses are unware of the currencies and website localization necessary for online shipping. There are five steps to help these retailers begin international shipping.

Choosing the Products

All items are not good candidates for trading internationally. A good example is an order place by Israel for large horse feeders. The ranch retailer contacted can ship inside the United States for roughly $140 each, but the shipment to Israel would have totaled $1,500. The best items to ship internationally are light, small and easy to ship.

The Shipping Requirements for Different Countries

The requirements and regulations of each country must be understood. It is also illegal to import foreign calendars into Vietnam for commercial purposes. A shipment exceeding 100 calendars is considered a crime. There are dozens of similar examples concerning regulations specific to certain countries. There are tools available to provide international shippers with a list of regulations by providing the countries of origin and destination.

Targeting Specific Countries

Learning about a countries international e-commerce is a good idea due to their regulations and rules. Shipping to Canada by an online retailer based in the United States is easier than shipping to Uganda. The best way to begin is by choosing one or two countries to start international shipping. Once the business has a general idea of how this works, they can then begin expanding into additional countries.

Becoming Familiar with Shipping Costs

When a retailer in the United States ships t-shirts from Los Angeles to Topeka, there is only one shipping rate. When the same t-shirt is shipped internationally, taxes and duties apply. The complete cost of international shipping is referred to as the landed cost. Prior to shipping, retailers must have an understanding of this cost. A customer will not be happy if their shipment arrives with a duty for twenty dollars due. If they refuse to accept the shipment, the retailer loses both the freight cost and the sale. The most major shipping carriers provide API’s, or application programming interfaces so the retailers can effectively figure out the landed cost. These shipping tools can be integrated into the e-commerce platform for the merchant.

The Fulfillment Services

Taking the aggravation out of international shipping is possible. Fulfillment services can be hired to handle any international orders for the retailer. This generally requires a flat fee per each order to be paid by the retailer. The fulfillment service than handles labeling, packing and shipping. They additionally monitor all the regulations and rules for the appropriate country. A lot of fulfillment services maintain global warehouses. This means if the merchant is shipping to the United Kingdom for example, the fulfillment service may already have inventory in the country. The shipping rate they would then pay would be for domestic rates.