Croud’s Business Development Executive Emma Hunt takes a look at Google’s toolbox for e-commerce businesses looking to Export their product offerings across the globe.
It is now easier than ever for businesses with demand in different countries to accelerate global growth via the web and these figures show just how valuable capitalising on this could be.
- International Export is currently estimated to be a £13 billion opportunity that is expected to reach £60 billion by 2018
- A company is 11% more likely to survive if it does business overseas
- 2013 saw £32 billion online retail sales in the UK, £4.2 billion were to international customers
- Global online retail sales have increased 17% yearly since 2007
- 46% (175m) of Europeans shop online and 55% (171m) Americans shop online
- As the use of tablets and smartphones continues to grow so will online shopping
Sources: UKTI, BRC-KPMG, IMRG-Cap Gemini, BRC, ONS, Centre for Retail Research, IORMA
Trade is now borderless and you can effectively sell whilst you sleep as different time zones access your 24/7 store. E-commerce & international export provide a great opportunity and has produced new players with new business models. Amazon and Airbnb have capitalised on the growth of the internet and have become market leaders in their industries in a much shorter time frame than their predecessors.
Where?
It’s no good rushing head first into any market you fancy, the degree of market readiness is critical when prioritising export opportunities. The USA, Germany, France, South Korea and Japan are identified by OC&C Strategy Consultants as major export opportunities.
China has the most online shoppers at 220m, as well as the most internet users at 517m. However this is a difficult market to crack, the many different versions of Chinese being spoken across the country being just one reason.
If these facts and figures have got your juices flowing about the export potential of your business – then take a look at these cool tools created by Google to help you build the most effective export strategy.
Let’s say you are a fashion retailer specialising in prom dresses, this tool helps identify the opportunities for the sale of prom dresses to the rest of the world by highlighting; location, local monthly search queries, recommended bid and competition. It also shows you the translation of the search query in the native language of that country. This helps give you an indication of countries that may be best to focus on, right down to key word level.
Whether a customer purchases online or offline knowing the path they take to reach conversion is so precious to the seller. This tool provides insights into the research process of consumers helping you understand the best way to market to them.
We are all aware of the remarkable growth of mobile use that still continues today, but how exactly are people using mobile in different countries? Are some more developed than others? Does usage differ by age or gender?
This tool allows you to answer these questions and better develop your mobile strategy by furthering your understanding of the mobile consumer.
Clicks and interaction rates are directly affected by ad size. Different ad formats are proven to suit different campaign goals better. So, wouldn’t it be useful to know how your display campaigns compare to the rest of those in the industry and whether one format out performs another?
Well the Display Benchmarks Tool allows you to do that. Dissect the data by country, vertical, ad format and ad size and view snapshots, maps or trends whichever suits your needs.
5. Mobile in the Purchase Journey
Here Google provides you with some straightforward stats that follow the presence of mobile in the purchase journey. It displays results in a chosen country looking at the travel, retail, tech or local and entertainment industries. Following this journey will allow you to gain a better understanding of mobiles contribution to the research process and how this influences purchase decisions.
Use this tool to translate your marketing materials, ads and parts of your site to the languages of your target markets. Simple!
This does exactly what it says on the tin; translates your website to another language. When Google sees a visitors browser language doesn’t match that of your site it provides them with the option to translate. This prevents you having to create a website copy in lots of different languages.
However if you find you are doing extremely well in the German market for instance it would be advisable to invest the time and money creating a translated copy of the site as this tool isn’t always 100% accurate.
8. Real time translation support
Translate emails instantly with the Gmail translate tool to ensure you maintain great customer service across the globe. Automatic translation in Google Talk can be used to provide instant messaging to customers, just add the relevant translation bot to your contacts.
Another handy piece of work from Google is the 10 export maps they have created for British businesses. These highlight opportunities in 10 countries by seasonality and showcase stats on their search tendencies.
