If you are still having doubts about whether or not your business should offer international shipping, we’re here to help you make up your mind. Your hesitation towards international shipping may come from the fear of being scammed, having difficulty shipping items, logistic complications, and so on.
However, it should be mentioned that there are many benefits of international shipping. Number one being the profit. Shipping internationally can expand your business and earn you a lot of money.
Here are some more reasons why your business should offer international shipping services.
Reach more customers
One of the reasons to offer international shipping services is to reach more customers and in that way expand your customer pool. If you own an e-commerce business, you may be missing out on a lot of sales and customers just because you don’t offer worldwide shipping.
For some businesses, shipping internationally is where the real success lies. More and more customers are open to ordering products and items that they can’t find locally. They are no longer afraid to look for those products across the globe and to wait for them to be shipped.
If the price is right, people will have no problem waiting for months for the product to arrive. That’s exactly why you need to offer international shipping, because your ideal customers may be waiting for you on the other side of the globe.
International shipping is profitable
As already mentioned, the greatest benefit of worldwide shipping is the profit. The local market may be becoming oversaturated and it’s time to look for new ways to overcome the problem.
The perfect solution is international shipping. If you notice that demand for your products is expanding, and this can happen because international customers often order more in one go to save on shipping costs – you should probably look into expanding.
Expanding brand awareness
Shipping internationally allows you to increase your brand’s visibility and presence. Knowing that there is your brand following and demand for your products somewhere across the globe is a huge thing.
It usually happens with small eCommerce businesses which apparently didn’t stand a chance locally, but are now very popular in some parts of the world. So, why not penetrate a foreign market with your products simply by shipping internationally?
Shipping internationally is not as expensive and difficult as you may think
Many times small businesses don’t even consider international shipping because they think it’s a lot to deal with and expensive even to try. The truth is – it’s not.
The shipping prices have significantly gone down over the years, and today shipping internationally is nowhere near as expensive as you may think. As for the shipping logistic, they too have become significantly easier with the advancements in technology.
Today shipping is easy, transparent, and inexpensive. You have many options, you can form good relationships with shipping and freight companies, and rest assured that your products have efficient and safe storage and that your goods will reach their international destination safely.
Your competitors are probably doing it
Staying on top of business trends means being aware of everything going on in the industry and with your competitors. If you notice that your competitors are shipping internationally, that doesn’t mean that they are leaving you a clear path to a local market, quite the contrary, it means that they are expanding.
It’s time to think about doing the same yourself. You can be pushed out by your competitors once they gain both the local and international market. So, if you want to continue being on top, offering international shipping is the right way to go.
Returns are reduced
As shipping and delivery time is much longer internationally, chances of someone returning your products are slimmer. Plus, returning a product that was shipped from across the world is much more complicated and expensive.
This means that international shipping reduces returns. It also means that the customers are only going to buy products from reliable places, so you must make sure that you focus on your site and have a strong online presence.
Keep your customers happy and keep getting good reviews – there’s no better marketing for your business.
Warehousing is no longer a problem
If you’ve been in business for a while you know that storage was a great problem. Today, that’s no longer the case. Warehousing is easier and cheaper than ever before thanks to centralized warehousing.
Centralized warehousing is a system where shipments from suppliers are transported to one, central location instead of in several facilities all over to cover the territory. This is much easier because loads are then gathered from several suppliers and transported in one single go.
Thankfully, there are many different services and options of such kind which makes shipping and storing very cost-effective.
As you can see, shipping internationally may seem daunting, but in truth, it’s very simple thanks to many advancements in technology. It’s much more cost-effective and even profitable to ship internationally.
You can expand your customer pool, expand your brand and be well ahead of your competitors if you decide to offer international shipping.
