Post-purchase strategies for international growth | AU webinar roundup
Taylor Humphrey
·April 29, 2024
As an ecommerce brand in Australia, you’re literally a world away from most of the English-speaking market that might be a natural fit for your products – so how can you close the gap?
By thoughtfully planning your international expansion strategy with the right partners, processes, and technologies, you’ll be able to scale your brand sustainably overseas, wherever your target markets are.
To learn more about what’s involved in going global from Australia, we brought in the leaders of two Australia ecommerce consulting agencies, Cal Wilson, Founder & CEO at The Working Party, and Justin Irvine, Co-Founder & CEO at The Aggregate Co, for an in-depth conversation led by Vaishali Ravi, our Senior Product Marketing Manager at Loop.
Here are some of the most valuable takeaways from our Going Global webinar:
Set up a two-tiered service level for cross-border delivery
When it comes to product delivery timelines, consumers expect their shipments ASAP.
“We are in a generation of Amazon Prime babies,” says Irvine. “We’ve got used to that 48-hour or less delivery period. And so what Amazon has done through Amazon Prime is create an environment of expectation.”
That means it’s important to find operational partners that can get you as close as possible to meeting consumers’ delivery schedule expectations, even from overseas. “So whether it’s DHL Express, FedEx or UPS, you need an express product, you need to hit LA in two days, you need to hit major cities on the east coast in three days and any of those providers will do that,” Irvine adds.
That said, it can be pricey to offer express international shipping, and many customers may be wary of paying those prices. So it’s also important to establish a second tier that offers slower shipping (i.e., up to 7 business days) for customers who aren’t in such a hurry. “It means that you can still convert people that don’t want to pay for express because you have an option,” says Irvine.
Be strategic when pricing your products for an international market
When you’re setting up your pricing for an international market, says Wilson, “be very intentional about the price that you’re charging customers. Don’t just pass on the cost from the logistics provider. Make sure your costs account for all of the associated charges that go into shipping something offshore.”
Wilson suggests experimenting with your pricing, raising your prices incrementally to understand what the customers will tolerate. “Be careful if you are introducing or if you have a free shipping threshold if you choose to have one. Just make sure that it’s not leaving you high and dry when it comes to the cost of getting something shipped to a customer offshore.”
Additionally, Wilson adds, “the pricing should make sense in the market that you’re selling within. So with our exchange rate right now, if you were to just convert an Australian price to a US price, it could make your product appear too cheap against your competitors. Then you’re losing out twice, both because you are losing sales to the competitors that are priced appropriately and you’re also losing that potential margin that you could be making.”
Don’t neglect the low-hanging fruit next door: New Zealand
“If New Zealand is not 10% of your revenue, you need to get to 10% of your revenue,” advises Irvine. “ I’m a passionate New Zealander and it kills me to say this, but it’s just delivering to another state of Australia.”
Australian ecommerce brands can easily tap into the NZ market, with fast shipping, similar pricing, and a reduced tax and compliance burden compared to other international destinations.
While the US may still be on your radar, it’s important to make sure you’re capitalising on the Kiwi market before setting your sights farther afield.
Ask for support from those who’ve come before you
One thing that Irvine loves about the Australian ecommerce community is that it’s very tight-knit, and business leaders are more than happy to share their experiences and expertise with others.
“Unless you are really direct competitors, most people will share their journey, and that’s the coolest part about Australia,” says Irvine. “Everyone’s out to be open and transparent, be vulnerable, share all their disasters so that they hope someone else doesn’t make the same problem. Don’t be scared to reach out to someone.”
Provide your customers with thorough product details to minimise their likelihood of returns
Reverse logistics can be even more complicated when shipping back from overseas – so to ensure that customers are choosing the right products the first time around, make sure to provide them with all the information they’ll need to make an informed decision.
“Some things that brands could think about today to make that experience better for the US customers would be to have better data about their sizing,” says Wilson. “With apparel, that could include garment-specific size information. It could be presenting imperial measurements on the garment, localising the experience so it looks and feels like a US website, talking in sizes that they understand.”
By giving customers the right information to choose products that will work for them, they’ll be confident enough to buy one product the first time around, rather than buying several with the intention of sending back the ones that didn’t work for them.
Consolidate returns to optimise your reverse logistics costs
No matter how well you’ve set up your product pages, some customers will still need to return items – so it’s important that they can do so quickly and efficiently, without ruining your profit margins.
Use an operational partner to help you consolidate your returns prior to shipping back to Australia, advises Irwin: “So we are taking the first mile from the customer back to a hub in the US and then we’re going to repatriate that product from the US back to Australia.”
If you use a carrier to take the product from point to point, “you’re just burning cash,” he says. “Look at engaging with someone that can actually do the first mile. We can use Happy Returns, and bring it back to a hub” before shipping a consolidated bulk order back overseas, helping you save costs and streamlining the reverse logistics process.
Using a commerce operations platform like Loop can also help you automate the returns management process, delivering a fantastic customer experience while helping you streamline reverse logistics operations.Want more valuable tips on expanding your Australian ecommerce brand overseas? Watch the whole webinar, and explore our other insightful Loop Returns webinars.
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