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Going global: Making ecommerce work for you.

It's a small world, after all — but it's a huge market for consumers. While shopping locally is still a big trend, there is the ever-growing allure of getting just about anything from anywhere on the planet. So many brands, so many products, so many dollars … and yen … and euros …

Forbes reports that global ecommerce topped $6.3 trillion in 2023 — and it's forecast to be more than $8 trillion by 2026. Meanwhile, PayPal found that 57% of the world's consumers do their shopping with world-wide savvy.

Clearly, there is ample opportunity for merchants who go global, but the move can also have its challenges. From logistics to pricing to payment options — as well as significant cultural differences — understanding the intricacies of global ecommerce can help you decide if it's right for your business.

Each point on the map comes with preferred payment options, currencies, language, cultural barriers, and logistics. Here are a few considerations.

Cultural sensitivity.

Being big in your own backyard doesn't always translate to global stardom. What pops in the U.S. may fall flat in Europe. Fashion senses, tastes in music, fads, and food — it all factors in. Then there's the local tongue. Translating an ecommerce site and product line can get complex — and be full of unforeseen pitfalls. There's the legendary story of Chevrolet marketing their Nova in Latin America — without considering that "va" means "go" in Spanish; no one wants a car that's "no go." And no one wants to "bite the wax tadpole," which is what Coca-Cola translated to when it first appeared in Chinese.

Regulatory hurdles.

Countries have their own rules and regulations for selling online. Maintaining compliance with each can quickly get gnarly the more places you expand into. Consider the additional resources — people and otherwise — that you'll need to stay on top of it all.

Getting it shipped.

Crossing borders means more regulations, different delivery methods, tariffs, and tracking — not to mention the sheer miles between a warehouse and the customer. Statista has numbers as to how heavy global shipping and logistics weigh on ecommerce merchants. Here's the breakdown that occupies their worry bandwidth.

Navigating customs (44.5%)
Cross-border logistics (37%)
Cross-border returns (33.5%)
Managing delivery expectations (34.5%)
Tracking deliveries (27.5%)

Getting paid.

When will business owners get their money? And how? Payment preferences based on location come into play. Some love their cards and digital wallets, while other markets might prefer to buy now, pay later (BNPL), or the use of an online service or peer-to-peer payment app. Juggling all the options while keeping an eye on different currencies can quickly make your QuickBooks not compute.

Then there's profitability. Is the product or service priced right for the international markets that are on the table? American shoeheads don't think twice about paying the big bucks for their Air Jordans, but those prices may not fit on other countries' feet.

That proverbial bottom line.

For most merchants, payment is the big one. Finding a global solution that will streamline revenue and afford a flexible and quick payment schedule is an enormous priority.

Inovio has ecommerce solutions that work all over the world, from America to Albania to Antigua. It's a revolutionary online payments platform that offers seamless integration and global scalability. The world keeps moving, and Inovio moves with it (and the ecommerce industry).

But it's not just technology, there's also a team of payment experts with the experience, insight, and connections to help you work with processors, acquirers, and payment service providers worldwide.

Inovio offers an omni-channel platform capable of adapting to any payment experience, anywhere, allowing for customers to purchase items in their native currency and merchants to manage their businesses however they see fit. That means innovations that bring simplicity to an often confusing process. With flexible APIs and the ability to speak any programming language, Inovio is the ambassador to your ecommerce aspirations.

Learn more about what Inovio can do to take your ecommerce global.