Branching out of India, Part II: Selling to SE Asia, Latin America and France
As you read in Part I, branching out from the Indian eCommerce market to the US is easier that you think. Many markets are growing fast and expanding your business horizons through them is an opportunity you don’t want to miss. Read on to learn more about other global opportunities for Indian eSellers, some in regions you might not have even considered.
Southeast Asia
With almost 400 million online users, the Asian market is a must when considering global expansion. In fact, some are referring to it as the eCommerce gold rush.
Though eCommerce revenue is already in the billions, the numbers are expected to grow at a very active rate.
Source: we are social
No matter what you sell, there’s an audience for it in this region. Over half of the region is turning to the digital marketplace for electronics and apparel on a daily basis; there is also a local consumption culture for each sub-region in Southeast Asia.
Source: GO Globe
What’s more astounding, is the holiday sale culture. Not only have they adopted Black Friday, but there is a regional-specific holiday that brings in billions in sales: Singles Day. Singles Day initially started out as a celebration of singlehood (a kind of defiant response to Valentine’s Day), celebrated on November 11th – 11.11. Alibaba was the force to turn it into a shopping holiday, and they reported over $17.8 billion in sales on 11.11 2016. In fact, there was a 200% spike in online transactions in Southeast Asia alone during mid-November. And that’s only the beginning of the holiday season.
Seeing that these buyers are comfortable to spend, your best agent for tapping into the market is Lazada.
As the biggest eCommerce website in Southeast Asia, it’s the best way to reach new customers in several territories at once; territories such as Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam are all avid users of Lazada, with over 50 million unique visitors each month.
Lazada’s format helps sellers out by getting them set up on the Lazada Malaysia platform. Once the seller gets comfortable with the format and achieves success, Lazada helps the seller get set up on all other platforms as well.
This is a great way to break in to the SE region. Besides the benefits of large-scale exposure, Lazada’s sign-up process and overall platform usage are fairly simple and straightforward to learn, along with the crucial perk of being able to customize your online ‘shop front’.
You simply contact the Lazada team expressing your interest in joining their marketplace and if you meet their requirements, it’s a step-by-step process to set up your account. Once completed, you can start advertising and tracking your sales.
Key features:
- No monthly or listing fees
- Lazada does not claim ownership of your store. If you are already selling online, simply incorporate links to your Lazada store on your own site
- FBL (Fulfillment by Lazada) – offers sellers a drop shipping service which takes over processing, packing and shipping orders to customers
- Long-time Payoneer partner, enabling seamless cross-broader payments to sellers twice monthly
To learn more about getting set up as a seller on Lazada and receiving Lazada seller funds via Payoneer, look to the following resources:
- Everything eSellers need to know about Lazada
- Payoneer partners with Lazada to offer cross-border payment solutions
- How to connect my Payoneer account to a marketplace, network or site
Latin America
As of 2016, 121 million people were buying their goods and services online in Latin America. And those sales are projected to grow from 57.02 billion U.S. dollars to 84.75 billion U.S. dollars by 2019. In other words, get selling in this region now. With the average spending per shopper around $350, this market is worth investing your time in.
Source: Ecommerce Foundation
Linio is your ticket into the market. With the most visited multi-category eCommerce site in Latin America, this company will give your products great exposure -exposure to 50 million visitors a month to be exact.
It’s not only known for its extensive catalogue, but high level of customer satisfaction with the option to pay on delivery and free returns.
An amazing benefit, especially for those new to global expansion, is that the Linio team provides assistance and training for their site. Take advantage of this great feature and you’ll be an expert in no time.
Similar to Lazada, creating quality content is essential in making your company stand out and making your store a known favorite. Take the time to create engaging descriptions and editing attractive visuals to increase sales.
Source: Linio
To learn more about selling on Linio and receiving funds via Payoneer, look to the following resources:
- Worldwide sellers: reach the LATAM market with Linio
- Payoneer’s Podcast Series: exclusive insights from eCommerce experts
France
You may think it’s less overwhelming to focus on one country than a region and with 87% internet users and 67% e-shoppers, France is the place to be, virtually speaking.
Source: Ecommerce Foundation
Why France? French shoppers spend an average of $80 more on orders from local EU eCommerce marketplaces compared to international marketplaces. In other words, you want customers with these spending habits.
And in France, the best place to sell is on Cdiscount.
What started as an entirely self-supporting platform, later turned into a third-party platform called Cdiscount Marketplace; a marketplace that can help your business grow. With 11 million unique visitors a month and over 18,500 pickup points throughout France, it’s the second largest eCommerce site within France, and even ranked amongst the top 3 in Europe.
Cdiscount strongly encourages cross border eCommerce and in fact even employed a policy of recruiting foreign sellers. It’s important to note that their specialty is in computer-related products and electronics, fashion products and now, household items. The site consists of 40 categories, so even if these areas are not your forte, there’s still plenty of room to sell.
Key features:
- Customer satisfaction is top priority for Cdiscount, and therefore all customer emails you send will need to be in French. You can hire a third party company to help with this task
- The listing process is dependent on whether your product exists in their product directory or not. Once you find your product, set the price, conditions and current stock level
- If your product is not listed you must submit a document via email, back office or API and only once the information is integrated will it appear on the site
- Sellers can enjoy 3 months fee-free when joining via Payoneer
- Most importantly, it’s a site for people looking for good prices. Keep your rates competitive and you’ll turn into a recognized seller
To read up more on seller tips for Cdiscount and linking your Payoneer account, read up:
- Everything you need to know about selling on Cdiscount
- France eCommerce giant Cdiscount integrates with Payoneer
- Holiday tips for sellers: Cdiscount
In Conclusion
Branching out to the international arena is not as daunting as it may initially seem. Remember that the rules of the game vary from region to region, but the end result remains the same. Buyers are looking for sellers they can trust and for quality products at good prices. Your advantage as an international seller is two-fold: You may have products that appeal to buyers that are not available locally or you can provide more competitive pricing than local sellers. Whatever the reason, these sites should become your sales channels.
So read up, do your research, prepare for the risks and get ready to flourish.