5 Ways to Improve Conversion Rate of Your International Store

Retail ecommerce sales worldwide are expected to reach 4.28 trillion dollars in 2020. It is expected that they will reach 5.4 trillion US dollars by 2022.

You need to consider your international customer base if you want to tap into this global market. Fortunately, the demands of international customers are almost identical to those of local customers: they want access to content in their preferred language, to pay in their local currency, and to know about shipping options, fees, and product restrictions. It's more likely that you'll convert and retain customers if you meet these needs, regardless of where they're located.

In this post, we will examine how you can better your international store's conversion rate.

1. Provide store translations for all potential customers.

An international ecommerce store requires multilingual content to be successful.

The reason is that countries like China, the United States, the United Kingdom, South Korea, and Japan dominate the ecommerce market. 2.7 trillion dollars will be generated in ecommerce in China by 2021, according to estimates. Keeping your site monolingual is a waste of money due to the enormous size of China's e-commerce market.

It is important to understand that you do not want to limit your choices of translations to one language per country. The US and UK use English, South Korea uses Korean, Japan uses Japanese, and so on. As an alternative, you should consider the demographics of the market you wish to penetrate.

In Japan, for example, there are Japanese, Koreans, Chinese, as well as Brazilians, Peruvians, and Filipinos.

Therefore, no matter whether your audience is a majority or minority, the goal should be to translate your store into multiple languages. The Airbnb website, for example, allows users to choose a language and region.

2. Use culturally-specific product imagery.

Use specific products, imagery, and wording that are popular or based on cultural norms in that region to attract and convert international visitors. Take a look at the Apple Music website for an example.

Even when making other choices, like the color scheme you choose, you should consider regional differences. The vending machines and coolers of Pepsi in at least one southeast Asian country were reportedly changed from a deep regal blue to a light ice blue in the 1950s, causing it to lose its dominant share. Then why? There is a link between light blue and death there.

3. Apply the correct currency per country.

Lots of international customers find it frustrating to see currencies in a non-native format. If a website defaults to US Dollars (USD) without offering any other (or inaccessible) options, it gives users the additional task of converting the price to another currency. This point may cause some users to abandon their shopping cart.

4. Present multiple payment options based on the country.

Your goal should not only be to display the currencies relevant to your targeted audience, but also to offer the payment options they prefer.

While each country has its own official currency, many ecommerce stores offer payment options in different currencies to appeal to customers from around the world. Protonmail, a Swiss email provider, offers three types of currency: Swiss Francs, Euros, and US Dollars.

5. Be transparent about customs fees and duties.

An estimated half of U.S. consumers who backed out of their online purchases due to additional costs in the past three months cited shipping, taxes, or fees.

We should therefore make sure international customers are aware of any fees associated with customs and duties. Although you may be tempted to hide these fees since they add to the cost of the product - it's best to be upfront in order to maintain the customer's trust.

You may be able to recharge your efforts if you help a visitor better understand shipping charges. I believe that it is better to lose one sale due to high shipping, customs, and duties charges than to lose the entire Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) through shady, hidden practices.