Cross-Border eCommerce: What Every Seller Should Know

Entering new markets has proven to be a game-changer for eCommerce sellers across many industries. The secret to going global is by tapping into what the local consumers want, while still being able to establish an international presence. In this blog post, we will walk you through the ABCs of cross-border eCommerce, where its benefits, and the challenges that come along, as well as exclusive tips to ace this lucrative business model, are thoroughly explored. Let our guide be the final push you need to take your business to another level.

What is Cross-Border eCommerce?

Cross-border eCommerce is the key for merchants to grow their brands and acquire a global status.

Although the term cross-border eCommerce is pretty straightforward, it is crucial to get into the nitty-gritty of what it actually entails.

In layman’s terms, cross-border eCommerce refers to the business model in which goods and services are sold to consumers in different countries. The process is carried out via the leverage of digital platforms, on which merchants can offer products to international customers without the need to set up a physical store in their regions. With the surge of eCommerce, more and more businesses of all shapes and sizes have opted for this lucrative approach.

A few decades ago, it would be overwhelmingly challenging for a small American business to sell its products to a Chinese audience. But all has been made possible by the introduction of universal payment systems, global logistics, and shipping carriers, and overall technology advancement. These days, an independent business from Finland is able to sell all over Europe and other continents with ease.

As conducive as it is, cross-border eCommerce comes with its own set of risks. Thus, careful preparation is vital before getting on board with this business model. The chapters below will equip you with everything you need to know about cross-border eCommerce, and then some.

Why Should You Sell Cross-Border?

The debut of eCommerce has granted business hustlers with golden opportunities to expand internationally, but is it always the cream of the crop, or in other words, why should you sell cross-border? Let’s explore below.

Access to International Markets

Merchants will be able to operate in foreign markets when going cross-border with their eCommerce brands.

When going across borders, the access to commerce markets in other countries is the most evident. Instead of catering your brand to one domestic market, you now have entry to international ones with a much larger pool of audience. Dynamic markets with billions of potential consumers like China or India are a goldmine for eCommerce businesses to bolster their customer base. Each market not only offers a diverse demographic, but opportunities to explore a multitude of market demands as well. As a result, it is intuitive to broaden one’s product line to stay active in these countries, ultimately promoting organic brand growth in the long run.

Increased Revenue

Revenue is the force that drives a brand’s success, making it one of the most prized objectives in doing business.

When operating in multiple countries at once, there is a high chance of diversifying income streams for merchants. In some cases, brands have witnessed immense success in foreign markets, even more so than in domestic ones. This is thanks to the higher sales volumes, which are produced by the addition of international customers, and the exclusive demands in certain regions. For instance, a Finland-based snowboarding gear business is welcome to expand its brand to Scandinavian countries like Sweden, Denmark, and Norway since they all share the same climate. By giving the consumers what they desire, your revenue is guaranteed to grow organically.

Established Global Presence

When a brand has managed to make a name for itself in its domestic market, the next best course of action is to evolve internationally. Acquiring a global presence is understandably one of the most sought-after goals. Even if you only expand to one other country, brand credibility can still be recognized by customers based on your operation in said market. This boost in reputation also makes it easier to work with suppliers, manufacturers, and other types of partnerships.

Boosted Competitive Advantages

If you are seeking a move that will give you an edge over the competitors, spreading your business internationally is the way to go. Instead of being restricted to one market, you can now upgrade your brand vision, whether it is the customer base or purchasing volumes. Additionally, by targeting the pain points in untapped markets, you are presented with niche opportunities to build a prosperous business in overlooked regions.

Opportunity for Long-Term Brand Growth

This business model provides the perfect opportunity for sellers to grow their brands organically.

Another irrefutable benefit of being a cross-border seller is the chance to attain sustainable, long-term growth. As your business gains international recognition, opportunities to build a household brand name arise. This growth is not only present in short-term benefits like boosted revenue or higher sales volumes but emerges in the exposure for advanced innovation, as well as an overall valuation from not only the customers but investors as well.

Cross-Border eCommerce Guide: Know Where to Expand

The plan is to go international, but where to? These checklists will give you an overview of which direction to follow to pick the most suitable markets to expand to.

Step 1: Market Selection Checklist

Knowing the potential of each market precedes the success of your eCommerce business when going cross-border.

• Assess market demand: will your products be flying off the shelves in your target market, or will they be unsought? Utilize tools like Google Trends, Exploding Topics, etc. to gain knowledge about the market demand in your desired country to make an informed decision. 

• Understand consumer behavior: details like their preferred platforms to shop on and their go-to payment methods, or the local holidays to keep an eye on are incredibly important to align your approach while doing business in a foreign country.

• Research competitors: keep an eye on the key players, their strengths and weaknesses, as well as their unique proposition in your desired market. This goes beyond their products and services, but their marketing tactics and the consumer’s perceptions of them as well.

• Localize language and currency: local buyers tend to trust foreign brands more if they can comfortably shop in their languages and currencies on their websites. This is why store localization is an unmissable step in building brand trust and adapting to a new culture.

• Study legal requirements: to compare multiple markets, the local regulations will be a major determinator. Take notes of import laws, taxes and duties, consumer protection laws, as well as data privacy laws to stay alert on what to expect.

Step 2: Platform Selection Checklist

Shopify has become a go-to platform for eCommerce sellers to expand their businesses internationally, thanks to its diverse features and flexible integrations.

• Region-specific websites: creating exclusive versions of your storefronts for different regions is a go-to method for many cross-border businesses. One can freely localize their website, including the language, content, product descriptions, and prices. While it is a common practice, this approach calls for meticulous maintenance across all versions, potentially resulting in management complexity and higher costs.

When to use: if you have business operations in a maintainable number of markets with distinct cultural uniqueness and are not on a budget, this model would work wonders.

• Local marketplaces: selling through local marketplaces that are regularly used by local consumers can help merchants tap into a new market more easily. Marketplaces like Rakuten (Japan) or Tmall (China) are excellent platforms for cross-border sellers to sell on.

When to use: you want a high-volume, built-in audience and fast entry.

• Global platforms: names like Shopify, Amazon, and WooCommerce are all reputable platforms for brands to expand globally. The ease of use and integrated features are unmatched for streamlining cross-border operations.

When to use: you want a foolproof option with an all-encompassing solution.

Challenges and Solutions for Cross-Border eCommerce

Shipping Challenges

When your products are shipped cross-continent, challenges are bound to present themselves. Everything from delivery time, return and refund, shipping costs, and shipping restrictions, to international address formats can deter you from having a smooth shipping procedure. Check out the most common problems and their solutions below to have a better understanding of how cross-border shipping works.

•  Long delivery time: the distances between your warehouse and the buyer’s location could become a contributor to the long delivery time, leading to an unpleasant customer experience.

=> Choose carriers with expedited shipping options, store inventory locally at key markets, and offer real-time shipping updates.

• High shipping costs: similar to long delivery time, the distance and different regional regulations can affect the shipping costs, driving customers away from placing an order.

=> Provide multiple shipping options at different prices, and incorporate the shipping fees in the product prices to promote free shipping.

• Shipping restrictions: the restrictions include the value limitations, product types, and required documentation. Your goods can be rejected at customs due to these reasons.

=> Stay updated on local laws, partner with a global/local fulfillment service, and use third-party shipping solutions.

Cross-Border Taxes and Customs

Taxes and customs duties vary from country to country, which is why it can be an intricate problem if you operate in various regions at once. Setbacks such as unique tax laws, customs delays, and extra costs can introduce serious challenges for sellers if not handled properly. In the worst-case scenario, these factors can lead to customer dissatisfaction, damaged reputation, possible fines, package delays, revenue loss, and high operational costs. So, what is the solution to keeping these detrimental impacts at bay?

Firstly, equip your business with a reliable tax calculator to estimate the total costs for each order. If you are based on Shopify, install an app like Zonos to help you do just the thing. Secondly, the implementation of Delivered Duty Paid (DDP) shipping allows you to pay the duties and taxes on behalf of the buyers, ultimately eliminating the extra hassles for your customers. Shipping carriers like DHL and FedEx both offer this service. Finally, you can forgo all the manual tasks by partnering up with an international fulfillment provider (i.e. ShipBob) and letting them take care of all things cross-border logistics.

While these challenges are inevitable, they are not impossible to overcome. With the advancement of technology, cross-border merchants are able to have peace of mind and run their businesses smoothly in unfamiliar territories.

Payment Fraud

One of the most common challenges that cross-border eCommerce sellers should take notice of is payment fraud.

Money makes the world go round, that is why you have to take preemptive measures to prevent any type of fraud as a business owner. In the world of cross-border eCommerce, this task is even more imperative. When the number of transactions increases, the risk of running into payment fraud is significantly higher. Take a peep at the challenges and our offered solutions below to get a headstart with this matter.

For sellers:

• Chargeback/friendly fraud: happens when buyers open a dispute fraudulently, which results in lost revenue.

=> Utilize fraud detection tools (i.e. Signifyd) and keep track of the transaction records for evidence if needed.

• Identity verification: your system may fail to verify buyers’ identities, especially for cross-border transactions, leading to payment fraud.

=> Use an address verification system, implement reliable payment gateways, and enable phone number/email verification at checkout.

For buyers:

• Lack of trust: buyers may hesitate to purchase from a foreign brand due to fear of scams and stolen information.

=> Offer transparent payment policies, accept digital wallets (i.e. Apple Pay), and display trust badges and SSL certificates on your site.

• Phishing scams: fraudsters can create websites that replicate your store, tricking buyers into providing sensitive information.

=> Inform customers about unauthorized websites, and implement two-factor authentication at checkout.

More from GemPages:

Shopify Fraud Prevention: Guide for Your eCommerce Store

How to Prevent Chargebacks as an eCommerce Merchant in 2025

Tips and Tricks to Ace Cross-Border eCommerce

Conduct Thorough Market Research

One brand’s chosen market might not be the other’s cup of tea. Depending on your business goals and target audience, there are countries that could make room for your brand to thrive. That said, how to streamline the research process to know which direction to go? Apart from the basics, below are some of the less-talked-about points to aid you in conducting complete market research.

• Be wary of cultural sensitivities: while doing business in a foreign market, it is crucial to inform yourself of certain symbols, phrases, and colors, as they can carry different meanings from country to country. By being careful in this department, you will be able to prevent unwanted conflicts or backlashes.

• Take notice of the environmental concerns: eco-consciousness is present in customer behavior and product regulations. For instance, Scandinavian countries embrace a highly eco-friendly shopping culture, while France has an Anti-Waste Law that requires companies to cut down on unnecessary packaging. Knowing this information beforehand better equips merchants with a more effective research plan.

• Prepare for domestic preferences: in some countries, it is common for shoppers to favor local brands over foreign ones. This habit is rooted in familiarity and economic nationalism, which can create challenges for international brands. To get over this hurdle, pay respect to the country’s culture and people firsthand, as well as emphasize quality and find a pain point that domestic brands might not be targeting.

Build an International Online Presence

In the digitalized world of eCommerce, an online presence is the core of your brand. When it comes to cross-border businesses, the task is doubled as you have to cater to international buyers by building an intuitive presence that lines up with their preferences. Here are a few efficient practices to follow:

• Localize your website: different languages, currencies, and regional prices should be carefully set up to achieve to fully localized storefront.

• Optimize for local search engines: Naver (Korea), Baidu (China), Yahoo! (Japan), Yandex (Russia), etc. are the most commonly used search engines in their respective markets. Thus, country-specific keywords and marketing campaigns should be crafted to ensure a high ranking on these platforms.

• Utilize customer’s social media habits: while X and Instagram are the most popular social media platforms in the U.S., other regions have their own bustling online hubs. For example, Chinese citizens are most active on WeChat, Douyin, Weibo, and Xiaohongshu, while VK has 100+ million active users in Russia. Thus, foreign brands are advised to build an online presence on these platforms for posting culturally relevant content in order to stay appealing to the locals.

• Collaborate with local influencers and celebrities: it is a common occurrence for K-Pop idols to become ambassadors for international brands like Baskin-Robbins or Fendi. By getting the most well-known celebrities to rep their products, foreign brands have found immense success in their target markets. For small businesses, scout for online personalities that are well-received to collaborate with to gain trust among their niche followers. As time goes by, you will be able to scale up and build a bigger brand presence.

Set up a Pricing Strategy

When going international, a clear-cut pricing strategy is of the utmost priority.

Platforms like Shopify allow you to sell products at different prices, region by region. This flexibility presents sellers with both an opportunity and a challenge: setting up a pricing strategy for each region. While it might sound intimidating, a variety of tools are available for merchants to set up a brilliant pricing strategy without an excess of manual brainstorming, namely Prisync and Omnia Retail. Alongside these tools, factors for cross-border sellers to keep in mind when it comes to pricing are:

• Local benchmark: have an idea of the general pricing sensitivities in your target market to avoid pricing too high or too low.

• Additional costs: import duties and local taxes might be deciding factors that largely affect your pricing plan.

• Dynamic pricing: adjust your product prices based on market trends and fluctuations.

More on Shopify pricing: How to Implement Tiered Pricing on Shopify + Apps [2024]

Key Takeaways

While it is an undeniable fact that a multitude of eCommerce businesses have been going cross-border in recent years, it is everything but a passing fad. The advantages of entering international markets are indisputable: a larger customer base, diverse revenue streams, and most important of all, a global presence that guarantees long-term success. If you are still unsure about the logistics of becoming a cross-border merchant, settle on a trustworthy eCommerce platform like Shopify, where an abundance of features are designed to streamline the whole process for you. After all, doing business is all about ‘go big or go home’ - when you’ve got the opportunity to take your brand to the next level, it is a sign to move forward.

FAQ about Cross Border eCommerce