The growing market for international eCommerce is rewriting the rules of international trade — and reshaping the global economy. Consumers in in countries around the world are seeking out online retail offerings beyond their borders, giving eCommerce merchants an unprecedented chance to establish an international presence.
To set themselves apart from the pack, top-performing eCommerce merchants are offering shoppers a few key features, according to The Merchants’ Guide To Cross-Border Commerce, a PYMNTS and Digital River collaboration that examines the websites of 137 retailers across six industries.
For example, top performers are far more likely than bottom performers to use IP-recognition technology, which automatically changes a site’s display languages and payment options to match a shopper’s location. While 75% of the top 30 merchants offer it, only 1% of bottom-performing merchants offer it.
Country-specific address fields are another feature that sets the top performers apart. Forty-eight percent of the top 30 merchants feature them on their websites, compared to 32% of the bottom-performing competitors.
It is also critical for merchants their localize their customers’ user experience by providing the right payment methods, as well as interface-personalization tools. More merchants than ever are automatically syncing languages, currencies and payment methods to the locations where customers live.
IP recognition technology tops the list of tools that are earning merchants a competitive edge in international eCommerce. Merchants seem to have recognized this, as 28% of all merchants now use IP recognition to personalize their customers’ experiences, whereas only 1% did in 2016.
Country-specific address fields are now in wider use, as well. But adoption has been slower, with 36% of all merchants now using them, up from 32% in 2016.
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