Marketplaces: Easing Cross-Border E-Commerce for SMEs Reid Wegner Business Development Manager Rakuten Ichiba Overseas Sales Strategy
Marketplaces: Easing Cross-BorderE-Commerce for SMEs
Reid WegnerBusiness Development ManagerRakuten IchibaOverseas Sales Strategy
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3 Considerations for SMBs going Cross-Border
Large brands/retailers SMBs
Marketing and brand awareness
• Strong overseas brand awareness• Large budget for international
marketing• Established trust/authority with
customers
• Moderate or no brand awareness• Low budget for int’l• Uncertain trust/authority with
customers
Global logistics / order management
• Broad coverage and fulfillment capabilities
• Complex inventory/order management requirements
• Weak coverage, CBT enables global fulfillment
• Simple to moderate order management requirements
Global management resources
• Local teams in place around the globe
• Centralized management from US-based team
(And how they differ from large enterprises)
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MARKETING & BRAND AWARENESS+
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Marketplaces Bring Global Shoppers to SMBs
“Consumers in South Korea and Japan are far less likely to browse a merchant’s website directly. This demonstrates how important off-website purchasing destinations should be for some merchants.”—2015 Pitney Bowes Global Online Shopping Study
Shoppers Marketplace
500M Tmall (China)
105M Rakuten (Japan)
100M MercadoLibre (LATAM)
Registered Shoppers on Global Marketplaces
Country Dominant e-com players Share
China Alibaba, JD 80%
Germany Amazon, Otto 55%
Poland Allegro 50%
Japan Rakuten, Amazon 40%
Brazil B2W, Cnova 36%
Australia eBay, Coles, Woolworths 34%
USA Amazon 28%
UK Amazon, Argos 28%
India Flipkart, Snapdeal 25%
Spain Amazon, eBay 20%
France Groupe Casino, Vente-Privee 20%
Share of E-Commerce Market Controlled by Dominant Players, by Country
The Rise of the Global Marketplaces, E-Commerce Foundation, 2015
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Cross-Border Shoppers Prefer Marketplaces
Seizing The Cross-Border Opportunity, Forrester Consulting, 2014
“Shoppers in APAC are particularly reluctant to shop directly with SME retailers, with 57% of respondentsranking this category as their last choice.”
“The majority of respondents in everycountry we surveyed ranked major multibrand online retailers or marketplaces as their first choice out of five business types for cross-border purchases.”
“When making an online purchase from a merchant outside your country, which type of business do you prefer to shop with?”
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Marketplaces Provide a Platform for Your Brand
Otterbox on Rakuten in Japan SkullCandy on MercadoLibre in LATAM
“There are hundreds of different marketplace options for brands to sell around the globe. Alibaba’s Tmall, eBay, MercadoLibre, and Rakuten, for example, all offerbrands the option to create official stores.”
—Forrester, Making the Case to Go Global, 2015
SneakerHead on TMall in China
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CROSS-BORDER LOGISTICS+
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Marketplaces Ease Cross-Border Shipping for SMBs
6 of Top 10 Barriers for Cross-Border Shopping Related to Logistics Solution? Cross-Border Shipping?
“A cross-border shipping model is often companies’ first step toward serving shoppers in other countries. This model has become popular due in part to the fact that it’s relatively low risk and requires a low investment.”
—Making The Case To Go Global, Forrester 2015
However….“Sales generated through any international shipping model tend to be lower than with other approaches.”
PayPal Cross-Border Consumer Research, 2015
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Marketplaces Offer Built-in Cross-Border Shipping
SMB Merchant Cross-Border Consolidation Point
Marketplace Customer
10
Consolidated Shipping for Multiple Marketplace Channels
Flexible fulfillment for SMBs
Reliable transit times and last-mile delivery
Fully integrated inventory/order management
Customs / duties estimated in advance
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CROSS-BORDER E-COMMERCE MANAGEMENT
+
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To Sell Cross-Border, SMBs have to…
Design a local website Translate my product catalog and brand assets Hire a local team for e-commerce operations Run local marketing campaigns Accept international payments Detect international fraud Manage a new set of inventory and orders Handle customer service in another language Ship products internationally
Marketplaces Collaborate with Local Service Partners
SMB Merchant Service Partners Marketplace
Store Design
Marketing
OrderManagement
CustomerService
Logistics
Product Feed
Promotions
Orders
Support
Shipping
Traffic
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Local Partners Empower SMBs to Sell Cross-Border
Deep knowledge of marketplace operations and success factors
Knowledge of local market and buyer behavior Local language capability Knowledge of local marketing and conversion
optimization tactics Communication with local customers Order management integrated with
marketplaces End-to-End logistics support
SMB Merchant
Marketplace
Local Partner
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How do Marketplaces Help SMBs do Cross-Border?
Marketplaces bring a lot of traffic and customers to SMBs and create a space for your brand
Marketplaces offer integrated cross-border shipping solutions to help SMBs get products to customers reliably and cost-effectively
Marketplaces collaborate with local partners to operate SMB cross-border e-commerce stores