Comments on: Why Europe is the biggest opportunity in the next couple of years for the american e-tailers http://blog.shop.org/2008/08/18/why-europe-is-the-biggest-opportunity-in-the-next-couple-of-years-for-the-american-e-tailers/ This blog is for the members of Shop.org Mon, 08 Mar 2010 15:21:36 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: sandrar http://blog.shop.org/2008/08/18/why-europe-is-the-biggest-opportunity-in-the-next-couple-of-years-for-the-american-e-tailers/comment-page-1/#comment-213067 sandrar Thu, 10 Sep 2009 19:54:45 +0000 http://blog.shop.org/?p=227#comment-213067 Hi! I was surfing and found your blog post... nice! I love your blog. :) Cheers! Sandra. R. Hi! I was surfing and found your blog post… nice! I love your blog. :) Cheers! Sandra. R.

]]> By: Shipwire Order Fulfillment http://blog.shop.org/2008/08/18/why-europe-is-the-biggest-opportunity-in-the-next-couple-of-years-for-the-american-e-tailers/comment-page-1/#comment-124155 Shipwire Order Fulfillment Thu, 04 Sep 2008 22:47:30 +0000 http://blog.shop.org/?p=227#comment-124155 Great posting Michael. Very Timely for the holiday season. Thank you for all the numbers. Definitely get to Europe...now. I really like your assessment of why US e-tailers can compete because they are 2-3 years ahead already. It is very true. We're seeing it as well. Other than getting brand in front of buyers in Europe (mindshare), actually getting the product cost effectively in the hands of buyers post-purchase can be a real challenge. I have some thoughts on that and I think this is the right forum for that. For SMB Retail merchants reaching Europe can be very daunting. Many are trying to figure out how to sell to European buyers while shipping from the U.S. I would like to put forth a few potential solutions for US merchants trying to reach the UK and/or Europe. Many merchants just look to a shipping consolidation service or try and negotiate international discounts from Fedex/UPS. Not a bad idea; however, there are more competitive ways to go about it...be a local merchant in Europe by controlling a remote warehouse and shipping facility. The key is to get some of your best selling products into the UK/Europe, warehouse them there with an order fulfillment company and ship each order with a local shipping company (royal mail, etc). That will allow you sell to buyers like a local merchant, offer 1-2 day delivery at local shipping prices...and handle returns. Basically, European order fulfillment gives you local presence on a pay-as-you-use model. Just like in the U.S. the key to margin is shipping costs and eliminating costly shipping errors. Look at your top 50 selling products. You probably already shipped some of them to Europe for buyers that were less concerned with Shipping costs. Don't try and move all your SKU's...just focus on a few. Get a small amount of inventory into Europe via Freight. Store it in a warehouse locally and then automate your order fulfillment for your European orders. Here are some helpful links if you want to learn more about successfully fulfilling European orders while keeping down shipping costs. Two recent articles talking about selling overseas: ecom guide: http://www.ecommerce-guide.com/solutions/article.php/3768306 Wall Street Journal: http://blogs.wsj.com/independentstreet/2008/08/20/one-way-to-save-on-shipping-fulfillment-services/ Key take aways: 1) Europe is a big market, you should be selling there. 2) Shipping each order from the U.S. to Europe is probably not the best way to compete 3) Plug into an order fulfillment company in Europe and compete like a local merchant. 4) European buyers want fast delivery with discount shipping...just like US merchants. Thanks again for this great article Michael. ---- Nate with Shipwire Store-Sell-Ship warehouses in the U.S., Canada and Europe free trial http://shipwire.com/trial Great posting Michael. Very Timely for the holiday season. Thank you for all the numbers.

Definitely get to Europe…now.

I really like your assessment of why US e-tailers can compete because they are 2-3 years ahead already. It is very true. We’re seeing it as well.

Other than getting brand in front of buyers in Europe (mindshare), actually getting the product cost effectively in the hands of buyers post-purchase can be a real challenge. I have some thoughts on that and I think this is the right forum for that.

For SMB Retail merchants reaching Europe can be very daunting. Many are trying to figure out how to sell to European buyers while shipping from the U.S. I would like to put forth a few potential solutions for US merchants trying to reach the UK and/or Europe.

Many merchants just look to a shipping consolidation service or try and negotiate international discounts from Fedex/UPS. Not a bad idea; however, there are more competitive ways to go about it…be a local merchant in Europe by controlling a remote warehouse and shipping facility.

The key is to get some of your best selling products into the UK/Europe, warehouse them there with an order fulfillment company and ship each order with a local shipping company (royal mail, etc). That will allow you sell to buyers like a local merchant, offer 1-2 day delivery at local shipping prices…and handle returns. Basically, European order fulfillment gives you local presence on a pay-as-you-use model.

Just like in the U.S. the key to margin is shipping costs and eliminating costly shipping errors.

Look at your top 50 selling products. You probably already shipped some of them to Europe for buyers that were less concerned with Shipping costs. Don’t try and move all your SKU’s…just focus on a few. Get a small amount of inventory into Europe via Freight. Store it in a warehouse locally and then automate your order fulfillment for your European orders.

Here are some helpful links if you want to learn more about successfully fulfilling European orders while keeping down shipping costs.

Two recent articles talking about selling overseas:
ecom guide: http://www.ecommerce-guide.com/solutions/article.php/3768306

Wall Street Journal: http://blogs.wsj.com/independentstreet/2008/08/20/one-way-to-save-on-shipping-fulfillment-services/

Key take aways:
1) Europe is a big market, you should be selling there.
2) Shipping each order from the U.S. to Europe is
probably not the best way to compete
3) Plug into an order fulfillment company in Europe and compete like a local merchant.
4) European buyers want fast delivery with discount shipping…just like US merchants.

Thanks again for this great article Michael.

—-
Nate with Shipwire
Store-Sell-Ship
warehouses in the U.S., Canada and Europe
free trial http://shipwire.com/trial

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