Fresh from the news that our co-founders were named “Entrepreneurs of the Year” in our home state of New Jersey, Flow’s international e-commerce experts headed to The Lead Innovation Summit in Brooklyn, NY on July 9-10. The Lead Innovation Summit is an event where the fashion and retail innovation communities get together to talk about what comes next for the industry. [...]
There’s an old warning that “Speed kills,” but in the international e-commerce industry, moving slowly is far more dangerous. Flow’s Global Research Report found that 50% of international e-commerce shoppers say the top barrier to making a cross border purchase is that “delivery time is too slow.” This is an even greater concern for consumers than the cost of taxes and [...]
Established in 2012, Canadian brand tentree aims to become the most environmentally progressive brand on the planet. As part of their mission, the brand uses sustainable fabrics and materials to reduce the negative impact of the apparel industry on the environment, in addition to planting ten trees for every item sold. Their goal: plant one billion trees by 2030. This mission [...]
E-commerce has been evolving at such a rapid pace, it may be challenging to know what’s next. How will consumers’ preferences change one year from now, or even five years from now? The ability to predict the future of e-commerce becomes even more difficult for cross-border merchants. It’s hard enough to prepare for the future in one market that brands are [...]
It's been an exciting month for the Flow team. Last week on Thursday June 20th, we were honored to learn that our cofounders, CEO Rob Keve and CTO Mike Bryzek, received the Entrepreneur of the Year® 2019 Award in New Jersey from EY. This award reflects the hard work of a team of dedicated innovators working to create a best-in-class solution [...]
Today’s online shoppers are looking to purchase goods from outside of their country’s borders more and more. One in five online payments is now a cross-border transaction. This is great news for e-commerce merchants who are expanding into new global markets. But before brands and retailers dive into international market expansion, there are some important details to consider. At the top [...]
Father’s Day is a newer tradition than Mother’s Day in most countries. In the U.S., it became an official, nationwide holiday in 1972, 58 years after Mother’s Day. Dads still don’t receive quite as much love as moms when it comes to gift giving: in the U.S. consumers have typically spent less for Father’s Day than Mother’s Day. (Consumers were expected [...]
Once you’ve launched a cross-border e-commerce business in a new market, the next step is to figure out how to market to consumers in each region. Without making an investment in marketing, you cannot reasonably expect shoppers to flock to your site and buy your products. More often than not, consumers need help finding your online store. Internet marketing platforms like [...]
In the U.S., the summer season officially kicks off Memorial Day Weekend. Americans take their long-awaited summer vacations and their shopping habits typically slow down. Some retailers report as much as a 30% drop in sales during the summer months. Optimistic retailers may view June, July and early August as a good time to prepare for the impending frenzy of back-to-school [...]
Paperwork is not something you expect to deal with when getting into a digitally-driven industry. But there’s no escaping it, especially for cross border e-commerce retailers. Lack of completed paperwork or inaccurate documents can tie up international goods at the border, leading to customer frustration and disappointment. For your international customers to receive goods in a timely fashion, an accurate and [...]
