The world’s largest retail trade association, NRF, once again hosted its biggest conference of the year in New York City to discuss the challenges and opportunities the industry will face this year. NRF’s theme was “2020 Vision,” for obvious reasons. According to NRF’s own estimates, more than 40,000 conference-goers from 100 countries representing 16,000 global retailers converged on the Javits Center [...]
There is a healthy appetite for cross-border e-commerce in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region. It’s no surprise since internet penetration rates and smartphone usage continue to soar here, making it ripe for online shopping. However, cross-border e-commerce merchants should understand that APAC is comprised of 48 distinct individual countries with different cultures, languages, and economics. Not all countries have the same expectations [...]
It’s the final stretch of the holiday shopping season and for many online brands and retailers it’s been a strong season. In the U.S., this season has already seen impressive results for e-commerce: online sales on Thanksgiving Day hit a record high of $4.2 billion, or 14.5% increase over 2018, Black Friday also saw a new record for e-commerce sales at [...]
An estimated 34 percent of American consumers planned to return or exchange a holiday gift in the aftermath of the 2018 holiday season, according to a January 2019 survey of U.S. consumers by WalletHub. Of that 34 percent who planned to exchange or return a gift, 68 percent said that they were returning clothing, while 23 percent said they wanted to [...]
As we move through the holiday season, we’ve been giving thought to the trends and surprises we see coming in the new year. We anticipate 2020 to be a critical year for cross-border selling and brands of all sizes, no matter their market of origin, will extend their reach into international markets. Here are some of our predictions for cross-border brands [...]
Since Robe Keve and Mike Bryzek founded Flow Commerce in 2015, we as a team have had one mission: to empower businesses to market, sell and ship to online consumers globally, and to enable consumers anywhere to have simple and easy local shopping experiences. During these past four years we've achieved several milestones, and today we're thrilled to announce a new [...]
To succeed at international e-commerce, online merchants need to position themselves as global brands with a localized presence. That means demonstrating that you’re in tune with each country’s relevant taxes and duties on the products you sell. Accomplishing this requires your website to calculate accurate duties and taxes for purchases in each market. This also means adjusting how these fees are [...]
Live on stage at the WWD Digital Forum, Flow customer Outerknown shared valuable lessons about cross border e-commerce expansion. A long list of both established and emerging e-commerce brands assembled at the Women’s Wear Daily (WWD) Digital Forum in Los Angeles on November 12. Each year, this invite-only event brings together brands of all sizes to share strategies on digital engagement [...]
Singles Day is over until next year, but we’re still unpacking the implications for cross-border e-commerce merchants. Once an obscure “anti-Valentine’s” holiday celebrated by single people in China on November 11, the day has now spread beyond Chinese borders and is nothing short of an international e-commerce phenomenon. This year’s Singles Day broke records, with early reports of Alibaba raking in [...]
As the world becomes increasingly global, cross-border e-commerce is thriving, but navigating its roll-out in different markets can be complex, as different countries have different needs and concerns. Products also vary in popularity across the world, making it vital to cater your cross-border merchandise to each market. Below, we highlight the top categories and barriers to entry in the primary markets [...]
