E-tailers and affiliates experience barriers to overseas sales

According to a poll taken at an e-commerce affiliate conference in Las Vegas, 87 percent of companies would like to sell to non-U.S. markets.

by Helen Leggatt

The poll, conducted by World Market Express, a provider of global e-commerce services, also revealed that nearly 80 percent of those that did sell overseas said that foreign business accounted for just 0-10 percent of total sales. Overall, 29 percent said that they and their clients had no overseas business, and a further 50 percent claimed that they did have international sales in the 0-10 percent bracket.

The main complaint and barrier to overseas sales amongst pollsters was the expense of handling international orders and payment systems. There were also concerns from affiliates about the number of referrals that are wasted due to lack of e-tail partner’s ability.

Of those that are already selling overseas 28 percent said the U.K. was their largest market, followed by Canada at 25 percent, Australia with 11 percent and France with just 3 percent.

Tags: affiliate marketing, France, international traffic, online retailing, online transactions, UK

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Another major stumbling block for an increase in international sales are the different import tax requirements for different countries. Some tax by declared value, some tax by 'perceived' value, some tax as they like (especially in many Asian countries). A few countries have taken the initiative to negotiate tax treaties with the US, most notably Singapore. One can only hope that other countries will follow to enable a more efficient flow of trade accross international boundaries.

Posted by: Frank on February 28, 2007 13:26