How To Expand Your E-Commerce Business To International Markets
Online shopping has changed how we buy things. Stores can now sell to customers anywhere. Shoppers can buy what they want from home with just a few clicks.
The online retail market is growing rapidly. In 2023, global sales were $5.8 trillion, and they’re expected to hit $6.8 trillion in 2025. These numbers show just how big online shopping has become.
Want to grow your online store? Selling to other countries is key. However, it can feel overwhelming at first. Don’t worry—we’ll show you how to expand your e-commerce business to international markets.
What is Global Ecommerce?
Global e-commerce means selling stuff online to people worldwide, not just in your own country. It’s different from local e-commerce, which only sells to nearby customers.
Today’s online tools and shopping platforms make it easy for any business to sell worldwide. You don’t need to be a big company—even small shops can reach customers worldwide.
The Rise of Global Ecommerce
Global e-commerce has surged, even with recent challenges. Retailers worldwide have navigated shifting consumer habits post-pandemic and economic uncertainties in countries like the US. Despite these hurdles, global e-commerce sales continue to rise impressively.
1. The US
In 2025, US retail e-commerce is expected to grow by 11.2%, with e-commerce penetration rates reaching 26% of total retail sales. Amazon, Walmart, and eBay dominate the US market, leveraging their vast product catalogs, fast delivery networks, and customer-centric innovations.
2. China
China remains the powerhouse, projected to lead the global market with sales exceeding $3,500 billion, driven by innovative players like Temu and Shein.
3. The UK
The UK continues to hold third place globally, with e-commerce sales likely to hit £100 billion in 2025, reflecting stable growth fueled by mobile commerce.
4. Brazil
Brazil is Latin America’s biggest e-commerce market and is expected to grow by 17% by 2026. The region’s online sales could top $160 billion soon, with over $106 billion from mobile shopping.
5. Mexico
Mexico is a major player in Latin America’s e-commerce, expected to grow 33% by 2026. Thanks to better digital services and platforms like Mercado Libre, Mexico continues to strengthen its market position.
6. Argentina
Argentina’s online shopping market is rapidly expanding, mainly due to more people using digital payments and mobile shopping. It helps drive nearly 67% of the e-commerce market share in the region’s top three countries.
Going Global: Your E-commerce Game Plan
Want to sell worldwide? E-commerce is your perfect testing ground! It’s much safer than opening stores abroad right away. But remember – what works in one country might flop in another. Let’s break down what you need to know!
Pick Your Markets Smart
Do your homework first! Look at which countries actually want your products. Check out who you’d compete with and how easy (or tough) it would be to sell there. Focus on places where you can really stand out.
Make Money Move
International customers should pay you without hassle. Pick an e-commerce platform that handles global payments without any hassle. The right tools can also make shipping to other countries much easier.
Speak Their Language
Make shoppers feel at home on your site by using their language, showing prices in their currency, and offering their favorite ways to pay. The good news is that today’s e-commerce platforms can handle all this automatically, so your store can feel local everywhere it goes!
Find Your Next Global Market
Before jumping into international sales, you need to know which markets will work best for you. Start by checking the basics – do people want your products? How’s the economy doing? Who would you compete with? Don’t forget to look at how people shop in each place – their favorite payment methods and how much they buy online.
Keep an eye on what Amazon is doing internationally – their success can teach you a lot about reaching global customers. You can start an Amazon business and Expand Your Amazon Business Into New Markets. You can also use simple SEO tools to track where your visitors come from and spot which products are popular in different countries. This helps you understand what foreign customers want most.
Manage Your Global Growth
Before going international, take a good look at your current team and how you run things. You don’t need to start from scratch; make sure your team can handle selling abroad. Look for people who’ve worked with international customers or are eager to learn new skills.
You might also want to split your team and budget into two parts – one for local sales and one for global markets.
Get Global Payments Right
Selling in different countries means navigating new rules regarding payments, taxes, and shipping. Each market has its own payment method—some love digital wallets, others prefer bank transfers, and some still want cash on delivery. Tax rules also change from country to country, and you must follow each one correctly.
Do your homework on these local rules and popular payment methods before selling. Most e-commerce platforms offer tools for handling different payment types and managing taxes across countries, making it easier to serve customers worldwide.
Plan Your Growth Steps
Know exactly what you want to do before expanding. Figure out what your business really needs—whether it’s updating your website and payment options or opening a physical store in the new market. Having a clear plan makes it much easier to take the right steps forward.
Try Before You Dive In
Start small and smart before going all-in on a new market. Run some simple test ads in areas you’re interested in to see if people like your products. Watch how many people click and buy and what they say about your brand. These small tests can tell you if a market is worth your time and money before making a bigger move.
Setting Up Your Global Online Store
Once your international plan is ready, you need to adjust your online store to work for customers in new countries. Every market is different, so carefully set up your store for each place you want to sell. Let’s look at what you need to prepare before launching in new markets.
Run Stores in Many Places
Set up different online stores for each country you sell to. Manage them all from one place. Use the right language, money, and products to make each store feel local. Keep your brand looking the same everywhere. When shoppers see a store that fits their needs, they’re more likely to come back.
Set the Right Prices
Each country needs different prices for your products. It’s more than just changing dollars to euros. Look at what people can afford in each place. Match local prices to encourage more purchases.
Pricing tricks matter too. Some countries like China and India prefer round prices like $10.00. Others like the US and Australia like prices that end in 9, like $9.99.
Watch out for taxes. Every country has its own rules. Use tools that add the right tax for each place. This keeps you out of trouble and makes selling easier.
Payment Options
Different countries like to pay in different ways. In the US and UK, most people use debit cards to buy online. In China, they prefer services like PayPal and Google Pay.
Don’t just offer credit cards. Find out how your customers like to pay. Add those payment choices to your store. When you let people pay how they want, they’re more likely to buy from you.
Invest in Customer Service
Take good care of customers no matter where they live. Every country needs the same great customer service.
People in different places want help in different ways. Some like to chat online. Others want to call. Make sure you can help them how they like, in their own language.
Be there when customers need you. Since people live in different time zones, try to offer help day and night. Use local teams or smart chatbots that speak many languages. This way, everyone gets quick help when they need it.
Shipping & Returns
Getting products to and from customers in other countries can be tricky. Most online sellers say this is their biggest problem.
Your customers want fast, cheap shipping that works well. Pick shipping companies can send things around the world and show where packages are at all times. Forceget’s Digital Platform streamlines supply chain operations, optimizes inventory management, enhances efficiency, and provides complete visibility and control from sourcing and procurement to transportation and fulfillment.
Make returns easy too. Tell customers clearly how returns work and who pays for shipping items back. Using local return centers helps make returns cheaper and simpler for everyone.
Connect Your Tools
Link your online store with three key tools to sell worldwide:
- ERP systems – These track your money and products across all countries you sell in
- Accounting software – Handles money, taxes, and payments for each country
- PIM tools – Keep product details correct in different languages and for different stores
Check if your store platform (like Shopify or Adobe Commerce) works with these tools before you start. Without these connections, it’s hard to manage stock and sales in different countries.
What Are Global Ecommerce Trends
Online shopping changed a lot since COVID-19. First, stores had to move everything online. Now, they’re mixing online and in-store shopping in new ways. These big changes aren’t going away. Let’s look at the new trends that can help your online store do better around the world.
Making Supply Chains Stronger
COVID-19 taught us how easily global supply chains can break. When the pandemic hit, many online stores couldn’t get their products. This was a huge problem.
To avoid future problems, businesses need to do 3 things: They can work more closely with suppliers or they can use a digital supply chain. This helps them stay open when trouble hits.
Shopping Worldwide Made Easy
More people are buying things from other countries online. You don’t need stores in those places to sell there – customers will find you.
Social media is the key. Apps like TikTok and Instagram help you reach buyers anywhere. You can talk to customers directly and work with influencers to spread the word. Plus, people can buy right through these apps.
Making your website work well on phones is also important. Many people shop on their phones now, so your site needs to look good and work smoothly on any device.
Selling in China and Asia
China remains one of the world’s largest economies, with an immense online shopping audience eager to buy. Recent numbers highlight its dominance: By the end of 2025, the Asia-Pacific region will account for 61.5% of all global online shopping revenue, with China alone contributing an impressive 83.7% of Asia’s e-commerce sales.
Over 915 million Chinese shoppers are expected to purchase online this year, solidifying China as a global leader in e-commerce.
Want to sell in China? Here’s what works:
- Team up with Chinese companies that know the local market well.
- Hire local talent for marketing, sales, and technical roles to ensure authenticity and efficiency.
- Leverage popular platforms like Alibaba, JD.com, and Pinduoduo, as global sites like Amazon and social media giants such as Facebook and Instagram remain restricted in China.
Remember: China blocks many Western social media sites, so you’ll need to use Chinese platforms to reach customers there.
Speak Your Customer’s Language
Don’t just stick to English on your website. If you want to sell in other countries, use their languages.
Having your site in local languages does two big things:
- Helps customers understand your products better
- Gets your site higher in search results, so more people find you
Start with the most important parts first: checkout pages, product descriptions, and customer reviews. Later, you can translate the whole site.
Expand Your E-Commerce Business Worldwide
Selling online to other countries can help your business grow a lot. To do well, you need to study each new market carefully, learn what local shoppers want, and make your website work well for international customers.
Make everything feel local – prices in their money, customer service in their language, and reviews from their country. If you do this right and care for each market’s needs, your ecommerce business can do great worldwide.
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