The future of commerce is global. If you want to make the best out of it, then you need to go global with Shopify. Shopify provides the international opportunity for anyone looking to go international with their e-commerce business. This is because as you may know, today, 70 percent of e-commerce transactions occur outside of North America, and this number continues to grow. Of the 10 largest e-commerce markets in the world, 7 of them are in non-English countries.
At Shopify, 30 percent of the merchant base lives outside the core English-speaking markets (Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, United Kingdom, and the USA), with more international businesses choosing the Shopify platform each year.
To help you grow your e-commerce internationally, Shopify is empowering the ecosystem with exclusive international offers in four priority countries — France, Germany, Japan, and Singapore. This is so you can take full advantage of these fastgrowing and largely untapped e-commerce markets.
Why Global with Shopify?
If you reading this from France, Germany, Japan, and Singapore, then pay attention carefully as this is for you. The opportunity in these markets is all growing continually. Over the next year, these countries will be among the fastest growing e-commerce markets in the world. And the good thing is, Shopify has invested in strengthening their product and market fit in these key countries.
Recent growth
- France: France is the 6th largest ecommerce market in the world and 3rd largest in Europe.
- Germany: Germany is the second largest ecommerce market in Europe, after the UK. Last year alone, ecommerce in Germany grew 9.5 percent (compared to 2016).
- Japan: In 2018, 50 percent of all ecommerce in the world will happen in Asia, so growth here will only continue.
- Singapore: Year over year, ecommerce growth in Singapore continues to increase by 130 percent.
How Shopify is investing in these markets
Shopify has been busy developing product features for each of these markets that will make commerce better for international merchants, as well as their locally-based customers. Feature updates include translation, local payment methods and sales channels, shipping solutions, and legal compliance.
Language and localization are a key first step to ensuring anyone can go global with Shopify. This is to make accessibility easier in international markets. Merchants now have access to a translated Shopify experience, with translations available in French, German, and Japanese (Singapore’s working language is English). This includes the admin area, help center, the Shopify blog, brochure pages. (For example, see the help center in French, German and Japanese).
A translated and localized experience not only means that merchants in these regions can navigate the Shopify product in their native tongue; it also means access to information, resources, and support that is relevant and applicable in their home country. Everything from the language featured to the design of the localized pages ensures that merchants feel at home building their business on Shopify.
Local payment integrations is another way through which Shopify is investing in these markets. Buyers in these priority international markets expect different payment options from what is offered in Shopify’s core market.
To make this possible, they’ve partnered with the leading payment gateways in these countries to provide a buying experience that customers expect. These include:
● France: Paybox, Bancontact via Mollie, SOFORT, MONEI, and more
● Germany: Shopify Payments, Mondido, Ratenkauf, SOFORT, Wirecard, Pay Later by Klarna, and more
● Japan: Shopify Payments, Konbini, Amazon Pay, Komoju, Bitpay, and more
● Singapore: Shopify Payments, Alipay Global, Coinbase Commerce, Butpay, CyberSource, and more.
Meeting compliance standards, Shopify is fully GDPR compliant, which is a key requirement for anyone operating an online business in Europe or storing data on European customers.
Localized shipping solutions
France, Germany, Japan, and Singapore have some of the best transportation logistics in the world. This means it’s just as easy to ship in and out of small towns and remote areas as it is in major cities. The following shipping methods available:
● France: Mondial, Relay, and SendCloud
● Germany: SendCloud, Shipcloud, and DHL
● Japan: Ship&Co, OpenLogi, LogiKura, CustomShip, and Japan Post
● Singapore: Easyship and Aftership
Channels to sell on
The channels that people are accustomed to buying through vary country to country. To offer functional commerce options to merchants in specific countries, it’s important to be able to integrate with the most popular channels among buyers. That’s why these varying sales channels are made available. These include:
● France: Instagram and Facebook Messenger
● Germany: Amazon, Ebay, and Facebook
● Japan: Facebook Shop, Facebook Messenger, and Instagram
● Singapore: Localyyz, Facebook Shop, and Facebook Messenger
How to start working in these markets
It is easier to go global with Shopify from these markets. E-commerce business owners from these countrues can simply go to the dedicated sites for these international markets. To get started, go to either Shopify France, Shopify Germany, Shopify Japan or Shopify Singapore. You will find all the information you need to get started righly.
