Cross-Border Ecommerce Is on the Rise

It’s no secret that e-commerce is changing the way people buy products. The market share of e-commerce purchases as a percent of all retail sales has a long-term average annualized growth rate of 16 percent. This means more and more people are seeing the convenience of buying online.

A new trend in the e-commerce space is doing more to intensify the momentum of online shopping. Cross-border e-commerce is currently on the rise—a trend Business Insider predicts could be responsible for more than $1 trillion in sales by 2021.

What Is Cross-Border Ecommerce?

Essentially, cross-border e-commerce is an online trade on a global level. This trend has gained traction because e-commerce allows for products to be securely bought and sold anywhere in the world. In the past, to buy goods from another part of the world, you either had to know someone there or, in more recent times, go through a questionable web portal.

With the proliferation of the free e-commerce website builder, global buying and selling have gotten much easier and safer. It’s now possible for the average consumer in North America to buy products directly from a Chinese webstore, and vice versa. Rising incomes in China and other Asian countries have led to a rapid expansion of consumers there wanting foreign products. Cross-border e-commerce also opens the doors for individual buyers to find exactly what they want at the best possible price.

Who Will Benefit from Cross-Border Ecommerce?

One of the most intriguing aspects of cross-border e-commerce is that it introduces a new way for people around the world to benefit from the global economy. It’s possible for anyone to run a successful cross-border e-commerce enterprise as long as they have reliable internet and can access local shipping networks. Mexico is one country particularly well-poised to take advantage of cross-border e-commerce. Its closeness to the United States through proximity and trade deals have set up that country to be a major beneficiary of cross-border e-commerce.

One concern some people are voicing about the near-term future of cross-border e-commerce is national economic isolation efforts touted by Brexit and Donald Trump might make global trade more difficult and less profitable. While there has been no shortage of rhetoric about tariff adjustment and border control recently in the United States, these threats can only be seen as transitory growing pains to the inevitable dominance of global e-commerce.

How Can You Benefit from Cross-Border Ecommerce?

If you’re online shopping, there’s a good chance you’ve already benefited from this megatrend. About 40 percent of people who shop online make cross-border purchases, which account for around 15 percent of the total e-commerce market. On the consumer end, the proliferation of cross-border e-commerce is allowing people to get better products at a lower cost. There’s not much you can dislike about that.

If you’re interested in starting your own cross-border webstore, it’s important to learn about your intended customer bases. You need to know where you’re going to be seeing demand for certain products, as shipping to one nation can be vastly more profitable than shipping to others. Also, investigate the reliability of various shipping options. Local delivery protocols are still slow and unreliable in many places. You want to ensure your packages always arrive at their intended destinations.

This is an exciting time to be involved in the e-commerce world. Cross-border e-commerce is on the rise and revolutionizing the way people shop. Taking steps to capitalize on this booming trend can potentially allow you to run your own successful business. If nothing else, you’ll be able to get great deals on exciting new products from around the globe.