95 per cent of UK retail and eCommerce businesses see expanding into new territories as important in diversifying their brand, with many viewing European countries as lucrative marketplaces, according to new research released today.
Nearly half (46 per cent) see Germany as the most lucrative European country for selling internationally, followed by France (43 per cent), Spain (30 per cent), Italy (19 per cent) and the Netherlands (14 per cent). This is according to Huboo, an eCommerce fulfilment provider.
Well over half (59 per cent) of businesses plan to add at least one new B2C sales channel in the next 12 months and 57 per cent plan to expand into at least one new territory.
However, tax is considered the biggest barrier to operating cross border by half (50 per cent) of all respondents. This is followed by customs (45 per cent) and payments/currencies (33 per cent). In addition, nearly half (46 per cent) see warehousing, assets and logistics as the biggest cost when expanding into new territories.
Rob Gannon, enterprise sales manager at Huboo, said: “Expanding into new territories can be complex. Especially for businesses that have only traded domestically and just don’t have the in-house knowledge or experience of international markets. Each country has different tax, VAT and exporting regulations and it can be a minefield. However, our research clearly shows that virtually all eCommerce and retail businesses see expansion into different markets as key for rocketing their growth. So they have to find a way to bridge the gap between knowledge and taking action.
“Any business – no matter what their size and scale – will face headaches and complexities when it comes to tax, customs and payments. The quickest and simplest way is for businesses to partner with providers that already penetrate international markets, enabling them to stay focused on the business strategy as opposed to the day-to-day logistics.”
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