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US most important market for UK retailers

By Danielle Wightman-Stone

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London - The US is the most attractive e-commerce market for British retailers according to a new study from Global-e, despite fewer than half of UK retailers selling across the pond.

Global-e surveyed 250 retail decision makers in the UK and found that 59 percent believe that the US is the number one e-commerce market to break into, however only 44 percent are currently selling products in the states, and only 13 percent who don’t are planning to do so.

There are number of reasons making the US an attractive market according to Global-e, the first being that it is one of the largest e-commerce markets in the world, online sales in the US reached roughly 341.7 billion dollars last year, a growth of 14.6 percent on the previous year, and the market is predicted to become larger than Europe, Africa, and the Middle East combined by 2019, second only to Asia.

Additionally, the US has introduced a bill handling taxes, which means that import taxes are now only applied to orders over 800 dollars instead of 200 dollars, meaning it is ‘considerably’ cheaper for US consumers to purchase from foreign shoppers, with some cases meaning it is tax-free.

The final reason is that due to Brexit the pound has weakened, while the dollar is currently performing well, meaning US shoppers can get more for their money.

“Now is an opportune time for British retailers to do business in the United States. US consumers’ appetite for cross-border shopping is growing rapidly,” explains Global-e co-founder Nir Debbi. “Following the new rules, they can now buy more for the same price from abroad which is great news for foreign retailers selling into the US. Particularly for British retailers, where post-Brexit shock has caused the American dollar to surge against the British pound.”

The US key target for UK retailers in global e-commerce

The report reveals that 51 percent of retailers are motivated by the opportunity for growth in the US, yet 48 percent offer no localisation when targeting US shoppers.

Retailers who have launched e-commerce activity in the US have faced difficulties in doing so the report notes, including two-fifths of retailers, pointed to shipping and customs issues as a difficulty, while over a quarter faced difficulty with laws and regulation complexity (state vs federal) when selling to US shoppers.

Although over 54 percent of Americans say they regularly shop outside of the US, 99 percent say they prefer to pay in US dollars and many are put off when this is not an option on UK retailers websites.

Debbi added: “Retailers should take into consideration the local competition and remove major barriers in order to realise the full potential of the US e-commerce market. Most retailers fail to offer overseas customers their local payment methods, localised pricing or multiple shipping options at attractive rates and local return options – which impacts conversions abroad.”

GLOBAL-E