U.S.-based online seller growth tops 20 pct in international sales

International sales and shipments made by U.S.-based eBay sellers grew 20.1 pct in the past year, up from 14.3 pct the previous year, the fastest growth in three years, says MyStoreMaps.com, a company that tracks worldwide shipping. Growth outpaced other countries mainly because of a weaker U.S. dollar, MyStoreMaps reports.

EBay sellers in all major western economies are seeing increased growth in international sales, says Brian Lawe, president of MyStoreCredit Inc., the parent company of MyStoreMaps.com

MyStoreMaps’ numbers are based the company’s data set of more than 3 million shipments made between buyers and sellers in 162 countries. Sellers outside the U.S. experienced growth at only half the rate of U.S. sellers. “For the same time period, the rate of growth in shipments for all non-U.S. sellers was only 10.6 pct ,” Lawe tells Internet Retailer.

The ramp-up for international sales is three to four years behind domestic e-commerce sales, Lawe says. He attributes the past year’s growth to “a lower U.S. dollar rate, primarily, and buyers who have become very comfortable buying online from sellers in their own country.”

Trust has been the main obstacle to more international buying, Lawe says. As shoppers become more at ease buying from e-retailers in their own country, they begin to experiment. If nothing bad happens with their first overseas purchase, subsequent buys become easier, Lawe adds.

The most popular countries that U.S.-based eBay sellers ship to are Canada, at 28pct ; United Kingdom, 20 pct ; Australia 10 pct ; and France, 6.5 pct , says Antoine E. Hall, vice president, operations and client services at MyStoreCredit.

Online sellers who use the MyStoreMaps tool can display a worldwide map that pinpoints international shipments. The maps show the total count of a seller’s international shipments, so foreign buyers can identify those sellers with experience shipping to their country.