DHL: “Cross border e-commerce one of the fastest growth opportunities in retail”

A new report from DHL Express has identified cross-border e-commerce as “one of the fastest growth opportunities in retail”. The report – The 21st Century Spice Trade: A Guide to the Cross-Border E-Commerce Opportunity – looks in detail at the markets and products that offer the highest growth potential, the motivations and preferences of customers making international online purchases and the success factors for online retailers that wish to expand overseas.

There is a particular focus on the opportunity for premium products and service offerings, as DHL found that “higher basket values account for a significantly higher proportion of orders in cross-border transactions”.

The report predicted that cross-border retail volumes will increase at an annual average rate of 25% between 2015 and 2020 (US$300bn to US$900bn) – twice the pace of domestic e-commerce growth. Online retailers are also boosting sales by 10-15% on average simply by extending their offering to international customers. An additional boost comes from including a premium service offering: retailers and manufacturers that incorporated a faster shipping option into their online stores grew 1.6 times faster on average than other players.

“Shipping cross-border is much, much easier than many retailers believe, and we see every day the positive impact that selling to international markets can have on our customers’ business growth,” said Ken Allen, CEO, DHL Express.

“We also see that virtually every product category has the potential to upgrade to premium, both by developing higher quality luxury editions and by offering superior levels of service quality to meet the demands of less price-sensitive customers. The opportunity to ‘go global’ and ‘go premium’ is there for many retailers in all markets.”

Click here for more information, and to download a copy of the study.