When looking for ways to expand the reach of your business internationally, consider starting this adventure with the help of eCommerce platforms. First of all, they don’t require a lot of money at the beginning, secondly, thanks to them you can quickly test several markets at once and choose the strategic one, and thirdly, they take care of most of the logistical and financial issues for you. Below we will take a look at the world’s most well-known ones, which will give you access to millions of customers in many markets:
- Amazon:
- Popularity: Amazon has more than 300 million active users worldwide.
- Products: Amazon sells virtually everything from books to electronics, clothing, cosmetics, groceries and more.
- Service languages: Amazon offers service in many languages, including English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Chinese (simplified and traditional) and many others.
- eBay:
- Popularity: eBay has more than 182 million active users worldwide.
- Products: eBay is the place to find both new and used products, including clothing, electronics, collectibles, antiques and much more.
- Service languages: eBay offers service in many languages, depending on your location. The most common are English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Japanese and Chinese.
- Alibaba:
- Popularity: Alibaba has more than 1 billion active users worldwide.
- Products: Alibaba is mainly a B2B platform where you can find products in various categories, such as electronics, clothing, furniture, tools and more.
- Service languages: Alibaba offers service in several languages, including English, Chinese (simplified and traditional), Spanish, French, German, Italian, Japanese and Korean.
- Shopify:
- Popularity: Shopify has more than 1 million active users worldwide.
- Products: Shopify allows users to sell a variety of products, from clothing and jewelry to digital products and services.
- Service languages: Shopify is available in many languages, including English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Chinese (simplified and traditional) and many others.
- Etsy:
- Popularity: Etsy has more than 90 million active users worldwide.
- Products: Etsy is a platform where creators offer handmade products, unique items including jewelry, pottery, home decor and more.
- Service languages: Etsy supports several languages, including English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Dutch and Polish.
Choosing the right e-commerce platform depends on the specifics of your business and the preferences of your target customers. If you have a person in your company who can speak and write English, you have hundreds of millions of customers worldwide at your fingertips thanks to platforms such as Amazon, eBay and Alibaba. Be sure to understand the characteristics of each platform well and tailor your sales strategies to the specific market. This will help you maximize the potential of global e-commerce and achieve success on the international business stage. If you want to linguistically prepare your employees well for eCommerce platforms, we encourage you to take a look at Complete English for Business courses. We have dedicated classes for salespeople, where you can master speaking and writing English. Feel free to contact us.
