STORES Magazine - December 2008 - (Page 31)

WORTH WATCHING / INTERNATIONAL Global as Local BY FRED MINNICK to E4X’s New Jersey hub, where it is prepped for international shipping. Easing the burden Many U.S. retailers have shied away from selling internationally, DeSimone says, because “it’s expensive and timeconsuming to do all of the vendor set-up and legwork you need in order to put a decent customer experience into place yourself. You need the logistics piece — you need to figure out how you’re going to deal with customs, duty and taxes.” Retailers that receive international inquiries are tempted to do the work themselves. They think, “‘I’ll just use UPS or the postal service to ship the products,’” DeSimone says. “Then the recipient gets FiftyOne simplifies international e-commerce for U.S. retailers A s U.S. markets slow or contract, many retailers are looking to expand their global e-commerce presence. “International has become a frontand-center idea, a way of growing business,” says Michael DeSimone, CEO of E4X, a leading provider of international e-commerce solutions. “Whether you’re a pure-play online retailer or a mixed channel, the easiest way to go international is through your direct channel — without having to open a store in another country.” Through its FiftyOne global e-commerce solution, New York-based E4X has provided the international customers of Saks, Overstock.com and The Parent Company the same online shopping experience U.S. customers enjoy by enabling international storefronts with multicurrency localization. ence for the consumer,” DeSimone says. “At the end of the transaction, once the order’s been submitted, they’re brought back to wherever the retailer wants them — usually the retailer’s homepage.” Following credit card authorization, E4X preps the order for shipping. “What the retailer sees from us is a domestic order with a U.S. shipping address, a U.S. bill-to address and a U.S. single-use credit card … that looks like How FiftyOne works When international customers visit a website, they’re “What the retailer sees from us is a domestic order with a U.S. shipping address, recognized by their IP addressa U.S. bill-to address and a U.S. single-use credit card.” — Michael DeSimone, E4X es and welcomed through a flag icon that indicates their country. All the products are in the comevery [domestic] order that they get,” a call from customs saying, ‘you’ve got a DeSimone says. “They don’t have to pany’s specified pricing and the conpackage here; we need you to pay duty sumers’ currency. change their system so they can accept a so it can clear customs.’” Unlike many international shopping postal code that has more than five digThe biggest risks, he says, are that the its and alphas in it.” solutions, the consumers are not recustomer refuses to accept the package quired to log in to another website to He says this aspect of the solution or “pays that COD and never orders StORES pay, and when the international shopper avoids a huge problem retailers often face again.” loads up her shopping cart and clicks when selling across borders: changing Fred Minnick is a professional writer checkout, a flash-based global checkout their shipping systems to accommodate based in Louisville, Ky. He covers a window pops onto the merchant’s site. international addresses. Instead of mailbroad range of business topics. “It’s a very smooth and elegant experiing to Europe or Canada, the retailer ships WWW.STORES.ORG STORES / DECEMBER 2008 31 http://www.Overstock.com http://WWW.STORES.ORG

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of STORES Magazine - December 2008

STORES Magazine - December 2008 Contents Executive Editor's Page President's Page Wrap Rage Unraveled What Shoppers Think Courting a Comeback 10 Things You May Have Missed Numbers Worth Counting Full Price/Markdown Retail People Cover Story: Navigating the Road Ahead Website Strategy Concept2Watch Online Customer Service International Marketing Green Retailing Online Merchandising Signage Operations Online Strategies Pricing Strategy Kiosks RFID Human Resources Loeb Retail Letter ARTS Update Point of View NRF News Retail Crossword Retail Industry Calendar Last Laugh

STORES Magazine - December 2008

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