“I have found no greater satisfaction than achieving success through honest dealing and strict adherence to the view that, for you to gain, those you deal with should gain as well.” – Alan Greenspan
Our grandparents, parents and even some of us in our childhood remember shopping as something that involved going over to the local store / market to buy whatever was required. With the internet, this scenario changed faster than we could imagine and now shopping is only a ‘click’ away. Most shoppers do not even head to the brick and mortar stores – they buy whatever they want through their latest digital and smart devices with the help of a plethora of apps. People are therefore, now connected to anyone, anywhere in the world and hence shopping is no longer ‘domestic’. Companies are doing whatever they can to attract customers from around the world – a study reveals that between the years 2015 to 2019, sales from online shopping will double. With companies trying to attract customers from around the world, they have made shopping from anywhere extremely easy and fun. Shopping is now transcending the boundaries of countries and people are more open to buying from anywhere in the world. At least 57% people, revealed from the study, had shopped online from a retailer in another part of the world.
Companies and sellers around the world are in a frenzy trying to attract customers from around the world since technology allows them to do so. Customers now have an even wider choice given their ability to ‘shop’ from anywhere and from anyone located in any part of the world. It has given them access to products and brands that were previously unavailable, which is obviously a major reason for the surge in online shopping – making it easier for businesses to attract customers from around the world. It is a win-win situation for both customers and companies. Customers are able to buy genuine foreign products and brands at highly competitive prices and companies are able to gain a wider customer base, thereby increasing their sales and profits.
With growing competition, attracting local customers is becoming harder by the day. It is not surprising then, that companies are falling over each other in a bid to attract customers from around the world to ease the burden. Every business is competing with another one – irrespective of the industry of operation and products on sale. The aim is to gain as much market share as possible and attract customers from around the world and retaining them for the longest possible duration. With the shift of power to customers, loyalty and big spends with a single company is becoming exceedingly rare and hence companies just have to comply with the customers wishes to become the vendor of choice for as many customers locally and even customers from around the world.
There is no doubt that the world of commerce is crowded. People are inundated with options, choices and information translating to a shorter span of attention of any one particular company / brand / product. In order to cut through this melee and noise, companies must ensure that not only do they attract customers from around the world but forge relationships with them that would be durable and stand for a long time. They need to put together policies, customer service processes and a product line that would make them relatable, valuable and extremely ‘attractive’ to customers from around the world, in addition to their domestic customer base.
Given there are so many competing factors, companies should use different tactics to gain and retain the attention of customers from around the world. One of the top methods is through engaging customers in an ‘emotional’ and meaningful ‘conversation’ through content. Since customers from around the world would not have the opportunity to interact face-to-face with a company, it becomes imperative for the business to show them what the company stands for through words via content. By presenting a humane side, a company would appear more attractive and trustworthy even to customers thousands of miles away. Great content provides awareness and clarity about your company and your business would be more easily ‘findable’ by customers from around the world. An online presence especially through the company website and social media pages would ensure that customers anywhere would be able to access all the information about your company with just a single ‘view’. The website and social media pages of the company provide the business with a ‘face’ and a ‘voice’.
Since most of the business conducted with customers from around the world would be online, it would be imperative to put in place an email address too, over which customers could connect. Ensure that your business has a dedicated team responsible to answer customer queries within a few hours. The speed, accuracy and efficiency of the responses would be critical in determining whether customers from around the world can place their trust in your company. In addition, a live chat option on your website will allow customers to receive immediate responses and answers to their questions and if satisfied could save time by placing their orders during the ‘chat’. The more efficiently customers – both domestic and foreign – would be serviced, the higher the chances that they would come back with more business and encourage their friends and associates to buy from your company.
Keeping pace with customers from around the world would require your company to be at their service 24×7 all year round. This is essential given the varying time zones and peak seasons for shopping in different parts of the world and even within the country of the business. To attract people to your company and its offerings it is essential to be everywhere and at all times. A ubiquitous presence – that is smaller service and delivery offices in as many locations around the world as possible would make it easier for people to order, reduce delivery time and provide the feel of a global local company. This in turn enhances a feeling of belongingness and builds an emotional connection with the company. In a previous exposition, we spoke about the need to stay relevant with customers. This becomes even more crucial when dealing with customers from around the world since the interactions would be mostly online and hardly any human interaction. Staying relevant would mean communicating with them and establishing a ‘personal’ rapport. This is possible by keeping them informed of new offers, extending discounts and freebies, sharing information that you know would be useful to them and soliciting their feedback to keep abreast with their most current needs. By making every effort to personalize every experience with your country, you would be drawing even customers from around the world closer to your business, such that whenever they need certain products, they would think of your company and recommend it others as well.
While the internet has opened up a sea of opportunity, this also translates to challenges, more problems and things that could go wrong. If a global model works for one company, it is certain that others would be making every effort to outdo them. This is good news for customers since it increases their power to choose, provides them with so many hitherto unknown options and gives them bargaining power. The only way then to compete in the market would be to offer top class shopping experiences, best customer service and of course product range and quality. For customers from around the world, companies would need to ensure fast delivery, reliable payment options, fair refund and return policy, proper packaging to keep the products secure and other such aspects that would build trust and relationships.
