Thanks to eCommerce, I’ve seen the world become a lot smaller. With eMarketer estimating that global B2C eCommerce sales will hit $1.5 trillion in 2014, there are very few places that haven't been impacted by the digital revolution.

With some of the world’s greatest brands having enjoyed true eCommerce success in their home markets, many are now looking to take the next step. At our recent North American Customer Summit, I saw real drive among ambitious eCommerce retailers to expand into the next generation eCommerce markets. In fact our own research among European C-level executives suggests that many businesses see places like Brazil and China as real growth opportunities for 2014. 

When it comes to going global and tapping into the next-gen opportunity, it’s important to understand the local variations and nuances. However, while it’s widely accepted that you can’t simply replicate what you do well in one market and see the same success elsewhere, putting this into practice is a different matter altogether. For the entire order experience must be considered; from product and service offerings, to payment management, fulfilment and customer service. And in my experience, that's a real challenge for today’s businesses. 

So what can you do to confidently enter new markets, whilst offering the best possible experience?

A framework is where to begin. Starting from the first point of customer interaction, through to reconciliation and settlement, having a payment planning framework makes all the difference when streamlining global expansion.

From the local payment methods you offer, to the appropriate currency being presented at the checkout, the decisions you make here could affect abandonment rates and critically, a customer’s decision to return. Targeting a new market imposes new requirements on your financial and IT teams. And while this may require significant changes to business processes, unless these are well controlled from the start, profitability could be undermined when entering a region.

Once you have an effective payment management framework in place, you’ll have a much clearer picture of how to expand successfully, whether into one region or on a global scale. It will help you get the right payment options in place, and, I hope, speed up your time to revenue, increase customer conversion and improve retention. Ultimately, this will help you make more informed decisions about checkout and payment.

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