For online sellers looking for a way to expand their business, it often means looking no further than the lucrative global ecommerce market.

Spurred on by double-digit growth in 2010, international commerce is entering an explosive growth phase -  one that will continue this year and for several years to come.

International sales represent a huge opportunity for merchants of all sizes and in all niche markets.

Consider this… while 73% of people in North America have Internet access and rank online shopping as their favorite activity behind email, only 50% of people in Europe 17% in Asia currently access the Internet. 

And as with their American counterparts, international Internet users like to shop online.

According to Reuters, online sales are expected to increase as much as 40% annually in Japan.

But while there’s a lot of money to be made in global ecommerce, it can also represent a significant challenge for online sellers.

Shipping costs, lack of international tracking, customs and duty fees, long shipping times and post shipment customer services issues have caused many online sellers to limit or exclude international sales.

That being said, ignoring this mammoth customer base can have a dramatically negative effect on your bottom line.

Additionally U.S. markets saturated with products and sellers in certain categories, often remain wide open for those merchants who are willing to ship worldwide.

Without a global presence, your business is not fully online.

Bongo International Helps Sellers Create Hassle-Free International Sales

Fortunately, doing business in the global marketplace is now much easier thanks to an innovative service from Bongo International. I first learned about Bongo in April 2010 at the Ecommerce Summit in Las Vegas.  It was there that I met Greg Sack President of Sales at Bongo.  After talking with Greg at length and viewing a demo of the product,  I was impressed by the features and benefits of their service, as well as the user friendly integration for sellers.

Bongo International is a mail forwarding and parcel forwarding service that ships products from the U.S. to 174 countries worldwide.

But Bongo is much more than your old school run of the mill parcel forwarding service.

Bongo is truly a full service international liason between you and your global customers.

In fact, Bongo has developed an entire process designed to provide the solutions that resolve the everyday challenges faced by merchants who sell to international customers.

From international tracking numbers to payment fraud checks, package consolidation services that alleviate high shipping costs to the ability for your customer to calculate shipping, duties and taxes before checkout – Bongo International has looked at every problem with shipping worldwide and solved it.

Best of all, this service is free for online sellers and gives you the opportunity to increase your sales, while decreasing your costs as well as those of your customer’s.

Bongo Benefits for Your Business

In addition to the benefits listed above, one of the best features that Bongo offers is the ability for your customers to remain on  your site during checkout, thereby significantly reducing the potential of shopping cart abandonment.

• Because Bongo becomes a seamless part of your checkout process, it adds to increased international customer confidence.

• The consumer pays a small fee, either one-time or subscription (if they are frequent shoppers) for the convenience of using Bongo’s service.  Bongo customers can save up to 83% in shipping costs compared to other shipping carriers, making it an attractive option for international shoppers.

• The Bongo application works on eBay, ecommerce websites and with most major shopping carts; as well as Amazon, Buy.com and 1ShoppingCart.com. You can see some of the additional Bongo partners here.

• Bongo International has also recently partnered with ChannelAdvisor to provide integrated international shipping solution for ChannelAdvisor customers.

Listen to My Interview with Greg Sack and Learn How to Increase Your International Sales and Take the Pain Out of Shipping

In my interview with Greg, we walk through the international sales process step-by-step, as well as how Bongo easily integrates into almost any ecommerce scenario.

We also brainstormed an innovative way that international sellers can use Bongo’s services to work with U.S. wholesale suppliers and ship worldwide from the U.S., opening up a whole new business model for sellers outside the U.S.

The thing I like best about using Bongo’s service is it enables busy online sellers to stop wasting precious time dealing with the mundane tasks of international shipping and start focusing on making more international sales.

Which is exactly what you should be doing as the CEO of your online business.

Listen to my interview with Greg Sacks directly below. Learn step-by-step how to integrate Bongo into your business and get tips and strategies on how to sell successfully internationally.

Lisa Suttora Interviews Greg Sacks of Bongo International

(Click the + sign below to listen.)

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Then tell me below what your international selling strategy is.

-Lisa

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