In today’s digital landscape, the expansion of e-commerce across borders is more accessible than ever, providing unparalleled growth opportunities for brands. As international commerce continues to grow, optimizing the shipping process for a seamless and positive experience is key for success. 

In this article, we’ve teamed up with international shipping solution provider and experts, Passport Shipping, to delve into the key strategies and considerations that empower businesses to thrive in the global commerce.

The Benefits of International Shipping for E-commerce Brands

Embracing international shipping is not just an option for e-commerce brands, but instead a necessity for sustained growth and relevance in today’s global market. We’ve outlined some of the top benefits of international commerce below.

Market Expansion

International shipping opens doors to a vast and diverse customer base. With an estimated 2.71 billion digital buyers worldwide for 2024, venturing into global commerce allows brands to significantly broaden their reach and customer demographics. With this increased reach, it’s still just as crucial for brands to build out their buyer personas across borders.

Increased Revenue Streams

In short, expanding into global markets means more chances to sell products. A study from McKinsey & Company found that companies reaching international customers grow their revenue much faster than those focusing only on local markets. Using international shipping allows brands to access new sources of income and reduces the risks linked to depending only on local sales.

Competitive Edge

Expanding globally positions e-commerce brands as industry leaders. A report by Accenture notes that companies embracing global strategies tend to outperform their competitors, emphasizing the importance of thinking beyond domestic boundaries.

The Fundamentals of International Shipping

As Passport Shipping says, “Going global is complex, not complicated”. To get started, brands must understand and plan the fundamentals of international shipping, all starting with research:

• Market Research and Target Selection: Identify potential international markets based on factors like demand, cultural compatibility, and regulatory environment. Conduct in-depth market research and analyze web analytics to prioritize regions with high interest.
• Shipping Strategy: Develop a comprehensive shipping strategy that aligns with the chosen target markets. Determine shipping methods, carriers, and fulfillment models based on the unique requirements of each region.
• Regulatory Compliance: Understand and comply with shipping regulations, customs requirements, and import/export restrictions in each target market. Provide accurate documentation, including HS codes, customs valuation, and goods descriptions.
• Transparent Cost Communication: Clearly communicate shipping costs, taxes, and duties to customers upfront to avoid surprises and build trust. Implement a transparent pricing structure that aligns with international market standards.
• Operational Efficiency: Optimize logistics and supply chain processes to ensure timely and secure deliveries. Implement efficient tracking systems to monitor shipments throughout their journey.
• Packaging Adaptation: Adapt packaging to withstand international transit and comply with destination-specific regulations. Ensure that packaging aligns with product protection standards and minimizes the risk of damage. This is also a great opportunity to source more eco-friendly, reusable, and sustainable packaging options.
• Collaboration with International Shipping Partners: Establish strategic partnerships with reliable international shipping providers. Ensure that partners can deliver timely and secure shipments, aligning with customer expectations.
• Customer Communication: Provide clear and transparent communication about shipping times, tracking information, and delivery expectations. Address customer inquiries promptly to enhance satisfaction and trust.
• Efficient Returns Process: Develop a streamlined process for handling international returns, ensuring customer convenience and satisfaction. Clearly communicate return policies to customers in compliance with international regulations.
• Continuous Optimization: Regularly evaluate and optimize international shipping strategies based on customer feedback, market dynamics, and changing regulations. Stay informed about industry trends and technological advancements that can enhance the efficiency of global shipping operations.

Top Strategies To Streamline International Shipping Processes

Optimizing international shipping begins with the strategic selection of target markets. Prioritize regions that demonstrate interest through web analytics, or share cultural similarities with a thriving e-commerce landscape. Once these key markets have been identified, the focus should shift to operational efficiency. It’s crucial to understand each country’s unique import regulations and ensure compliance, in order to avoid potential delays or unexpected costs. This includes providing accurate HS codes, customs valuation, goods descriptions, and other required documentation, as well as following tax guidelines. 

Additionally, it’s imperative to be transparent about shipping costs and communicate delivery times to customers. Partnering with an experienced internationalization solutions provider can alleviate the logistical and compliance challenges that come with global expansion and expedite growth. By implementing these strategies, companies can achieve a more streamlined, cost-effective, and customer-centric international shipping process.

How is Passport Shipping Simplifying International Shipping For Brands?

Passport is an international solutions provider that helps brands go global, easily. We do this with growth advisory and localization services, internationalization technology – including branded tracking pages and real-time duty & tax calculation and collection during checkout – and in-house shipping and compliance capabilities. With a new all-in-one internationalization solution, Passport Global, over 90 DTC 3PLs in our global network, and integrations with all major TMS platforms, we have enabled more than 1,000 merchants of all sizes to seamlessly access over 180 countries worldwide.

To learn more about the company, offerings, and careers, visit passportshipping.com.

What Important Regulations Should a Brand Consider With International Shipping?

When selling products internationally, brands must consider the specific import regulations in each country they ship to. Ensuring that products comply with the safety and regulatory standards of each market, by adhering to local restrictions or prohibitions, is essential to avoid customs issues. Maintaining proper documentation, along with awareness of quantity limits and personal use exemptions, is also crucial for trade compliance. 

Additionally, understanding the duties and taxes imposed by different countries is important, as these can significantly affect pricing for international customers. This requires understanding the tax de minimis and distance selling thresholds, as well as any other fiscal obligations. Compliance is vital not only to avoid legal complications but also to streamline logistics and maintain competitiveness in international e-commerce.

In Summary: Embracing Global Growth with Strategic Confidence

Armed with the knowledge outlined above in addition to leveraging industry experts and solution providers like Passport Shipping, brands can confidently navigate the international e-commerce landscape, ensuring legal compliance, logistic efficiency, sustained competitiveness, and understanding duties and taxes.

We’re so excited to announce that Corso Green Shipping Protection is now available in Shopify UI Extensions!

Shopify UI Extensions is a new feature allowing brands to customize the checkout experience for their customers. Brands can now add new fields, change the layout, and even add custom branding to their checkout.

The combination of Corso Green Shipping Protection and Shopify UI Extensions is a powerful tool that helps brands to improve the customer experience, while reducing the risk of lost or damaged shipments.

Here are some of the benefits of using Corso Green Shipping Protection with Shopify UI Extensions:

Easy implementation

The implementation process for Corso Green Shipping Protection in Shopify UI Extensions is incredibly user-friendly. This makes it easy for brands to set it up themselves without any technical expertise. Within a few clicks, you can have this tool running on your Shopify store giving your customers the peace of mind they deserve. There’s no need to hire a developer or spend countless hours tinkering with complex code.

Corso Green Shipping Protection and Shopify UI Extensions make it a breeze to offer a more sustainable and secure shipping experience to your customers.

Customization

Brands can fully customize the widget to fit seamlessly with their site’s aesthetic. From color choices to sizing and placement, the possibilities are endless. This level of customization ensures that the widget not only looks great, but also enhances the overall checkout experience. Plus, the widget is designed to be ADA compliant, with text color automatically adjusting to match any changes made to the background color.

With Corso Green Shipping Protection and Shopify UI Extensions, brands can offer a shipping protection solution that not only provides peace of mind, but also aligns perfectly with their brand’s unique style.

Same Corso you know and love

By maintaining the benefits of having Green Shipping Protection, brands can continue to improve their customers’ shopping experience. Customers can feel secure knowing that their shipments are protected in case of any mishaps. Additionally, the reduced risk of lost or damaged shipments means that merchants can avoid potential chargebacks and refunds, saving them time and money. With Corso Green Shipping Protection, brands can offload shipping issues work to the Corso concierge service. This gives them more time to focus on growing their business. Overall, maintaining the benefits of Green Shipping Protection can lead to increased customer satisfaction and loyalty, resulting in higher revenue and a more successful online store.

How to implement Corso Green Shipping Protection in your Shopify store

Corso Green Shipping Protection is a great way to offer your customers peace of mind and a more sustainable shipping experience. To learn more about how to implement Corso Green Shipping Protection in your Shopify store, please visit our knowledge base article:

Corso Green Shipping Protection now available in Shopify Checkout UI Extensibility

Conclusion

If you’re a Shopify brand, we encourage you to consider using Corso Green Shipping Protection with Shopify UI Extensions. It’s a powerful tool that can help you improve the customer experience, reduce the risk of lost or damaged shipments, and increase revenue.

What does this integration mean?

This integration will allow brands to easily add the Corso experience to their checkout, giving them access to powerful features and tools that can help them improve their post-purchase experiences. 

This partnership is a major step forward for BigCommerce brands, and we are thrilled to see the possibilities that Corso and BigCommerce can offer.

Getting started with the Corso app

Download the app

Adding Corso to your BigCommerce store could not be easier. Start in the BigCommerce App marketplace and search for “Corso Green Shipping Protection” or simply click HERE. On the app listing page, click “Install”.

Once the app is installed, we add a “Sustainability & Coverage” product. This product will be added as a line item to your customer’s order should they choose to add Green Shipping Protection. The multiple variations represent pricing tiers based on the order total. These tiers determine how much the customer will pay for Green Shipping Protection.

Authorize Billing

After installation of the app, a member of our team will send you a billing request which will authorize Corso to bill for Green Shipping Protection. In summary, here is how billing works: your customers add Green Shipping Protection as a line item on the order and you collect the money. Then every week, Corso will send an invoice via Stripe. The total of the bill is the sum of Green Shipping Protection line items, minus any reorders or refunds that we processed on your behalf.

For example, if 100 of your customers purchase Green Shipping Protection for $1, you would collect the $100. Then let’s say there is a $75 reorder. We would process that request and place a reorder through the BigCommerce API. As a result, we would deduct $75 from the bill and only charge you the remaining $25. Of course, you get to keep the $75 for the reorder.

Enable the widget

After the app has been installed and the billing request has been authorized, the last step is to enable the Green Shipping Protection widget. By default, the widget will be placed on the cart page just above the checkout button. However, you can place multiple instances of the widget wherever you want. To do this, all you have to do is place a simple code snippet in the location where you want the widget to be displayed. Here is the snippet:

<corso-cart-widget></corso-cart-widget>

Most brands typically place the Green Shipping Protection widget right above the checkout button so it is visible for the customer to decide if they don’t want to add it to their order.

You’re all set!

Your customers are now ready to start adding Green Shipping Protection to their orders to protect their package against damage, theft, or loss and reduce the carbon on their shipment.

Contact us for any questions or support, our team is on standby to help.

Just in time for the holiday rush, we are introducing our Gorgias X Corso Green Shipping Protection integration!

Now your support team can quickly submit a shipping claim on behalf of customers directly from a Gorgias ticket! This is going to save you time and reduce your customer’s back-and-forth!

As always, once the claim is submitted Corso Concierge will reach out to the customer and work toward a solution within 24 hours!

Installing the app on Gorgias

Once you have those two apps connected, you just go to the Gorgias admin. Click your name in the bottom left corner, then select Your Profile. Under App Store select Apps & Integrations. Scroll down and click the Corso Green Shipping Protection app.

From the app detail page, select Connect App. From there it will ask you to authorize the app on your Gorgias account. After it loads for a few seconds you’re all set up and ready to go!

Using the Gorgias GSP app

We designed the GSP app to be very simple, yet streamline the claim submission process. On any orders that purchased protection, you will see this new widget in the sidebar:

If you would like submit a claim on behalf of this customer, just click Create Claim For Order.

A new page will open up with all the prefilled information for that order. Just answer the two questions, select the effected products, and add any note (optional) then hit submit.

The Corso Concierge team will review the claim and respond to the customer and reach a resolution within 24 hours.

That’s it! The whole process should take 7.8 seconds or less!

We hope that this new Gorgias integration saves you a bunch of time, creates an even better experience for your customers, and helps your brand win this holiday season!

Learn more about the integration HERE.

Today, Corso is happy to announce our official integration with Recharge!

This new Corso and Recharge partnership will allow customers to offset 100% of the carbon footprint associated with the last mile of their one-time and subscription orders while also offering shipping protection against lost, stolen, or damaged packages.

We are thrilled to be the first integrated partner able to offer these services to Recharge’s many merchants!

With the integration, merchants will be able to offer Corso’s Green Shipping Protection at checkout and as an add-on through the customer portal.

For approximately 2 percent of the cart value, customers can add the peace of mind that their package will be covered for any possible issues and ensure the shipment will be sustainable.  When an issue does occur, Corso’s concierge team will step in and replace the order at full MSRP.

Why does this matter?

Scaling an e-commerce brand in 2022 comes with its challenges.

Increasing issues associated with lost, stolen, and damaged packages are causing serious headaches for both brands and consumers.

Most brands don’t have a definitive process when shipments are lost or damaged, and if they do, it is expensive and timely.

With the Corso and Recharge partnership, the end customer can have a replacement order sent out by Corso in the case of a shipping issue within 24 hours. The customer also gets to offset 100% of the shipping carbon associated with the shipment, which can help increase LTV up to 18% and create a more seamless post-purchase experience.

This also helps the brand recoup lost package revenue + provides a great experience to the customer.

How It Works

To learn more about how to set up the Recharge x Corso integration, head over to our walkthrough here.

To get a demo of Corso Green Shipping Protection, book a call with one of our team members to review the tool! Book a time here.

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