Bringing your brand to different Amazon marketplaces around the world has been made simple on the Amazon Seller Central platform. It is easy to sign up for new marketplace accounts and list your products utilizing the “Sell Globally” feature available to Amazon Seller Central users. Likewise, Amazon Vendor Central users can reach out to their Vendor Managers and request access to a new Amazon Vendor account in the marketplaces that they would like to open. Being successful on the international Amazon marketplaces isn’t just about put your products up there and seeing what happens however.
Selling globally on the Amazon platforms leads to a number of challenges – with the primary one being language differences between some marketplaces. You may also have limited ability to implement some of the things that made you successful on the US marketplace. For example, some marketplaces don’t have some of the powerful marketing tools that many sellers use to create promotional strategies. And that’s not even considering regulatory and tax implications that selling in foreign market places requires you to abide by. We at AMZ Advisers have been successfully taking our clients to different Amazon marketplaces for years. We know many of the obstacles that will come along in the process and how to handle them, and can guide your business to success internationally on Amazon.
Language Challenges
The primary challenge that any Amazon Vendor or Amazon Seller has is the language differences of selling in different countries. The content you may have created on the US platform could be strong, but without being able to contextually change the content for a different language or marketplace is could be completely worthless. So many clients we have worked with in the past believe it is as simple as plugging the content into a translation tool and then re-using it in Seller Central. Many times, this only leads to your listings stagnating in Europe and not turning into a significant revenue stream.
While the European marketplaces are significantly smaller and eCommerce purchasing still has not reached levels like in the US, that does not mean you should not take these channels serious. That is exactly why our team at AMZ Advisers has expanded our team to include content writers native in other languages. AMZ Advisers has English, French, German, Portuguese and Spanish speakers on staff and available to produce the content you need for the marketplace you are targeting. Producing content in a foreign language and being able to connect with other speakers of that language requires in-depth understanding of cultural norms and messaging, and is one of the reasons we have expanded our team internationally as well.
Selecting Marketplaces
Ecommerce is still in its early phases in Europe – however certain marketplaces are certainly further advanced when it comes to online purchasing. Amazon is continuing to focus on growing its international presence in the UK, Germany and France and we believe that these are provide great opportunities to get started with expanding your Amazon offerings internationally. New marketplaces are opening often, and countries like Australia, Brazil, Mexico and Japan provide incredible opportunity for the future growth of Amazon offerings. We are and have worked across many of these marketplaces and can help you select where the best opportunities for international expansion on Amazon lie.
Fullfillment
Utilizing Amazon fulfillment can create certain tax liabilities that you will need to discuss further with your accountants and lawyers to understand. However, selecting certain options on Amazon can minimize or increase your tax liabilities. For example, selling on the Amazon European Marketplaces and using Fulfillment by Amazon requires you to select one of three options: Pan-European Fulfillment; Multi-Country Inventory, and; European Fulfillment Network. The option you select can have a drastic impact on your tax liabilities through Amazon and should be fully discussed with your appropriate advisors. AMZ Advisers and its affiliates do not provide tax advice and this is only intended to be general information.
Take Your Brand Global
Amazon has made it incredibly easy to make your products visible internationally using their platform. There are many pitfalls that Amazon Sellers and Amazon Vendors face when opening markets overseas. It’s important to consult the appropriate advisors from any tax standpoint, but it’s also important to consult with the appropriate advisor to understand how to market and sell your products in Amazon’s International Marketplaces. Let us help you take your listings international and optimize your content to be successful in any marketplace you choose.
Contact us today if you need help listing and selling your products on Amazon’s International Marketplaces.
