4 Key Facts about Global Retail and eCommerce Payment Processing

It’s no secret: online shopping is booming. Businesses around the world are seeing eCommerce grow rapidly as more consumers opt for the convenience of online retail. But what exactly does that growth look like on a global scale? And are retailers making the most of the business opportunities available to them?

To find out, BlueSnap partnered with Kount, a leading provider of fraud detection and sales-boosting technology, and Internet Retailer to conduct a survey of top U.S. retailers and put together a comprehensive report on global eCommerce expansion. Here are a few key takeaways:

• The landscape of international business is booming, and eCommerce will only continue to grow, especially in foreign markets like China and Israel
• However, the majority of U.S. retailers are missing out on that opportunity because they aren’t sure how to efficiently capture that international business
• Retailers struggle to overcome hurdles like fraud risk and eCommerce payment processing when expanding overseas

In short, demand for U.S. goods is higher than ever internationally — but most U.S. retailers have traditionally faced challenges in meeting that demand, thus missing out on significant growth.

Here are four facts from the report that paint this picture clearly:

1. In 2019, eCommerce will account for nearly $3.5 trillion and 1/6 of global retail sales.

Most people are aware that global eCommerce is a huge industry, but many businesses don’t realize just how enormous it is. A staggering amount of goods are purchased online around the world. Retailers who don’t have the tools and systems in place to sell online to global markets are missing out on a tremendous amount of business — as much as one-sixth of all their local sales.

2. Online retail sales will grow at a rate of 20% annually — and at that rate, global eCommerce will exceed brick-and-mortar retail sales by 2036.

This astounding growth isn’t stopping anytime soon. In fact, online retail is poised to eclipse the physical retail industry in just a few years. International markets, particularly in Asia, are clamoring for U.S. goods, and they’re buying them from U.S. sites wherever possible. That demand is only going to grow in the years to come.

That’s in contrast to the projected 3.5% growth of global retail — eCommerce is driving the vast majority of growth for the global industry. The ship is already sailing: it’s crucial that retailers get on board now to capitalize on this continued expansion.

3. Over 50% of leading U.S. online retailers don’t currently accept orders from or ship outside of North America.

Despite the expansion of the global eCommerce market, U.S. brands as a whole aren’t capturing that business. They’re missing out on an enormous amount of business because they’ve been unable to clear some of the roadblocks to international business. Right now, giants like Amazon and eBay dominate the global eCommerce market. That picture would change drastically if those 50% of U.S. retailers began to sell globally.

4. Almost 70% of retailers aim to expand internationally, but cross-border sales are full of roadblocks like fraud prevention or eCommerce payment processing.

For most retailers, these statistics simply support what they already know: international eCommerce is a major business opportunity. In fact, two-thirds already have a goal of international expansion. Brands are ready to expand. But cross-border eCommerce is tough to break into — check out this video for more context.

Most of these U.S. businesses agree on the factors that are holding them back: risk management, fraud prevention and eCommerce payment processing, along with other logistical concerns. For instance, if you’re going to do global retail, you’ll need global eCommerce payment processing — but that comes with numerous challenges, as detailed in the report.

Our study revealed pretty strong consensus across the board about how and why those factors were a concern. It boils down to this: what these retailers are doing domestically can’t scale globally.

Luckily, this report provides a clear path forward for U.S. retailers, including how to leverage eCommerce payment processing solutions that are tailor-made for international expansion. With the right insights and plans to overcome traditional roadblocks, U.S. brands no longer have to accept the status quo that cross-border retail is too risky or complicated.

Download the report now to get an exclusive look at the future of global eCommerce, or check out our webinar to hear our experts analyze the report’s groundbreaking findings.