Launching International Sales Using Market Research - Aug 03 in Community Help Boards in Community

Last Post Aug 3, 2007 12:03 PM by: deirdre@ebay.com

Replies: 27

Launching International Sales Using Market Research - Aug 03

Jul 27, 2007 12:18 AM

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Topic: Member Workshop: Launching International Sales Using Market Research

Host: terapeak
Date: Friday 08/03
Time: 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Pacific time
Location: Workshop Board

Description: This month Denise and Sara from Terapeak Marketplace Research will be on hand to explore how you can increase your eBay sales by expanding into the international marketplace on eBay! With a few simple research tips, sellers can learn about international markets and target other countries. With eBay businesses booming in Germany, Australia, etc. the enterprising eBay seller will want to adjust their sales to include other countries as well.

Cheers,

Deirdre
eBay Community Development

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Launching International Sales Using Market Research - Aug 03

Aug 3, 2007 10:47 AM

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Welcome and thanks for joining us today!

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Cheers,

Deirdre
eBay Community Development

Launching International Sales Using Market Research - Aug 03

Aug 3, 2007 10:54 AM

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Slide 1

Welcome to our workshop!

Today we’re going to look at the possibilities of selling within the international space of eBay. EBay is a global phenomenon, and has twenty-six sites across the globe (been to eBay.pl lately?). As online retail increases its presence, shouldn’t you look to expand and grow your business globally as well? Although not every site will be ideal, as there are language barriers inherent in global commerce, there are a lot of sites that include English content – and countries (Canada, Australia, the UK) whose sites are completely English. Or maybe it’s time to put that high school Spanish to use! Not only are these sites new marketplaces with eager buyers, but they present a different market for your items that may have different seasonality and trends than your current market.

Launching International Sales Using Market Research - Aug 03

Aug 3, 2007 10:54 AM

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Slide 2

For example, it may be summertime in North America, but over in Australia it’s wintertime, and people are shopping for boots, not bathing suits!

Let’s look at eBay.com sales for snowboards - they hit their peak in January…

Compare this graph with the one from the snowboarding category in Australia…

You can see the very different sales pattern. This is super for a seller interested in moving stock that may be out of season locally, but in season internationally!

Launching International Sales Using Market Research - Aug 03

Aug 3, 2007 10:54 AM

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Slide 3

If you find yourself with excess stock, or items that don’t sell as well as you would like in your local market, consider other markets to move product!

Let’s look at a particular search and compare the numbers – a Burton Snowboard search looks like this in the US market this time of year:

Over in Australia, the same search looks a little different :

We can see that the average price in Australia right now is $68.82 more than that in .com – and the sell through percentage is much higher as well. (48.43% vs. 75%). Not only is there more activity in the Australian market, but there appears to be less competition (more than twice as many listings in .com at the time, but higher sales amounts within Australia – the total sales are 113% over US).

Launching International Sales Using Market Research - Aug 03

Aug 3, 2007 10:55 AM

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Slide 4

With a little bit of searching around we’ve established that you can find international markets that are different than your home .com market. Moving forward, how should your listings be built to best attract international buyers? Market research factors in to this too.

Different markets have different trends, for starters, but also have different best times to list, different keywords, etc. Particularly in a foreign market, you want to make sure you are using the language of the area – and I don’t mean just the “English language”, I mean the common vernacular. Just as in England they would call a car’s trunk a “boot” and how diapers are “nappies” you have to re-think your favorite listing titles and make sure you are using the right words for your target audience!

Launching International Sales Using Market Research - Aug 03

Aug 3, 2007 10:55 AM

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Slide 5

Doing a little keyword research before writing your listing title (remember, that title is your storefront, your sales pitch and a shopper’s first impression!) is essential when speaking to a new consumer. Let’s look at differences in sporting goods, for example.
If we search for “soccer” on the US site, we receive the following recurrences in keywords:

We can see the difference when compared to the top keywords in the UK market – this also gives us an idea of what is hot in that market – notice how Barcelona is in the top ten, while Mexico appears more frequently in the US market,:

Launching International Sales Using Market Research - Aug 03

Aug 3, 2007 10:55 AM

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Slide 6

Another thing you will want to factor in is the different time zones you may encounter!
If you have great success with ending your listings on Monday mornings, you need to consider that Monday morning happens at a different time in Germany than it does in Kansas!

Terapeak’s default time zone is eBay.com’s time zone – PST. To change the time zone, you just alter your preferences within the preference menu. This way you can find the perfect times to end your auctions in different time zones.

Launching International Sales Using Market Research - Aug 03

Aug 3, 2007 10:55 AM

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Slide 7

Let’s look at the difference in peak days between listings - we’ll compare a report from the UK to one in the US market.

The US market Day of Week breakdown is as follows:

Compare these days to a report on UK data:

As you can see, your peak day for items may not be the same across the board. The highest sell-through percentage for both is Sunday, but look at the difference in the average prices! Wednesdays US sales average is much higher – and the Tuesday price in the UK is highest. These are differences sellers targeting a new market (or more than one market) need to take into consideration.