It's no secret that when consumers feel loyal to a brand, they're more likely to buy the brand's products. And that principle holds especially true when it comes to international ecommerce. When users visit online retailers' sites, they want to feel at home, as if the sales associates at their favorite stores are greeting them on the way in.

So how can you make sure that your site rolls out a welcome mat for international visitors, converting them to loyal customers? Here are a few tips to help you call out your unique value proposition for each user's home country.

  • Capture country pride. Make sure you stay aware of where visitors are coming from, and use country-specific images to greet them-on your home page, and throughout the site. Customized creative that champions country pride will help users feel comfortable with your brand and products.
  • Optimize offers and content. Just as you wouldn't speak English to a non-native speaker if you also spoke their primary language, make sure that your site speaks your visitors' languages. Use as much language-specific content as possible, and make offers unique-and appropriate-based on a user's country of origin and their customs. You don't want to push a down coat offer in November to customers in Australia or greet visitors who may be observing Ramadan with consumeristic splash pages.
  • Overcome international pain points. Typically, the three most painful blockers to international ecommerce conversions are shipping, currency and customs. In fact, the number-one reason customers surveyed by PayPal and comScore gave for abandoning their shopping carts was high shipping fees. Overcome these barriers by providing fully-landed costs up front in checkout, so there are no surprises. Mention when prices include duties and VAT, and consider converting customers close to checkout with free two-day shipping.
  • Don't make them hunt. International users will have questions-so address them proactively. The homepage may be too early to discuss shipping, but you can start conversations there about currency exchanges and customs. Product pages are the best place to offer customers location-based shipping benefits that make them more likely to put items in their shopping cart. Include fine print that clearly communicates promotion qualifications, returns, duties and taxes-and make it easy to find. The longer customers have to look, the more likely they'll be to move on.

When customers feel comfortable with you, they hang around, browse, shop and convert. By taking steps to make your international users feel at home, you can keep them coming back to your site-and become a loyalist to your brand.

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