Built for growth

– choose an e-commerce platform that can support expansion into new markets

When your e-commerce business is doing well, looking beyond your home market is the natural next step. Sweden is a small market after all, and e-commerce makes it relatively easy to expand your range into new countries and reach more customers. But growth and new markets also bring new challenges. Payment and delivery methods, as well as laws and regulations, can vary significantly from one country to another. To succeed in multiple markets, you need flexible technology that makes it easy to take your e-commerce operation into new countries. That’s why we’ve put together the key things to consider, so you can choose an e-commerce platform that helps you succeed beyond your domestic market too.

What your e-commerce platform needs to handle if you want to succeed in other countries

There are two things that matter most when you’re entering a new market in another country. First, you need a solid understanding of how that market differs from Sweden. Second, you need an e-commerce platform that can adapt to those differences. A flexible, robust platform makes it much easier to succeed in a new market. If it isn’t built for new market requirements, it can actually hold back your growth. Let’s look at what makes a platform a real growth driver when you’re expanding.

Language and content.

At a basic level, your platform obviously needs to support multiple languages and currencies. Just as importantly, that support needs to be flexible and easy to work with. Especially when it comes to language. If visitors can’t view your site in their own language, or if the translations are poor, trust drops quickly. And if the platform’s language tools are difficult to use, it’s easy to default to English for the sake of convenience. That may work reasonably well in Sweden, where English proficiency is generally high, but in many other countries it can become a real barrier. So when it’s time to expand, you need a platform with user-friendly multilingual management. You’ll also need a flexible CMS that makes it easy to manage different content for different countries. For example, it should be just as easy to duplicate shared content as it is to manage content that needs to be unique to each market.

Payment methods.

It goes without saying that your platform needs to handle multiple currencies when you expand. What’s easier to overlook is how much payment preferences can vary between countries. In Sweden, Klarna Checkout is probably the most common payment solution in e-commerce. But if you look at the other Nordic countries, for example, payment preferences are quite different. In Finland, customers prefer bank transfers; in Denmark, card payments are the preferred option; and in Norway, Vipps (similar to Swish) is extremely popular. If you want to establish your business in other countries, your e-commerce platform needs to support the payment methods people actually use there. Statistics show that one in ten customers abandon their purchase because of limited payment options, and one in five abandon if they don’t trust the payment methods on offer. It’s also worth remembering that new payment providers keep entering the market. In a few years’ time, customers may prefer completely different methods. So choose an e-commerce platform that’s flexible enough to add new payment methods as they emerge. Otherwise, the risk is that customers buy elsewhere.

Inventory and delivery.

When you’re entering a new country, it’s also important to consider which delivery methods and partners are available there, and which ones customers actually prefer. Today, customers expect several delivery options, such as home delivery, collection points or contact-free delivery. As you expand, you not only need to understand which delivery methods your new customers prefer. Your platform also needs integrations that work with those delivery solutions. The same applies to your warehouse setup. Will orders be shipped from a Swedish warehouse to other countries, which may have a negative impact on shipping costs? Or are you planning to work with a warehouse partner in the local market? If so, your platform needs to support integration with that new warehouse. Ideally with several different warehouses if you’re planning to expand into multiple countries.

Support throughout your expansion journey.

Many growing e-commerce businesses want to move quickly when expanding into new countries. That’s why they often choose a platform that’s easy to get started with. But what does that support look like over time? Is it still easy when you need to make changes, scale up and add new functionality? Will support be there throughout the expansion? Can you get help with more than just the technology, for example with marketing in your new markets as well? Choose a provider that doesn’t just deliver the right technology, but supports you throughout the entire growth journey.

Key things to consider when planning to expand into new markets

There’s a lot to think about when a business model that works well in Sweden is about to expand into other countries. At Viskan, we work with customers active in more than 50 countries. That experience has given us a clear view of what matters most for smooth, successful expansion:

Do your research before you expand. For example, look at demand in the new market and which competitors operate in your segment. You may be alone in the Swedish market, but in another country there could be five other e-commerce businesses offering the same thing.

Go deeper in your research so you get the answers that actually make expansion easier. For example, don’t just ask whether the e-commerce platform supports payment and delivery methods that work in Germany. More importantly, ask whether it supports the methods German customers actually prefer. Set requirements around the factors that genuinely drive success.

In most cases, you’re starting from scratch when you enter a new country. You won’t have brand awareness to rely on, for example, which makes thorough market research essential. Look at where customers come from, which search terms they use, and so on. Make sure you have a platform that can give you the insights you need.

What’s the barrier to entry in a new country? Take the US, for example. It’s a huge market with major potential, but VAT and tax handling there is far more complex than in Sweden. If you don’t understand how it works, or don’t have system support for it, it can become a major challenge. That’s something we at Viskan want to make easier. That’s why we’re currently building an integration with an expert partner that specialises in tax handling, so we can offer a complete solution for that market.

An e-commerce platform that makes expansion into new markets easier

At Viskan, we’re used to helping growing businesses. We know that e-commerce growth demands the capacity to handle higher order volumes, more traffic, multiple languages and currencies, more integrations and more. That’s why we’ve developed Viskan E-commerce Platform to be flexible and scalable. It grows with your business and supports your future needs, including through:

A well-designed language function that has been built in from the start. The language tools are quick and easy to work with.

A flexible CMS that makes it easy to launch a new e-commerce site in a new country. For example, you can easily adapt the site yourself and set up payment methods, currency, delivery options, language and more for each market.

An open API that not only makes integrations easier, but also allows external partners to build integrations with our platform with ease. For example, for warehouse systems. We often work with partners so we can offer niche solutions and scalability in the platform.

Personal, ongoing end-to-end support. At Viskan, you have a dedicated contact person who supports your day-to-day work. We also have an application specialist team with deep technical knowledge of the platform, so they can support you with new needs and requests; a design team that helps you create an attractive site; and our Online Growth Team, which helps you reach your customers and business goals. We want to work closely with you and support you at every stage. We don’t just want to deliver an e-commerce platform that helps you expand into new markets successfully. Above all, we want to give you the knowledge and support that lead to your next stage of growth.