Riding the Wave of Cross-Border Retail with Information Technology 

 
According to statistic, the cross-border B2C sales is expected to reach US$424 billion by 2021 with an increasing online marketplaces particularly in China, Japan, US & UK. It is also expected to have an explosive growth in China until 2025. From the disastrous COVID-19 crisis, it further reflects and strengthens the importance and reliance of Cross-Border e-Commerce / e-Tailing. In fact, many traditional retailers and trading companies has already treated e-commerce as an alternate revenue generation channel. Cross-border E-Commerce is prompting business transformation of traditional business, the development of information technology act a critical role in this process. In this article, we are going to share some key issues when you are going to transform to the cross border retailing by information technology. 

 
Manage Omni-Channel with ERP backbone 

Many concurrent E-tailers place their focus on front-end e-Commerce platform but often overlook the importance of a back-end management system. And since cross-border retail can be implemented by enterprise’s website and different e-market platforms (e.g. Amazon, e-Bay, Taobao...etc), e-Tailers find it is hard to consolidate the orders and information across multi-platform and manage internal operations at the same time. An ERP (Enterprise Resources Planning) system with API integration to multiple E-commerce platform will be your strong backbone. All products, customer and order information can be centralized and inventory level can be monitored at once. The ERP system can also provide sales and customer analysis from omni-channel that support your strategic decision making. 

 
Mobile shopping Apps 

Nowadays, there is an increasing trend for e-shoppers to purchase using mobile apps. Apart from providing the convenient e-shop function, the mobile shopping app is an effective channel to implement your target marketing strategy through membership offer, in-apps promotion or push notifications. Mobile apps can help to retain customer loyalty and boost sales by encourage re-purchase action. 

 
E-Payment Integration

In the internet world, customers can be everywhere coming from worldwide, it is essential for business to support multiple e-payment method such as Visa/Master, PayPal, WeChat, Alipay.  Apart from the integration with each payment gateway, business merchants may also assign appropriate payment gateway provider that comes with an integrated payment transaction-processing service of multi-channel and currency.

Order Fulfilment & Logistics 

Efficient and accurate delivery is one of the keys to drive the e-shoppers, especially for cross-border retail. With the geographic limitation, enterprises have to develop a more integrated cross-border delivery network. With the help of ERP system and e-commerce, many logistics and shipping company are willing to open API of their specialized system to facilitate information flow for real time order and status checking. Both customers & logistic operators shall enjoy a more efficient experience with peace of mind. 

Social Commerce and Marketing

In recent years, the social commerce sector has become one of the most emerging sectors. E-tailer categories are getting more & more diverse and at the same time more specialized. As a subset of gigantic E-Commerce framework, Social Commerce are more likely to be presented through product reviews at digital channels. One good example will be Key Opinion Leaders (“KOL”) on the digital spaces, which able to drive purchase or transactions through live streaming, referral selling or social sharing of their specialized industry knowledge or expertise. According to MDS Journal 2019, 44% of their respondents devote their time through social networks, which has become a social norm and the next disruptive portion under the E-commerce umbrella. 

 
All in all, the biggest competition retailers encountering is no longer from their industry competitors, but the INTERNET and Emerging Technology. Traditional retailers have to act & change promptly soon or later to gain a better market position to avoid being left behind.