Expanding to the UK? These are the things that matter most to UK shoppers
High-quality ads
The British e-commerce market is one of the most mature in the world, with one of the highest levels of online shopping penetration in the world, with 86% of Brits shopping online.
The UK retail market is also highly competitive, with a large number of established online retailers, both domestic and international, operating in the country.
As a result, UK consumers have certain expectations in terms of product quality, customer service, and delivery options that a foreign retailer wishing to sell to them needs to be able to meet. Working with a local marketing agency can help to tailor your ads, language, and tone to the local market.
Subscriptions
Brits love subscriptions. According to Barclaycard (they process half of UK’s card transactions, so they know what they’re talking about), the subscription economy has grown to be worth a whopping £323 million, turning the UK into what they’ve called a “Subscription Society“:
- 65% of UK homes have at least a subscription
- The average number of subscriptions per household? 7 👀
- The average Brit spends £46 each month on subscriptions, which adds up to £552 per year (£684 for men).
What this means for your store is simple: think of how you can turn your goods into a subscription. For example, on Amazon you can literally set your products as available for subscriptions. On Shopify or your own website you do it differently but the idea is the same: “click here, subscribe, get a discount or some other incentive, and we’ll ship this item to you regularly until you tell us to stop”.
Proactive communication of any delays
Brexit has changed everything about shipping and customs between the EU and the UK. Your customers have definitely been impacted by longer delivery times, unexpected taxes, and other hassles – and they probably will be again.
As a business owner, you’ll have to find ways to reduce the impact of these changes on your customers.
One simple way to do this is by communicating proactively any delays – don’t wait for the customers to ask you about their parcel. By keeping them informed of the status of their package, you can do a lot to prevent negative surprises – and create a sense of trust and reliability.
Personalized track & trace
Most marketing emails have open rates of about 21.5% – but track and trace emails have an open rate of 90-100%.
That’s one of the highest we’ve seen in any industry, anywhere.
It’s obvious then, we hope, that these emails provide a great opportunity for you to engage with your new British customers and drive brand recognition – especially in light of Brexit.
By using personalized and branded track and trace emails, you can turn this touchpoint into a low-cost marketing tool that helps to bring customers back to your brand and strengthen your relationship with them.
Personalized emails can also provide a more memorable and engaging experience for your customers, compared to the usual (and let’s face it, hard to understand in many cases) generic emails from carriers.
A clear return process
Returns can be a challenge for everyone – both for your e-commerce store, and your customers.
Making sure returns are smooth and easy can be critical to how your customers perceive your store.
This is especially important if you’re running an international store – a recent survey of British consumers found that 38% of them avoid shopping at international stores due to concerns about how difficult returns will be.
How to help them out during the return process?
One way is by including already printed custom documents and clear instructions inside the parcel, when you ship your goods – they’ll need this for the customs, if they decide to return it. Plus, it’s another way of saying “here, we make it easy for you”.
Another way is to check with your courier – for example, DHL Express offers a “Smart Return Options” to make returns as easy and stress-free as possible for customers.
A third way is to help them to claim the duties and taxes they’ve already paid – for example, VAT or customs duty. The easiest way to do this is by sending them over to us – we help them get their duty refunds online, fast, and easy.
About Duty Refunds:
At Duty Refunds, we believe selling internationally should be just as easy as selling locally. Duties can be reclaimed through our easy-to-use app instead of being lost to the government. As the first and only online import duty and VAT refund platform for UK shoppers, we’ve already helped customers refund half a million pounds worth of purchases.
We’re rated a 4.8 (excellent) on Trustpilot, and we’re integrated with courier companies (eg: DHL, DPD, Fedex and Parcel force) and HMRC, making the whole process seamless.
Partnering with us lets you focus on sales while we take care of customers’ inquiries and complaints regarding import charges. If you need any help on duty & tax refund for your international orders, please email us at partnerships@dutyrefunds.co.uk to set up a call or visit our retailer page.
What you get by partnering with us:
- Boost your average order value in the UK market by increasing trust with UK consumers – they’ll know they can get a full refund, no matter what
- Increase your customer lifetime value through a higher-than-expected level of customer service and a smooth, no-headache, easy returns process
- Reduce the time your team needs to spend on customer service
- Gain an entirely new revenue stream through our shared commission scheme