{"id":46205,"date":"2017-10-16T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-10-15T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gengo.com\/uncategorized\/why-sell-internationally-holidays\/"},"modified":"2025-02-07T14:20:45","modified_gmt":"2025-02-07T05:20:45","slug":"why-sell-internationally-holidays","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gengo.com\/ecommerce-articles\/why-sell-internationally-holidays\/","title":{"rendered":"Why you should sell internationally during the holidays"},"content":{"rendered":"If you\u2019re not selling overseas during this year\u2019s holiday season, you\u2019re missing out.\r\n\r\nEcommerce sales in the US alone are expected to jump 16.6% during the 2017 holiday season<\/a>, motivated by increases in mobile commerce and the intensifying online battle between large retailers and digital marketplaces.\r\n\r\nWhile the US holiday shopping season lasts from Thanksgiving through Christmas, the global season is much longer, kicking off in early November and ending around February. As more people worldwide shift their shopping habits, traditional holidays and the weeks leading up to them have become prime online shopping time. To prepare, take a look at the season\u2019s top global holidays.\r\n

Mark the calendar<\/h3>\r\nWith origins in the US, major shopping days Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving) and its internet-only counterpart Cyber Monday (the Monday after Thanksgiving) have transformed into truly international holidays, now familiar to people in the UK, Italy, Spain, Canada, Chile<\/a>, Colombia<\/a>, Germany<\/a>, Ireland<\/a>, Japan, Portugal and beyond. While Black Friday is historically a day for in-store doorbuster-style promotions, online discounts that last through the weekend are now standard.\r\n\r\nSimilar to Black Friday and Cyber Monday, Australians catch deals to jumpstart the holiday season during Click Frenzy<\/a> (November 18), an online megasales event where retailers join to offer major promotions. Because November is the peak month for Australian internet sales, Click Frenzy is a great opportunity for Australian and overseas retailers\u2014despite preferring to buy from Australian brands, Australians make a significant proportion<\/a> of purchases with overseas companies.\r\n\r\nOther holidays to put on your radar? Diwali, India\u2019s largest holiday and shopping period<\/a>, is the earliest of all of major shopping-heavy holidays. This year, the five-day festival of lights begins in late October, and retailers like India\u2019s Flipkart<\/a> and Amazon.in<\/a> run large seasonal promotions. Many lucrative global holidays also fall outside of the year-end months, like Les Soldes<\/a> in France, two six-week sales seasons in summer (June-July) and winter<\/a> (January-February).\r\n\r\nThe largest online shopping event<\/a> of them all, however, is China\u2019s Singles Day (November 11). Thanks in large part to Alibaba, Singles Day generates more money than America\u2019s Cyber Monday and Black Friday combined. On 11.11, as it\u2019s called, both China-based retailers and marketplaces like Jingdong<\/a>, Suning<\/a> and Alibaba\u2019s Tmall<\/a> and Taobao<\/a> will offer discounts of at least 50% off to shoppers. It\u2019s not only domestic brands benefit from Singles Day; in fact, international brands like Gap, Adidas and Microsoft made up 27% of Singles Day sales in 2016<\/a>.\r\n

Make a list, check it twice<\/h3>\r\nIt\u2019s clear that November through February is critical for online ecommerce sales around the world, but how should you prepare for the season? Selling internationally takes work, but isn\u2019t as hard<\/a> as it may seem\u2014as long as a site is accessible in their language and serves their area, most online shoppers are more than willing to buy gifts from overseas<\/a>.\r\n\r\nHere are some tips for ecommerce retailers both big and small:\r\n