Ecommerce Internationalisation
For many online retailers, international sales are a sleeping giant — and the most effective route to sustainable, profitable growth.
Why Internationalisation Matters
Domestic ecommerce growth has a ceiling and, in many sectors, domestic markets are crowded and becoming cost-sensitive. International expansion doesn't, but it's also where many businesses are put off by the perceived complexity of currency, tax, logistics and customer experience across multiple markets.
I've navigated this myself when I transformed my own business from a UK-only retailer into one trading profitably across 90+ countries, with 70% of revenue coming from outside the UK. We were awarded BQ Magazine's Scotland's Ecommerce Exporter of the Year award. Since moving into consultancy in 2018, I advise businesses for Scottish Enterprise and Scottish Development International and I've helped numerous businesses do the same, generating millions in additional revenue and building more resilient, diverse and profitable propositions in the process.
Is This Right for Your Business?
Internationalisation is usually the right focus when:
Your domestic growth is strong but slowing, and you're looking for the next significant lever for growth
You're already receiving organic international orders or enquiries and haven't yet built a deliberate strategy around them
You want to reduce dependency on a single market and build a more resilient revenue base
You're unsure which markets offer the best opportunity, or what's required operationally and commercially, to enter them successfully
What I Bring
Most consultants advising on internationalisation have only ever done it on behalf of clients. I've done it as the owner of the business, navigating currency risk, international logistics, multilingual customer service and the operational realities of selling profitably in 90+ countries.
That experience is now combined with work across multiple clients and sectors, giving me a broad, current view of what's working across different markets, platforms and logistics partners.
As a coach, mentor and speaker for Scottish Enterprise and Scottish Development International, I also regularly work with businesses earlier in their internationalisation journey through 1:1 coaching, workshops and webinars.
Where I Can Help
Market opportunity assessment: Identifying which markets offer the strongest potential for your business
Acquisition strategy: Paid and organic channels tailored to international markets
Customer journey optimisation for international visitors to maximise conversion rate of overseas visitors
Fulfilment and logistics strategy
Internationalised customer service
Tax and currency management advice to protect and maximise profit
Client Examples
-
Led international growth strategy alongside core ecommerce strategy, navigating Brexit to protect European revenue and customer experience.
-
Working with the business leaders to define a go-to-market strategy for B2B and D2C across 10 multilingual websites. Owning the delivery of the digital vision
-
Led internationalisation strategy as part of a wider growth programme, addressing the post-Brexit drop-off in EU business by refocusing on US and UK markets alongside UX and post-purchase optimisation.
-
Built international sales from a UK-only base to 90+ countries, with 70% of revenue generated outside the UK across key markets including the US, Australia, Germany, New Zealand and Norway.
Let's Talk
If international expansion is on your radar, or you suspect there's untapped potential you haven't yet explored, I'd welcome a conversation about what it could look like for your business.