A new study has revealed that UK retailers consider US to be the most crucial e-commerce market, despite fewer than half selling on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. Research from Global-e, a seamless border e-commerce enhancing company that enables retailers to transact locally, has found that 59 per cent of British retailers think that US is the most important e-commerce market to break into, however only 44 per cent are actually in US and only 13 per cent don’t plan to start.
Nir Debbi, Co-Founder, Global-e commented, “Now is an opportune time for British retailers to do business in US. US consumers’ appetite for cross-border shopping is growing rapidly. Following the new rules, they can now buy more for the same price from abroad which is great news for foreign retailers selling into the US. Particularly for British retailers, where post-Brexit shock has caused the American dollar to surge against the British pound.”
With online sales in the US reaching roughly 279 billion Pound last year, seeing a growth of 14.6 per cent on the previous year, the market is predicted to become larger than Europe, Africa and the Middle East combined by 2019, second only to Asia, according to the report.
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Its popularity in the UK is largely down to new legislation which means import taxes are now only applied to orders over 653 Pound instead of 153 Pound, allowing US shoppers to purchase tax free on many items. This is boosted by a historically low pound value, meaning US shoppers dollars go further.
According to the study, 51 per cent of retailers are motivated by the opportunity for growth in the US, yet 48 per cent offer no localization when targeting US shoppers. Many also report difficulties in shipping and customs and 49 per cent states that laws and regulation complexity was a major hurdle.
Although, over 54 per cent of Americans say they regularly shop outside of US, 99 per cent say they prefer to pay in US dollars and many are put off when this is not an option on UK retailer’s websites.
