In this week's episode of the eCommerce Odyssey Podcast, Trevor talked to Andy Hooper from Global eCommerce Experts about all things Cross Border Trade.

Brexit and the general economic condition have made international trade more difficult. However, merchants should not give up on international sales! The opportunity is still massive.

· 500 million consumers in the EU

· Many retailers have pulled out of the EU

· EU and UK regulations are still very similar

Recommended steps for starting your international sales:

1. Research your market. Research if your product can be sold from a compliance point of view and if there is likely to be any demand

2. Compliance. Make sure your business and product are compliant with local rules and make any necessary changes.

3. Marketplace strategy. Choose the right route to market for your products

The logistics solution you use is determined by the size of your business. Bear the following in mind:

· Shipping pallet into Amazon EU FBA is time-consuming

· Sending items into a 3PL in the EU and then sending parcels into FBA s quicker and enables orders to be fulfilled directly

When expanding internationally, first look at where you are already successfully selling. If you are on Amazon already expanding into their international sites is a great place to start. That said, Amazon is not the biggest platform in many countries. For example:

· Bol.com is the biggest marketplace in the Netherlands

· Cdiscount is a big player in France

· Allegro is the biggest online retailer in Poland

Start with what you know and then look for other opportunities.

1. Understand your market and country. Good tools include Jungle Scout and Helium 10.

2. Make sure your product is compliant with the country you are selling into

3. Make sure your business is compliant with the country you are selling into

4. Identify the right marketplace to sell-through

5. Find a local fulfilment partner (3PL) for delivering stock to Amazon (and other platforms) and dealing with returns

6. Have a solid shipping and customs process

7. Customer service. Ensure you can cope with customer service in local languages

8. Think about how you will scale your sales and build a multi-channel approach

Andy talked to Trevor Ginn from vendlab.com, an eCommerce agency specialising in online marketplaces and e-commerce sales platforms.