Thanksgiving is a key tradition in the US cultural calendar. Some say it’s more important than Christmas. Celebrated every year on the fourth Thursday of November, it sees friends and families meet and exchange gifts.
This year, Thanksgiving takes place on Thursday 27 November. For retailers, this presents a major gifting opportunity ahead of Christmas and a reason to entice stateside shoppers. But if you’ve never expanded your business beyond the UK, let alone Europe, how do you take the first steps to exporting to the US?
Sonny Smith-Hughes, 55, has been running an eBay business, The Vintage Pattern Shop, since 2011, selling reproduced vintage sewing patterns. Following positive sales growth in the UK, she made the decision to expand the business by selling overseas. She now boasts a global customer base of businesses, designers and individuals, with many based in the US.
Here are Sonny’s tips to help other small businesses who are thinking of exporting stateside:
Have a business plan
“After setting up my online company, I soon discovered that I had to adopt a strategy if I wanted to prosper. I created a business plan, which was prompted by eBay suggesting a service called Webinterpret. It’s available to all UK sellers and takes each listing so that they are available to purchase internationally and in local languages.
“I was now automatically listing in about 13 eBay international sites around the world, including the US. My business grew within months and I could not believe the difference this made. My US customer base was growing weekly.”
Understand the culture of where you are selling
“I think it’s important to understand the culture of any international buyer and their culture surrounding consumer goods, and the buying experience from start to finish. Americans have high expectations of customer service. In particular, emails to my US customers are of a high courteous standard, clear, precise and timely. Response to them is almost immediate. Having an understanding of selling to the people in the US has enhanced my small business.”
Be clear about your shipping procedures
“Shipping expectation is also high, so this must be clear and fully understood by the consumer, so you can avoid quibbling about returns. In the US, there is no quibbling in the stores when you return an item; they are strict and fair with their return policies, so they very much expect that from everywhere else in the world. I’ve had to re-evaluate shipping options for lower cost and speed of delivery, and tend to use courier services more now for my US customers.”
Give the American customer a great shopping experience
“For the American consumer, the buying experience is important, no matter how small or large. I also make the most of my ‘Britishness’ in my communication to them, which they love and trust. Communication is so imperative when you are dealing with US customers and I get such pleasure having this banter with them.”
Dealing with complaints
“If there was ever a problem, such as a late delivery of their item (due to shipping, which is out of my control) I offer service recovery in the form of spending gifts, so they have credit to spend in my shop. They are so appreciative of this and I do not lose them as loyal customers. My communication strategy is: be clear, friendly, honest, diplomatic and timely when providing a response to a customer query.”
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