While globalisation has been rapidly growing for the past decade, it seems this trend is accelerating as business owners realise that there are more opportunities overseas.
For example, approximately 84% of small business firms are already present in the United States (according to data from WorldFirst)
193 Small businesses who sell online in Australia were surveyed, and did business in the following industries:
- 31% – Home and Garden
- 22% – Health and Personal Care
- 15% – Clothing and accessories
- 15% – Toys and games
- 17% – Other
42% of these small businesses said their key objective was to expand into multiple countries – and while they operated on a small scale, they had already succeeded in expanding out beyond Australia.
This is especially possible with Dropshipping and Fulfilment services available worldwide, which work well with eCommerce business models.
53% of respondents said that they sell products from within Australia, domestically. However, 84% said they sell to the US market and 31% to the United Kingdom.
This certainly makes sense as many small online businesses prefer to focus on their specific niches – once this is saturated, the next step is to move onto the same niches located overseas.
Ray Ridgeway (managing director of WorldFirst) said: “The survey results confirm that online businesses are seeking to tap into the largest customer pool they can possibly get.”
As for online platforms, 62% of survey respondents said they use Amazon as their main marketplace for selling, while only 10% said they use eBay.