Standing at £252billion, America currently holds the title for the largest international ecommerce market. With competitive shipping rates now allowing European companies to expand their delivery to the US at a profitable rate, UK marketers are beginning to latch on.
Along with a shared history, culture and language, a strong political and economic relationship provides stability for international business between Britain and the US. In fact, British products have traditionally benefitted from a good reputation abroad with “Made in Britain” labels adding high quality appeal (CBER). Standing out above all, however, is the extent that US and UK marketing channels overlap, offering the opportunity to target both markets simultaneously.
2014 US Ecommerce Report
Looking at the year just gone, a report by Search Laboratory delves deeper into the US ecommerce market, touching on consumer behaviour, social media trends and general marketing insights. You can view the report as a PDF here.
US and UK 2015 Predictions
With mobile traffic looking to overtake desktop this year, it seems that evolving marketing trends won’t be slowing down, which could provide opportunities for those who are quick to act.
Social Ad Dominance – As social media continues to advance as a platform, its advertising program has come on leaps and bounds. Facebook, Twitter and Instagram now offer some of the most efficient and affordable ways to reach your target audience in a personal way, integrating demographic, geographic and social specifications. Such advancements in 2015 could quickly make it the most valuable advertising platform.
Mobile Priority – According to a recent study, 50% of millennials use their smartphones to research products or services while shopping and 41% have made purchases using their phones (LDM Journal). Overall mobile traffic is also set to overtake desktop in 2015 (eMarketer), which has caused many businesses like Yahoo and Google to put mobile as priority in their future strategies.
Convenience Focus – The Amazon Locker is a relatively new concept that has worked both in the US and UK, which hints at ease-of-purchase influencing consumer behaviour more than ever this year. This follows a rise in subscription-based products, click-and-collect schemes and letterbox-friendly packaging, suggesting that convenience of delivery could also be a progressive factor.
Heading into 2015 it’s clear that international business continues to progress alongside technical advances. But as the opportunity grows so does the competition, making it interesting to see who will be the major players in the year to come.
By Joseph Hill, Content & Online PR Executive at Search Laboratory.
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