Online merchants show strong interest in foreign markets, new study says

With sales in the U.S. slowing for many retailers, many of them are accepting orders from customers in emerging foreign markets including India and China, CyberSource Corp. says in a new study.

“One way many retailers are getting more revenue is through international online orders,” says Doug Schwegman, director of market and consumer intelligence for CyberSource, a provider of online payments processing and risk management technology and services. The study is based on a survey of 400 online retailers conducted for CyberSource by Mindware Research between Oct. 21 and Nov. 11, 2008. The 400 respondents account for a total of more than $60 billion in 2008 online revenue; 41% of them have annual revenue of $10 million or more, 29% have annual revenue of $25 million or more.

The study found, for example, that about half or more of merchants accept orders from 15 countries outside of the U.S. and Canada. On average, each merchant accepts orders from nine foreign countries.

Most surprising, Schwegman says, is that nearly half, or 49%, of merchants accept orders from India, and that 52% accept orders from China-two markets that may present challenges in shipping and payments. Most payment transactions in these and other foreign markets, however, are handled with common major credit cards including Visa, MasterCard and American Express, he adds.

Also surprising, however, is that few of the surveyed merchants who accept orders from overseas use payment options popular among consumers based in foreign markets. For example, in Germany, where 73% of the surveyed merchants accept orders, only 12% of them accept payments through the bank transfer methods preferred by many local consumers-even though CyberSource and other payment services companies can enable U.S. merchants to accept such payments, Schwegman says.

Following is the 15 countries included in the study and the percentage of U.S. and Canadian merchants that accept international orders that accept orders in each country:
U.K., 87%
Germany, 73%
France, 68%
Australia, 68%
Japan, 68%
Spain, 66%
Mexico, 66%
Italy, 65%
Brazil, 55%
Hong Kong, 55%
Singapore, 53%
South Korea, 53%
China, 52%
Taiwan, 50%
India, 49%