Expanding Into International Ecommerce Markets - Rob Schad - Amazon Legends - Episode # 153

International ecommerce marketplaces present a great opportunity for Amazon brands to grow and sell their products to a much larger consumer base. Rob Schad is the Senior Marketplace Manager at Pangaea and oversees selling operations across all multiple marketplaces for Meridian and Lumin Skin. Rob shares what it takes to bring your established D2C brand to Amazon, how to successfully launch your brand into international markets, and why spending time on localized content pays dividends when selling in multiple markets.

Takeaways:

• One of the biggest opportunities for Amazon Sellers is to expand out to international markets and different marketplaces that are the leading ecommerce platforms in those regions, beyond just Amazon.
• Amazon is the leading ecommerce platform in some markets outside of the US, however, there is tough regional competition. In many parts of Latin America, Mercado Livre is the leading platform while in Asian markets, Shopee and Lazada are popular.
• If you have an existing brand with a strong D2C presence with most of your sales coming through your website, you need to consider the untapped potential of listing your products on marketplaces like Amazon, Walmart, etc. internationally. 
• For many US-based Amazon Sellers, the easiest international market to penetrate first is Canada. When US-based sellers create their seller accounts, they automatically have access to Amazon Seller accounts for the Amazon marketplaces in Mexico and Canada.
• International Amazon markets like Canada provide the same FBA (Fulfilled By Amazon) for shipping as sellers in the US market are familiar with. However, as with any new market, there are different restrictions that you must meet. 
• The three things to know before entering an international market are: 1. Product Compliance (eg. Ingredients & Packaging), 2. Importation (eg. Obtaining a business license) 3. Tax Liability (eg. Paying taxes on product sales). 
• When creating your international Amazon listings, Amazon offers the Build International Listings Tool to make it easier for sellers to copy their existing listings over to new markets. 

Quote of the Show:

• “I see the biggest opportunity for sellers to be getting outside of the US, crossing borders and going international” - Rob Schad

Links:

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