Digital River, a US-based software company, has just released a survey of 250 companies across Asia, Europe, North America and emerging countries – including Brazil and India – which operate in the software, gaming software and consumer electronics sectors and generate annual global revenues of $250 million or more.
Russia came out on top of the list of countries where such companies are seeking to expand internationally in the next two years. Russia was named by 31% of the respondents, followed by Brazil (24%), China (23%), India (22%), Japan (22%), Germany (21%) and the United Kingdom (16%).
“The survey reaffirms what we have been seeing for some time – that e-commerce will increasingly shift to a multi-channel approach. Companies are looking for more ways to connect directly with their customers and offer them more choices when it comes to purchasing online – whether that be mobile, social, in app, subscriptions or other options,” said Joel Ronning, Digital River’s CEO.
The survey also points out the need for companies to reassess their global commerce readiness. “Local is the new global today. We were surprised to see how many companies are still not vested in a fully localized online strategy. The growing generation of customers shopping online and across borders want to be greeted in their native dialect by a company that understands their local culture and norms. The ability to interact with the customer at this level, anytime and on any device is critically important to success in today’s online market,” Ronning added.
Almost every company doing business anywhere in the world hears the siren’s song to “go global” through an e-commerce initiative, the report concludes, with approaches ranging from “do nothing” to “do a little” to “do everything.”
“Companies can achieve success by building critical expertise – either in-house or through carefully chosen partnerships – to identify the right variables in terms of the circumstances of the company, its resources, international ambitions and overall market position. The right solution not only meets the company’s needs for the near-term, but also provides a flexible, controllable, scalable and transparent solution for the long-term,” Digital River recommends.
