The following uses the United States and Canada as examples to explain the market and customer characteristics that my country’s cross-border e-commerce exports to North America should pay attention to.
(1) The United States
Due to historical reasons, Americans come from different countries and regions and have different cultural customs. Therefore, they have a strong acceptance of products on the market and are very willing to try and buy new products. As long as the quality and quality of the products are really good, they will remember the brand and make repeated purchases when needed in the future. According to surveys, more than half of American e-commerce users receive orders from abroad, and 88% of American netizens shop online, and this number is still rising. Although the most active customers are mostly between 25 and 45 years old, the comfort of shopping without traveling still attracts people over 55 years old, who are becoming more and more accustomed to online shopping.
① Focus on quality
American customers are most concerned about the quality of the product first, followed by the packaging, and finally the price. Therefore, the quality of the product is the key to entering the US market. If American customers find that the products they purchased are unusable, damaged, or not what they expected, they are accustomed to returning them and asking for a refund. Therefore, when facing American customers, cross-border customer service personnel must ensure that the quality inspection of goods is done well. It is much easier to find defective products before the goods are sent out than to return them later.
American customers are also very particular about packaging, which is on an equal footing with the quality of goods. Therefore, the packaging of cross-border export goods must be novel, elegant, beautiful, and generous, and can produce a comfortable and cozy effect, so as to attract customers. Many handicrafts in my country have not been able to enter the US market because of packaging problems.
② Sales climax
Each season has a sales climax for the change of seasons. If you miss the sales season, the goods will be reduced in price. The sales season of large shopping malls and supermarkets in the United States is: January to May is spring, July to September is the early autumn semester, mainly selling student supplies; September to October is autumn, and November to December is the holiday, that is, the Christmas period.
Christmas is also the tax refund season. People take the opportunity to buy supplies and Christmas gifts. On cross-border platforms, the right products will be sold out quickly. The sales during this period can often account for about 1/3 of a cross-border store’s annual sales.
In general, American cross-border e-commerce customers generally have the following characteristics: enthusiastic and frank, confident; practical and profit-oriented; time-efficient; high contract requirements and strong legal awareness.
(2) Canada
Canada is a typical immigrant country. Due to its sparse population, the population and ethnic composition are constantly changing every year. As a multicultural society, communication between each other requires “running-in”. Moreover, in the field of cross-border e-commerce that only faces pictures and texts, cross-border e-commerce sellers will inevitably have many things to pay attention to.
① Like stable product prices
Among Canadian customers, 90% of them are of British and French descent. Generally speaking, they are conservative and do not like the prices of products to fluctuate from time to time.
②Be punctual and trustworthy
Canadian customers are relatively conservative, and cross-border e-commerce customer service personnel should cater to their time, communicate in a formal manner, be enthusiastic, rigorous and trustworthy. Moreover, Canadian customers have to make appointments in advance for many things, and all kinds of “uninvited guests” are often unwelcome.
③Plus points
More than 80% of the population in Quebec, Canada (the largest province in Canada) are of French descent, and the official language is French. Therefore, when communicating with French business customers in Canada on the cross-border platform, being able to speak a few words of French will be very helpful in the development of customer service work, and sometimes there may be unexpected benefits.