3.1 Planning and Strategizing Your Market Entry
As a first step, do your research on the markets, specifically the size and growth of each market,
number of active internet users, growth of online spending and other spending patterns, as well as
share of online sales compared to total retail sales. Here are some key steps:
MARKET RESEARCH
Find out about the logistics infrastructure in each market you want to enter, considering the
minimal level of each market to determine distribution center locations. Also consider differences
in global, regional and local inventory management. Remember: the legal regulations in the region
are varied and complex.
CONSIDER LOGISTICS, CUSTOM DUTIES AND LEGAL FRAMEWORKS
• Conduct overall market research
• Determine your demand
• Conduct competitor analysis.
Once you have done your groundwork research, size your opportunity by looking at:
SIZE YOUR OPPORTUNITY
• Share of online retail as a percentage of total market share
• Your offline sales compared to total offline retail sales
• Your existing brand site’s traffic as an indicator of traffic to your online store
• Conversion rate analysis.
Once you have considered external factors, look inwards at what your business needs from a
technological perspective. Each business would have its unique requirements but some key
considerations include:
DETERMINE ECOMMERCE TECHNOLOGY REQUIREMENTS
• Flexibility to customize content to suit local markets in terms of marketing, merchandising,
currency and languages
• Customizable site experiences with an open platform
• Centralized content and data management for greater speed and accuracy
• Order Management System (OMS) that provides single view of orders, customers’ details,
inventory and promotions
• Omni-channel operations that provide an integrated set of tools and processes to serve your
customers anytime, anywhere
• eCommerce Platform that supports localization and better online customer experiences.
For eCommerce managers looking to explore the region, it is very challenging to assess the potential of
individual eCommerce markets in APAC and develop a market entry roadmap that is tailored to your
business. The next few sections cover key area