Total Retail Profile: COVID-19 Has Made Cross-Border E-Commerce a Crucial Channel for Brands

eShopWorld CEO Tommy Kelly explains why cross-border e-commerce is a wonderful opportunity for brands, both during the pandemic and into the future.

Tommy Kelly writes exclusively in Total Retail how US brands are finding growth and new customers in unexpected places. From the article on Total Retail:

If there has been one bright spot amid the retail gloom of the past few months, it’s cross-border e-commerce. The world watched in shock as companies that were heavily dependent on brick-and-mortar stores suffered during lockdowns. Even brands with strong e-commerce strategies experienced headwinds as unemployment and job insecurity drastically changed consumer behavior. However, U.S. brands that have been able to tap the right international markets during the pandemic have seen unprecedented growth in their cross-border digital sales. Even as retail stores across the U.S. begin to reopen, it’s important to heed the lessons from earlier this year.

The numbers have been impressive. Our recent data show that in the first two weeks of June, apparel sales by U.S. brands selling online to consumers in international markets grew a staggering 121 percent year-over-year. Footwear sales growth was even higher during the period, at 122 percent year-over-year. Overall, U.S. brands selling cross-border saw their digital sales rise by 106 percent in early June, according to our data.

The full article can be found here.