Global online shopping has taken off as retail and delivery companies make buying products from the far corners of the world as easy ordering from across the country.
The Wall Street Journal reported recently that FedEx and United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS) are aggressively vying for cross-border online shoppers — consumers for whom geography is no barrier to finding what they want.
Both firms have acquired foreign businesses that make cross-border shopping as seamless as possible with a range of new options, including automatic tailoring to reflect the currencies, shipping costs, taxes and duties of the customer’s home country.
The process has become so simple, consumers may not realize they are ordering from a foreign retailer. When they do, “The No. 1 driver is that they can’t find that item in their country,” Carl Asmus, FedEx’s vice president of international marketing, said in the article.
International services are featured on usps.com with a “We go there” tagline, letting customers know USPS ships to more than 180 countries. Recent Global Business initiatives include a summer promotion of Global Express Guaranteed service, and Made in Rural America, a program that combines federal resources to help rural communities gain access to new markets.