International Cart and Checkout Requirements

International eCommerce gets complicated because there are many regions involved. Naturally, different countries require different business logic, user interfaces, as well as integrations. These customizations, according to region, are necessary to ensure a seamless eCommerce experience. From purchasing to refunds, everything needs to be streamlined.

Your platform's cart and checkout play a massive role in the shipping and fulfillment of orders. Therefore, the cart and checkout system need to be customizable and flexible. It would ensure no advanced programming is required to make them compatible with another region. It also means your business will not have to deal with an expensive overhead with each change. So, the cart and checkout should be designed to handle different payment providers, various shipping providers, limitations, and possibly different tax calculations, customs, and duties. To sum up, the platform should adjust the presentation and logic depending on the region of the end-user. This also includes the language and local layout so the user can easily navigate through the entire checkout process.

Cart Requirements

As for the cart, it should show users the potential delivery time depending on the region, estimates from different shipping providers, etc. The cart should also be able to calculate any taxes, handling fees, customs, and duties, etc.

If there are any location-based restrictions, it should inform that the user too. Ultimately, features like these prevent any compromises to customer satisfaction.

Finally, if there are any special discounts according to the region, customer or quantity, the cart should be able to calculate those too. For instance, if there is a special promotion in a particular area for a holiday or an event, your cart should be capable of handling it.

All the carts on the site should reflect any region-based discounts. These include the mini cart (usually in the header), the add to cart options, and the full-blown detailed cart page.

Checkout Requirements

If you are having a sale in a particular region, just like the cart, the checkout also has specific requirements. Again, all these requirements tie back to the same concepts.

Taxes, handling fees, customs, and duties all need to be included in the total amount. Many providers can give you this taxing integration. For example, the tax provider that Clarity partners with is Avalara. However, we also offer other tax API integrations.

Ultimately, during the checkout process, your platform should provide the user with accurate information about customs, duties, and taxes, as well as the delivery time of each shipment. It should also show the users all the different carriers available for shipping in their region. For full transparency, you may also provide user reviews of customers' experience with various carriers.

To sum up, checkout is a crucial aspect of any international eCommerce business. All transactions occur through it. Therefore, it is essential to manage the expectations of the end-user. It should clearly show them all the costs included in the total and the delivery timeline.

Currency Conversion

A key component of international eCommerce checkout is a currency conversion. The user should be able to convert from one currency to another during the checkout. There could be a pop-up or an expandable section that allows the user to determine how to process their payment.

Let's say the user has a payment method that is in the native currency, but the eCommerce application does not allow payment processing in that currency. Then there is a need for currency conversion. The conversion generally results in a fee. So, the end-user needs to be aware of how much they will be charged. It will ensure there is not any confusion when the transaction shows up on their bank statement.

Different Payment Providers

Similar to how different regions may have various shipping providers, there may be different payment providers too.

Different payment providers can handle different regions. However, most payment providers do not handle all regions or countries. Therefore, you may have to work with multiple payment providers to ensure seamless payment processing within all the targeted countries.

Ultimately, your application should be able to show the different shipping carriers and payment providers available in a particular region or country.

Clarity International eCommerce Experts

For all the reasons above, we strongly encourage you to thoroughly evaluate your choices before choosing an international eCommerce software partner. You must go through what each option has to offer before selecting one.

Therefore, before you scale your business internationally, you at least need to know its requirements and what it entails. If you are already aware of what functionalities your business might require in the future, you can select an eCommerce platform that suits your goals.

Thereby, you will have a long-term solution. You will not be required to build your application from scratch again when growing as a business or expanding internationally. You can continue working on and improving your current platform with time.

If you have any more questions related to this topic, we encourage you to reach out to our experienced team. They can provide a complimentary analysis. Or answer any questions about the next step in the process of expanding your eCommerce platform internationally. We certainly look forward to answering your question and talking with you about your upcoming international eCommerce project.

As you plan how to expand your eCommerce platform internationally, we encourage you to go through the resources available below. Some of these can be helpful for your international eCommerce project. Needless to say, if you cannot find the topic you want information on below, you can always reach out to us via our chat tool.