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The Challenges of Accepting Foreign Currencies in eCommerce

Dealing with Foreign Currency When Selling Online

Navigating the issues businesses face when accepting foreign currency


global ecommerce and foreign currenciesExpanding your international eCommerce opens up a host of new opportunities for your business. However, along with those opportunities come new challenges. Some of the bigger challenges that you have to face relate to accepting foreign currencies. From making sure you display the right currencies for each region to charging the right taxes on your goods, taking in money that isn’t local currency can cause issues. Below are a few of the most common challenges faced when accepting foreign currencies and some tips for dealing with them.


Show Them the Money (or Dinero, or Geld)

One of the first issues that you face when accepting foreign currencies is making sure that your multi-currency eCommerce website shows the potential customer the right currency. You don’t want the customer to be shown the product’s price in pounds if they are shopping online in China. To deal with this issue, some businesses show all of the currencies that they accept on a single page while others have different stores or eCommerce sites for each region that they sell to.


payment gateways for foreign currenciesFinding the Right Payment Gateway

Another concern to have when offering to accept multiple forms of currency is finding a payment gateway that takes all of them as well as having the accessibility of a multilingual integrated online store. If that isn’t possible, then you have to use multiple payment gateways in order to accept the payments. In some situations this could mean dealing with three or more payment gateways, which could be a difficult task, especially having to integrate every one of them with your eCommerce platform.


Shipping, Taxes, and Restrictions

Local restrictions and taxes as well as shipping costs are also issues that have to be dealt with when handling a multi-currency eCommerce integration platform. In order to be able to charge your customers the right amount for shipping costs, you have to have the costs calculated and then converted to their currency in the amount of time it takes for them to place their order. To overcome this issue, it is best to offer free shipping or a flat rate. Local and import taxes also need to be compensated for when selling to buyers in other countries. You need to have a good understanding of the costs of shipping and taxes for the regions that you want to sell to before you actually start selling to them.


sales values and foreign currencyAccounting for Sales Values

Another challenge you have to deal with when accepting foreign money is accounting for it. Converting between your local currency and the foreign currency, and associating the right sales values of orders can be tricky for your accounting team. Finding the right accounting software that helps you easily convert money and keep track of international orders can help you overcome this hurdle.


Accepting Foreign Currency: Does it Make Cents?

After reviewing all of the challenges you have to face when accepting foreign currencies, you may be questioning whether or not you should accept other money. It is important to remember the multitude of new doors that selling internationally opens. You greatly expand your audience when deciding to sell globally. Just remember, the best thing to do is to properly plan before starting to sell your goods, whether it is domestically or internationally.


Clarity Can Help

Our team at Clarity has worked with numerous clients helping them navigate the issues that arise when doing global eCommerce. Our team is equipped with experts who understand what it takes to make international eCommerce work for our clients and their customers with the help of a multi-currency and multilingual website. We can help you figure out how to deal with the challenges that come with accepting foreign currencies. To find out more about how Clarity can help your business grow internationally, call or click to contact us today!

 

 

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