Sales sans frontieres: richard Wilding, chair in supply-chain risk management at cranfield school of management, offers some guidance for retailers using the web to make inroads into foreign markets.

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Retailers seeking to expand overseas are being influenced increasingly by the low-cost attractions of the online route to market. These companies can improve their chances of cross-border success by exploiting the potential offered by the web. It gives them the opportunity to make their brands known in wider markets and they can also use online selling totest the strength of demand in a new market before investing in any physical capacity in that territory.

A high-quality cross-border supply chain is an important prerequisite for such firms. It's not only about getting goods to people efficiently; it's also about getting unwanted goods back. For clothing retailers, for example, the return rate may be as high as 30 per cent online, so you have to factor that into the equation when you venture abroad. A tax-efficient supply-chain management system is essential here, too.

When entering new markets you also need to have a sound payment infrastructure. There are legal restrictions on what can be sold online in certain markets. For example, Amazon UK has found that it can't ship a number of products to France because of the protectionist laws recently implemented there.

It's naive to think you can set up an internet business on your own. You must ensure that you have the right...

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