A customer in another country finds exactly what she wants. She adds it to the basket and then tries to work out what happens next.
The shipping page lists domestic options. There is a mention of international delivery with no countries and no prices. Nothing addresses customs, duties or how long anything takes.
She abandons the basket. She was not price sensitive and she was not hesitant about the product. She simply could not establish what she was committing to.
1. State plainly which countries are served
A list, findable before checkout. Customers will not add items to a basket to discover whether their country appears.
2. Show the delivery cost early
Before the basket where possible, since international shipping cost is the second question and discovering it at checkout is what causes abandonment.
3. Explain the duties and taxes position clearly
Whether they are included, collected at checkout or payable on delivery. This single answer converts more international traffic than anything else.
4. Explain who pays and roughly how much
Even an approximate indication by country is vastly better than silence, which customers interpret as an unknown risk.
5. Explain what happens if a parcel is refused
Because a customer facing an unexpected charge sometimes refuses delivery, and the store needs a policy that both sides understand in advance.
6. State realistic delivery times
Including clearance, rather than a carrier transit figure that excludes it, which is what produces the status enquiries.
7. State the returns position for overseas orders
Who pays for return shipping, whether duties are recoverable and where the item goes. This is a genuine deterrent and it deserves a clear answer.
8. Show prices in a currency the customer understands
And state what determines the final charge, since an unexpected conversion difference produces support messages and disputes.
9. Explain the restricted items
Some products cannot ship to some countries, and telling a customer before they order is considerably better than after.
10. Explain the tracking arrangement
Which carrier handles the final leg and where to track, since international parcels frequently change hands and the tracking link changes with them.
11. Explain the warranty and support position
How somebody overseas gets help, returns a faulty item or claims a warranty, which is the question a considered buyer asks before spending.
12. Handle the status enquiries these generate
Because international orders produce disproportionate volume, which is the ground in where is my order questions buried in your inbox.
13. Handle the enquiries across time zones
An overseas customer's evening is the store's night, which is precisely when these questions arrive.
14. State the payment methods accepted in each market
Cards issued overseas are declined more often, and the local method a customer expects is frequently absent. A store that lists what works from where converts buyers who would otherwise reach the payment step and stop.
15. Publish the address format handling
Checkout forms built for one country reject perfectly valid addresses from another, which is one of the most common and least visible causes of international abandonment.
16. Answer the international questions before the basket
An assistant that confirms whether the store ships to a country, gives the delivery cost and realistic time, explains exactly how duties are handled, flags restricted items and explains the returns position converts traffic that currently abandons in silence. Connect the catalogue through integrations. The duty detail sits in international shipping and duty questions, the restock handling in stock and restock questions from interested buyers, and the tracking in how to use a chatbot for order tracking. See features, start at try, and the sector view sits under ecommerce.