Global eCommerce Expansion: The 3 Gotchas of Expanding Your eCommerce Brand Internationally

This is a guest post from Kellan Falconieri. Kellan is a Supply Chain Solutions expert from Zonos with years of experience helping businesses navigate the complexities of international trade.

Expanding your eCommerce business internationally sounds exciting. Access to new customers, higher lifetime value, and global brand visibility are all strong incentives to go cross-border. But with great opportunity comes a long list of hidden pitfalls that can hurt your brand, slow your momentum, or cost you more than you bargained for.

These aren’t just technical challenges. They’re business-critical problems that, when overlooked, can derail even the strongest growth strategies. In this guide, we’ll walk you through the most common and costly “gotchas” that eCommerce brands face when going global, and what to do instead.

From tariff headaches and tax compliance issues to delivery misfires and choosing the wrong markets, this post will help you expand confidently and profitably.

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Gotcha #1: Surprise tariffs and tax burdens

What happens

One of the most common mistakes eCommerce brands make when entering new markets is underestimating or outright ignoring the impact of duties, taxes, and tariffs. These fees are non-negotiable, vary by country, and have a huge effect on the final price a shopper pays, whether they see them at checkout or pay it during delivery.

Right now, many brands are reconsidering their reliance on U.S. markets—not just because of newly imposed tariffs, but because of the ever-changing, unpredictable landscape of trade regulations. But these kinds of trade regulations aren’t just a U.S. issue, they’re a global reality; most countries charge duties and taxes on international orders. And failing to prepare for them can wreak havoc on your international business.

Consequences

• Cart abandonment: Experienced international shoppers often abandon carts when duties and taxes aren’t shown up front. These shoppers have been burned before. They’ve been hit with unexpected charges at delivery, or forced to reject a package they didn’t realize would cost more. When they don’t see total costs at checkout, they assume the worst and bail.
• Package refusals & refund requests: First-time international shoppers, on the other hand, may not realize there are extra costs at all. They proceed with the order, only to be surprised by unexpected fees at delivery, often leading to package refusals or refund requests after the fact.
• Customer support drain: All of these outcomes lead to frustrated customers contacting support. It pulls your team away from growth-driving activities and puts your brand in damage control mode.

How to fix it

• Display duties and taxes at checkout: Transparency is everything. According to DHL’s 2023 global online shopping report, 47% of international shoppers prefer duties and taxes to be shown at checkout. When costs are clear, shoppers confidently check out.
• Adopt a DDP model (delivery duties paid): This means all fees are prepaid at checkout, ensuring faster customs clearance, smoother delivery, and a much better customer experience. Contrast that with DAP (Delivered at Place), where the customer pays upon delivery—often with confusion and resentment.

When duties and taxes are integrated into the shopping experience, brands build trust, reduce returns, and improve post-purchase satisfaction.

Tip: Zonos uses real-time product data and country-specific rules to calculate accurate landed costs. It classifies products using HS codes on the fly and identifies restricted items or licensing needs before checkout for total transparency.

Gotcha #2: Entering the wrong market first

What happens

Not all markets are created equal. Some are easier to enter, more eCommerce-friendly, or have clearer regulations. But many brands jump into new countries based on population size or general interest without fully understanding the logistics, compliance, or customer behavior unique to that region.

Consequences

• Low ROI: Launching into a market with complex rules or weak demand can eat up resources and delay your growth. You’ll spend on marketing, fulfillment, and compliance, but get little in return.
• Regulatory delays: Each country has different tax schemes, documentation requirements, and import laws. Choose the wrong market without preparation and you could face shipping delays, fines, or even entirely failed launches.
• Support headaches: If you don’t understand the nuances of the region (like preferred shipping methods or local holidays), you’ll get hit with complaints you didn’t anticipate.

What to do instead: Consider these three international markets first

Let’s get something straight: the U.S. is a great eCommerce market, and many international sellers have found enormous success there. Yes, recent tariff changes (and the ever-evolving state of global trade regulations) add complexity, but those challenges are manageable with the right tools. What’s key is to not put all your eggs in the U.S. basket.

Diversifying into other high-performing markets not only spreads risk, it opens up new revenue streams.

Here are three that are especially promising:

1. Canada

• Why it’s appealing: Culturally and logistically similar to the U.S., Canada offers a smoother expansion experience. It shares major carriers and often similar consumer expectations around delivery times and product types.
• What to watch: Canada is rolling out CARM (CBSA Assessment and Revenue Management), which modernizes the way duties and taxes are managed. Carm comes with registration and security bond requirements.
• Tip: Zonos works with carriers to ensure CARM requirements are met, helping packages move smoothly and without delay.

2. Australia

• Why it’s appealing: Australia has a high rate of eCommerce adoption and consumers are accustomed to ordering from overseas.
• What to watch: Tax compliance can be tricky, especially when it comes to GST (Goods and Services Tax). Many businesses are caught off guard by registration and collection requirements when shipping to Australia.
• Tip: With built-in tax logic and optional remittance services, Zonos ensures your checkout is compliant without adding complexity to your backend.

3. United Kingdom

• Why it’s appealing: Post-Brexit, the UK remains a strong eCommerce hub, with a reliable shipping infrastructure.
• What to watch: The UK is the only country with a tax scheme that requires businesses with any volume of low-value orders at all to register. They are the only scheme where low-value goods are not allowed in the country without a VAT ID.
• Tip: Zonos supports VAT-inclusive pricing, enables seamless DDP flows to the UK, and remits taxes for you using their tax ID to ensure compliance and a smooth customer experience.

Gotcha #3: Trying to manage compliance manually

What happens

Some brands try to handle international tax and trade compliance manually. Maybe that works with a handful of SKUs or one country. But as you scale, manual entry turns into a liability.

Consequences

• Incorrect HS codes: Misclassifying goods can result in incorrect duty charges, delays at customs, or seizure of the shipment.
• Missed tax obligations: Failing to collect or remit VAT/GST can trigger audits or blacklists that shut down your ability to ship.

How to fix it

• Automate HS code assignment: Look at real-time product data to classify items by HS code and always double check your work. Once you have the right information linked, standardize it to ensure accurate HS codes for the future.
• Use tax registration partners: Look for tools and partners with tax automation and remittance services, so you can sell into complex tax regions without worrying about compliance paperwork.

Compliance is complicated, but automation makes it scalable.

Global eCommerce expansion: Go global, but go prepared

International eCommerce offers enormous growth potential, but only if you’re prepared for the hidden traps along the way. The gotchas we’ve outlined here aren’t fringe issues. From unclear tax obligations and poor delivery execution to choosing the wrong markets, they’re common, costly, and completely avoidable.

The good news? You don’t have to solve these problems on your own. By using tools like Zonos, and partnering with fulfillment providers and 3PLs like iDrive Logistics that understand cross-border logistics, you can turn international expansion from a risk into a revenue engine.

Pro tip: Look for partners that handle:

• HS code classification
• Duties and taxes (with DDP checkout options)
• Tax compliance and remittance
• Seamless integration with your fulfillment stack

Because at the end of the day, successful international selling isn’t just about making the sale—it’s about making it predictable, profitable, and pain-free.