E-commerce growth strategies: 10 tactics to scale across borders

In the saturated digital marketplace, a robust e-commerce growth strategy is no longer optional; it’s essential. As e-commerce brands compete for buyers’ attention across sales channels and global markets, businesses that prioritize smart, scalable strategies are poised to thrive.

This guide will show you how to grow an e-commerce business globally, with proven tactics for local market dominance and international expansion. It will also highlight how localization helps brands attract global customers, enhance the customer experience, and boost sales.

Why do you need a solid e-commerce growth marketing strategy?

Global e-commerce sales are projected to grow 8% each year through 2029, up to $5.89 trillion, but brands will have to innovate and adapt to claim their share. A comprehensive e-commerce growth strategy guides your business toward long-term success.

Carefully planned e-commerce marketing allows businesses to do the following:

• Discover and engage untapped customer segments
• Improve conversion rates and reduce cart abandonment
• Build lasting customer loyalty
• Quickly respond to new market trends and technological developments

Global outreach and localization are essential elements of any growth marketing strategy. Consumer behaviors, purchasing power, and expectations differ across regions, cultures, and languages. Whether you’re launching a new e-commerce store or scaling an established business, growth strategies must be flexible enough to appeal to international shoppers while maintaining operational efficiency.

10 growth strategies for e-commerce success at a global scale

These actionable tactics will help you grow your e-commerce business internationally by expanding your reach, driving long-term customer value, and promoting scalable operations.

1. Prioritize mobile-first design

About 57% of e-commerce sales come from mobile devices, and that number is projected to grow to 63% by 2028. E-commerce businesses can prepare by optimizing their storefront for mobile devices.

A mobile-optimized online store ensures seamless navigation and checkout across screen sizes. For a smooth mobile experience, stores need fast loading times, easy-to-read fonts, and mobile-friendly payment options. These factors help e-commerce businesses reduce bounce rates, increase dwell time, and drive conversions.

Mobile-first design is critical for SEO, too. Google prioritizes the mobile versions of websites to determine search rankings.

2. Leverage social media to reach new audiences

Social media is a powerful tool for brand awareness, e-commerce marketing, and sales. Platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest offer shoppable posts, influencer collaborations, and sophisticated ad targeting that allow brands to reach users who are already in a shopping mindset.

Social media is especially helpful for businesses expanding into new regions, but this approach requires careful research, as platform preferences vary by region. For example, WeChat and Xiaohongshu dominate in China, whereas WhatsApp and Facebook dominate in parts of Latin America and Africa. Adapting your social media strategy to local norms and posting localized content can significantly boost marketing campaign performance.

3. Build an omnichannel experience

Modern shoppers frequently switch between devices and channels before making a retail purchase. Whether they start on a mobile device, desktop, or in-store, the customer journey is no longer linear.

Brands can build trust and improve overall customer satisfaction through omnichannel marketing, which cultivates a consistent experience across e-commerce storefronts, social channels, customer service, and physical stores.

4. Use localization to speak your customers’ language

Shoppers overwhelmingly prefer to buy from sites in their preferred language. However, it’s not enough to translate your e-commerce content word-for-word. Brands must localize content to suit their target audience’s cultural expectations and purchasing habits. Localization ensures your messaging feels natural, trustworthy, and respectful.

And you don’t have to do it alone. Smartling’s localization solutions help translate and adapt e-commerce content at scale. In addition, software integrations with popular e-commerce platforms like Shopify allow you to send content (e.g., product descriptions and checkout pages) directly to Smartling for professional translation through seamless, automated workflows, accelerating your time to market.

Watch the video below to see how easy it can be to adapt your e-commerce storefront for global consumers using Smartling’s Shopify integration.

5. Optimize your product pages for search and conversion

Search engine optimization (SEO) helps e-commerce brands rank higher in search results for relevant keywords and phrases, driving organic traffic from visitors who are primed to purchase.

Optimize product pages for discoverability and conversions using clear product titles, localized descriptions, and compelling calls to action (CTAs). Additionally, structured data helps search engines better understand and index your pages, and localized keywords improve visibility in target markets.

6. Personalize the shopping experience

Personalization is crucial for enticing online shoppers. It provides the following benefits to e-commerce stores:

• Increased average order value (AOV)
• More repeat purchases
• Greater brand affinity through tailored messaging

Use behavioral data and purchase history to deliver dynamic product recommendations, relevant promotions, and region-specific content. Leverage location data to route customers to the appropriate localized landing pages and ensure a smooth shopping experience.

7. Implement a robust email marketing strategy

Despite the rise of newer channels, email marketing campaigns remain one of the most cost-effective promotional tools for e-commerce brands. They’re most effective when recipients are segmented and served targeted content based on customer behavior, lifecycle stage, and geography. Localized emails with tailored subject lines, product recommendations, and CTAs yield higher open and click-through rates.

Include automated messages for the following scenarios:

• Welcoming new customers
• Abandoned carts
• Post-purchase follow-ups
• Customer feedback surveys

8. Start a customer loyalty program

Loyalty programs encourage repeat purchases, which boost customer lifetime value and build stronger brand relationships. Whether through spend-related rewards or referral benefits, a well-designed program encourages retention and brand advocacy. Adapt rewards to fit cultural preferences and regional shopping habits for maximum impact across global markets.

9. Offer localized payment options

The lack of preferred payment methods is a leading cause of cart abandonment. This is an especially pronounced issue in international e-commerce sales, since each region has its own dominant platforms. Credit cards are popular in North America, but European shoppers often prefer PayPal or Klarna. Meanwhile, boleto bancário facilitates about a quarter of all online transactions in Brazil.

Partner with global payment providers who support various payment types and fraud protections. Display store prices in the local currency and be transparent about taxes and fees.

10. Continuously test and optimize your strategy

E-commerce isn’t a set-it-and-forget-it business model. Consumer behaviors, platform algorithms, and competitive landscapes change constantly. Conduct translation reviews and run A/B tests on marketing copy and pricing strategies to see what’s working and what can be improved. Testing insights inform essential improvements, such as:

• Refining your content strategy
• Streamlining UX across devices
• Discovering the most effective conversion paths for each market

4 KPIs to monitor for a successful e-commerce strategy

Tracking performance reveals whether your international e-commerce growth tactics are working. Here are four KPIs to monitor:

1. Cart abandonment rate

The shopping cart abandonment rate measures how many visitors have added items to their cart but failed to follow through with the purchase. High cart abandonment rates may signal issues with checkout UX, poor pricing transparency, or a lack of localized payment options. You can reduce cart abandonment by analyzing user behavior on your website to find and eliminate friction in the checkout process. 

2. Customer lifetime value (CLV)

CLV tracks expected profits from a customer over their entire relationship with your brand. It’s a critical measure of customer retention, loyalty, and the long-term impact of your e-commerce strategy.

Brands can increase CLV by reducing customer acquisition costs, improving retention rates, and cross-selling or upselling products and services. Loyalty programs and personalized experiences can also strengthen customer relationships and increase revenue.

3. Conversion rate

Conversion rate measures the percentage of website visitors who take a desired action (e.g., making a purchase, joining an email list, or following your brand on social media). A high conversion rate is a straightforward indicator of a successful customer experience. Track rates across devices, regions, and campaigns to identify strengths and weaknesses in your marketing strategy.

If your e-commerce brand operates in global markets, localization is one of the best ways to optimize your website for conversions. Research shows that 40% of online shoppers won’t buy a product if the page doesn’t include information in their preferred language. Localized content enables you to connect with users in their native language, increasing the likelihood that they’ll convert on your site.

4. Email open and click-through rates

Open rates and click-through rates measure the percentage of people who open your brand’s emails and click the embedded links. These figures reflect the quality of both the messaging strategy and localization efforts, providing valuable insights into how well content resonates with the target audience.

Monitor these metrics to continually refine and optimize email marketing campaigns. Tailored subject lines and dynamic, relevant content significantly outperform generic messages.

How localization can drive real ROI for e-commerce growth

The success of any global e-commerce strategy hinges on how well it resonates with local audiences. Localization goes beyond translating text, tailoring your online store’s brand experience to align with local customs, behaviors, and expectations.

Smartling’s LanguageAI™ platform simplifies this process with advanced AI localization, powerful translation management tools, and robust integrations with e-commerce platforms like Shopify. Whether you’re launching in a single new region or managing dozens of markets simultaneously, Smartling ensures your e-commerce store speaks to customers in a way that feels trustworthy and persuasive. You’ll achieve measurable results while balancing quality, cost, and speed.

Explore our e-commerce integrations to learn more about how Smartling supports scalable, seamless localization for global e-commerce businesses.