Ecommerce: How Best To Explain You Only Sell In One Country

how do you say it politely but profesionally

[rogerwhittaker1234]

just put a cart with c/card payments up on a site and even though i get visitors from all over the english speaking world i only want to do sales and deliveries to the UK at the moment.

question is how do i politely but profesionally say this?

has anyone got any good examples of this?

ps. do i have to mention this fact on every page?

thanks in advance?

[mack]

In your drop down list for places, only specify UK counties?

Have a note on the chechout page stating "We only ship to the UK" this will prevent users wasting their sime.

Mack.

[jbinbpt]

Some won't see it no matter where you put it. How about forcing a question as to their location and a short explanation that you can't ship to them.

[mack]

Another idea would be a postcode locator. They need to inseret a valid UK post code before they can select their address, this is pretty comon on some UK only sites, If they put a non UK postcode prompt them to insert a valid UK post code, explain "we only ship to the UK".

Mack.

[Quadrille]

A postcode locator wouldn't always do the job - Canada uses a similar system, and they may overlap.

I think having a country selector - with just 'United Kingdom' would be the best bet.

But I agree that whatever you do, you'll get some orders anyway.

[buckworks]

You could put a positive spin on it throughout the site:

"We ship anywhere within the UK!"

Would it be feasible to find a suitable affiliate merchant or merchants to present as an option for non-UK customers?

[rogerwhittaker1234]

I like the positive attitude of "We ship anywhere within the UK!"

Thanks for all your answers so far guys.

[piatkow]

Does your credit card processor have a facility to accept only domestic credit and debit cards?

[vincevincevince]

Websites in general do a very bad job at telling customers where they ship. I've often been frustrated by .com websites who only ship to the US and don't make that clear before you start shopping, despite the global TLD.

So, don't put your notice on the checkout page - put it up front on your landing pages and entry pages - before people waste time looking through your catalogue.

[rogerwhittaker1234]

paitkow: yes i use nochex that i believe are only UK debit/credit cards

vince: thats my thinking as well... put it clear as mud on every page that its only UK sales. then surely it will cut down (not rule out) on non uk sales

on my payment screen it by default only says UK in the country space, but i just want to try and cover every angle

thanks again

[piatkow]

If you have the ""Seller" account with Nochex then it is UK only. If you have the "Merchant" account then I believe they now accept overseas cards.

I agree with Vince, so many people omit any reference to location not just for shipping but even where it relates to services that involve a personal presence.

[HugeNerd]

You could put a positive spin on it throughout the site:
"We ship anywhere within the UK!"

I agree. Flip it into a positive. I would also suggest targeting any PPC campaigns towards UK only traffic. Maybe a good display of your phyical address so those not in your shipping zone have another clue.

I have a note in my Policies and Terms page about international shipping -- Essentially: "Please call 800-#*$!-#*$!x to complete an order being shipped internationally." That way I eliminate those not serious about completing an order and, I hope, some instances of fraud. I can then explain the situation clearly to anyone calling.

[AussieWebmaster]

You could also do an PI recognition program on your server - UK visitors get your main site others get a site without option to buy...maybe even create affiliate program with people who sell to the other countries for that site/pages

[Jack_Hughes]

I think @AussieWebmaster has got it spot on. If you present a shopping cart to none-UK customers they will only get the idea that they can buy and will not be too happy when they find they can't. If you can monetise the overseas traffic then that would be a nice bonus. The only concern I would have, and something you'd need to monitor, is whether geo-targeting is good enough to be relied upon to differentiate none-UK traffic from UK traffic. That's what has stopped me doing the same as you.

[productify]

In terms of the actual explanation, our company advises our customers this way: "All your online partners such as shipping, credit cards, etc. license you to use them only in their jurisdiction."

Greg.