Market Entry Options

How you achieve placement of your product or service in the market will vary according to the nature of the product, service, market and your own personal preferences. Bear in mind that even while your product remains the same, each new market may require a whole new approach.

The TradeStart program delivered by the SBDC provides advice in determining the best markets entry options for your product or service in the selected target market.

Trade Shows

These offer an excellent vehicle for expanding buyer knowledge of your product. If you choose your show carefully, and target those that are industry specific, you will have the opportunity to place your product in front of the right people. It is important to ensure that you choose a reputable company to coordinate your trade show package to maximise the professional presentation of you and your product.

Participation in trade shows can be organised individually or through industry or government led delegations. Delegations are usually advertised through industry associations and mailing lists.

There are a number of websites which provide listings of worldwide trade shows and events.

Remember that you are going there with the aim of selling. Take a good stock of business cards, always err on the side of overstocking, and take costing sheets so you are able to negotiate.

In addition to participating in the actual show, you should maximise your time by arranging meetings around the margins. These may be follow-ups or additional opportunities.

To help you participate in these events you should investigate opportunities to claim trade show expenses against grants such as Austrade’s Export Market Development Grant.

Showcasing to Buyer Groups

This can be a valuable way to target key players in your destination market. Organisations such as Austrade will often bring together an industry specific group from Australia and take them into a market collectively. They will then organise a central forum, often in a hotel, and invite the key players and potential strategic allies to participate. The clear advantages of this approach include the opportunity to share the travel and presentation costs of an in-market presentation. Because the delegation is larger, it is also more likely to attract serious buyers. By travelling in a group you also enjoy greater visibility including improved media coverage.

Electronic Showcasing

Marketing your product on-line offers a number of benefits including reducing the time required to update product details and 24hr a day access to your catalogues and prices. If you choose to include an on-line ordering facility you can dramatically increase the speed of your ordering process.

In the same way though, that substandard hard copy promotional material can undermine your credibility, so too can a substandard on-line delivery. You should be prepared to invest in an on-line presence that most effectively presents your business to prospective clients and delivers a service that is consistent with the standards that you would expect across the rest of your business.

Your on-line presence should be an integrated part of your strategic business and export plan, not an afterthought. You should thoroughly investigate the strategic and financial implications before proceeding. Contact organisations such as SBDC, Austrade or AIEX for information on e-business training. The SBDC workshop Exporting Starts With an E may be for you.

Catalogue Promotion and Telemarketing

Similar to an on-line presence, catalogue promotion allows your products to be sold in a market without you needing to retain a physical retail presence. Your market research will have determined which markets offer the greatest potential. You should then target the top five catalogue companies in that market to explore promotion opportunities.

Selling by catalogue or telemarketing often requires that you warehouse a considerable amount of stock in the destination country. This raises the question of how you warehouse, ie. bonded, where the duty is only paid upon sale of goods.

Catalogue promotion is often a highly competitive process and may require you visiting the market in order to sell your product to the catalogue owners. Telemarketing can be more expensive again, more competitive and potentially offer a lower profit margin.

While catalogue promotion and telemarketing are gaining in popularity, they are still not as prevalent market entry options as other distribution and sales options.