By David Romeo, as originally published by Sourcing Journal, July 28th, 2023 (Updated Dec 1st, 2025)
Now is the Time to Re-Evaluate Your Cross-Border DTC Strategy—Before 2026 Brings Even Bigger Shifts
Even with softer demand trends compared to peak pandemic years, global e-commerce continues to grow steadily, especially in key cross-border corridors. Markets like Latin America and India are still expanding at 25%+ annually, and UK digital commerce remains well above 2019 levels, according to Statista.
But 2025 is different.
This year’s peak season is unfolding under a new set of variables that will define the 2026 landscape:
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EU de minimis changes will remove the €150 duty exemption starting January 1, 2026, creating new cost and compliance pressures for U.S. and global brands selling into Europe.
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Trump-era tariffs are back in focus, with political momentum building around increased duties on China-origin goods, prompting many retailers to reexamine sourcing and duty mitigation strategies.
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AI-powered commerce remains more hype than reality for most cross-border sellers—tools for translation, localization, or customer service are improving, but meaningful automation of fulfillment, tax, or compliance workflows still requires human oversight.
The result? A growing need for resilient, flexible cross-border strategies—and a shrinking window to make the right moves before next year’s changes take effect.
While tackling cross-border may seem daunting, it doesn’t need to take quarters—or years. A growing ecosystem of turnkey, fully managed solutions now allows brands to launch or expand into international markets in a matter of weeks.
In this article, we’ll revisit the key benefits of cross-border DTC and outline what brands should be thinking about right now to make their strategies both holiday-ready and future-proof.
Benefits beyond Incremental GMV
Cross-border e-commerce has become a crucial initiative for most brands—with early adopters reaping the largest rewards.
It’s no secret that expanding into new global markets can increase sales and brand reach, but there’s also tremendous value in the diversification of demand. This diversification helps reduce dependence on a single market and mitigates risks associated with economic fluctuations or market saturation.
Additionally, cross-border e-commerce allows brands to tap into different seasonal patterns across countries and regions. While a particular product may experience a lull in demand during one country’s off-season, it might be in high demand elsewhere. This seasonal variation enables retailers to optimize their sales throughout the year and maintain a consistent revenue stream.
Key Considerations
Deciding which countries to enter is typically one of the first decisions you need to make and your own analytics data is usually the best place to start. Countries already visiting or buying from you are the low-hanging fruit, versus building new demand into new markets. Your top three-to-five international markets will generally drive the largest share of your cross-border GMV opportunity. If you’re already receiving substantial international traffic and/or sales and you’re not well optimized, or even available, in those markets, you can expect to see high double-digit percentage increases once you eliminate key friction points.
International traffic percentage benchmarks vary by vertical, and an easy way to gauge yourself would be against peer/competitor brands through a quick check on a tool like Similarweb, where you can get a high-level evaluation of any competitors.
DIY vs. DIFM
Another one of the first steps brand needs to consider is whether a do-it-yourself (DIY) or do-it-for-me (DIFM) approach is best. While there’s no rule of thumb, it really comes down to available resources and what aligns best with the longer-term strategic goals.
A DIY approach gives brands more control, flexibility, and potentially lower costs, but requires substantial, resources and time investment. For instance, just launching one new international market can mean multiple commercial agreements and integrations to partner with international payment gateways, tax and duties calculations or new payment methods.
Third-party, DIFM solutions, such as ESW (formery eShopworld), Global-e, and more recently, Glopal, which also ads marketing localization, have gained popularity. These solutions offer speed to market, and specialized expertise in navigating cross-border complexities, but may come with some reduced control and margin impact as most offerings base fees as a percentage of total checkout.
Other key DIY/DIFM retailer considerations include assessing their own internal capabilities, understanding the nuances of those target markets, total cost of ownership, and assessing the need for how deeply localized their specific customer experiences need to be. For some brands, a hybrid approach often makes sense, whereby a retailer may continue to run their top markets and bring in a third-party solution provider who can help access the longtail opportunity with better efficiency and speed. For others just getting started in cross-border DTC, it might be easier to have a third party get them up and running quickly.
With year-end approaching, now’s the time to optimize your cross-border strategy. Whether it’s a hands-on approach, choosing top third-party vendors, or in-house solutions, Winborne Consulting can help maximize your international growth. Contact us today!
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