Getting to Global Interview Series Launch

Hello. My name is Josh Halpern. I am the Founding Director of the eCommerce Innovation Lab which is part of the U.S. Commercial Service at the U.S. Department of Commerce. The industry partners running this site have asked me to mention a few things here. So here goes. I’ve shed the suit and the tux from my days running the retail, ecommerce and logistics portfolios at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, China to launch the eCommerce Innovation Lab in Silicon Valley. I am collaborating with our industry strategic partners to launch the Getting to Global Initiative to help clients sell more online, overseas. And no, I don’t miss wearing a tie and I love the soft soles of my new Silicon-Valley-issued sneakers and warm hoodie.

Today, our partners take a sneak peek at some of the footage that we have been working on for this new blog series, Getting to Global, which will be a new resource for companies looking to sell more online, overseas. We are leveraging our unique position to profile best practices in online overseas entry and expansion strategies from our clients. These clients include retailers, branded suppliers, online services companies and more. We are also profiling some of the eCommerce tools and services that help our clients expand overseas, online. In short, we try to answer the questions we hear on a daily basis from our clients across the U.S.

Our insight covers topics that parrallel the eCommerce Innovation Lab’s nine key elements of an eCommerce export strategy: Identifying market opportunities, protecting your brand, choosing the right channel mix, optimizing your user experience, building your brand, pricing your products, getting paid, shipping your products, and managing the after sales services.

To bring you fresh content on cross-border eCommerce strategy, we interview industry leaders whom we believe offer unique insights or affirm or debunk commonly held beliefs on overseas expansion strategies. As a group that has collectively helped a seemingly endless string of U.S. companies navigate the global landscape, we will do our best to ask questions from a perspective of getting the most useful and credible information to you. We will do our best to keep it interesting and to the point.

If we are not asking the questions you want answered, please leave comments under the appropriate blog posts and we will go back to the companies to follow-up.

We hope you enjoy this first look at the Getting to Global video trailer introduction and please stay tuned as we roll out the videos over the next few months. Follow our journey to find you the best content by reading along on this blog, subscribing to the partner-led  Youtube Channel oror  Twitter channel, visiting the eCommerce Innovation Lab’s website www.export.gov/ecommerce.