How The Marshmallow Co formulated an international expansion strategy

Taking your business to an international audience is a big leap, but it’s a growth opportunity that’s paying off for more and more Australian eCommerce businesses.

With high profile businesses like Showpo setting up a solid reputation for reliable service and delivery, customers around the world are gaining confidence in cross-border purchases from our shores .

Here’s how one Aussie eCommerce business, The Marshmallow Co, found their biggest market internationally.

Use shipping guidelines to help decide which markets to launch into

One of the keys to succeeding internationally as an eCommerce business is having a great product that grabs the attention of shoppers in other countries.

But which countries will your product be most successful in?

The Marshmallow Co used their product – handcrafted, gourmet marshmallows – to guide which international locations they should target.

Their first consideration was international shipping. They needed to use an overseas shipping guide to become familiar with any restrictions and timelines – that way, they could make sure their product was only being shipped to locations where it would arrive in top condition.

“We send to countries that have a shipping time within 15 business days for regular post and eight business days for Express,” says Joel Twyman, the business’s Co-Founder. “We have to keep that in mind because we have a food product.”

Understand cultures to find countries where your product will succeed

When considering their international expansion, The Marshmallow Co found their sweet spot with the US market.

“People in the US love their candy, particularly marshmallows,” Joel says. “It’s a culture thing there: they have marshmallows and s’mores all the time, so our product is a natural fit for them.”

They also found that their target market was looking for something different, and that’s where their product really shines. “Our offering and flavours are super unique, so customers overseas are excited to order marshmallows from us all the way on the other side of the world,” says Joel.

The business’s research proved correct: American customers love the product so much that the US is now The Marshmallow Co’s largest market.

Choose a shipping partner who can deliver for your business

The Marshmallow Co say choosing a delivery partner for their international expansion was a simple decision. “We were happy using Australia Post to do all our domestic sending, so it was a natural transition to start using them for international,” Joel says.

“Then when I looked into it, the shipping rates were cheaper than the courier companies, so Australia Post is that point where the price and the service are good.”

While marshmallows are often an impulse purchase, the combination of The Marshmallow Co’s high quality, unique flavours and a reliable international shipping service are as crowd-pleasing as the sweets themselves.

The Marshmallow Co’s successful internation expansion now has them selling to customers in the US, UK, Canada and New Zealand, as well as around Australia.

Integrate Shopify and Australia Post to make sending overseas simple

It’s no secret that eCommerce businesses want to save time – and it’s with this aim that The Marshmallow Co set up an API integration between their Shopify store and Australia Post.

Integrating Shopify with MyPost Business enables you to automatically generate shipping labels and send tracking details to customers.

“Our integration speeds things up at least 50%, which means we can get orders out quicker and keep growing,” says Joel. “When we started using that, we became way more efficient.”

Two years on from their international expansion, Joel says The Marshmallow Co is succeeding with selling overseas. He puts it down to the combination of a great product, shipping reliability and competitive delivery costs, as well as tools like integrations that make their international sending simpler.