Effective strategies to provide a competitive advantage for international businesses

Companies must be able to stand out from their competitors to attract new customers and stay in business. They can distinguish themselves by the quality of their products, lower prices, or even additional services. Here are how these three strategies can help companies gain a competitive advantage in the international trade world: 

Offering High-quality Products

Since customers buy products to satisfy their needs, offering high-quality products will provide a stable advantage. In fact, this has long been a strategy of American and Japanese companies which have invested heavily in research and development. This has allowed them to stay one step ahead of their competitors when it came to electronics. But in regards to international trade, even an obsolete product can gain a competitive advantage. An end-of-life product in its domestic market can be an innovative item in a foreign market, especially in a country that is not at the same level of industrialization. For example, the mobile phone had already existed for a few years in several developed countries when it was first presented in Africa in the mid-1990s.

The Cost Domination Strategy

As the name suggests, this strategy requires reducing unnecessary costs as much as possible without significantly affecting the quality of the product or service. In international trade, transport, customs formalities, and communication all require a significant amount of money. Thus, it is necessary to reduce these costs in order to provide the same quality offered by competitors, but at a lower price, while still being able to generate profit. For such strategies, every penny counts.

Additional Services for Customers

While often overlooked, additional services can make a huge difference when two products offer similar quality but are also being sold at similar prices. For example, a product that provides good after-sales service will be much more preferred than a competitor that does not offer such services. Likewise, a company offering its customers the possibility of personalizing their products will have an advantage over a competitor who offers a standard product, even if it is sold at a lower cost. Additional services can therefore help businesses stand out by complementing basic services.

While each of the strategies mentioned above can still be effective on its own, to get the best results, we suggest integrating them all into your company’s overall business strategy.

Let Export Portal Help You

New to the world of trade? Work with Export Portal to trade with verified companies and experts from all over the world.