# Cross border ecommerce Human Guide

## What This Is For
Your strategic advisor for international e-commerce expansion. It gives the agent a clearer input/output frame for conversion optimization: what context to ask for, what decisions to make, and what usable artifact to return.

Use this as a human-readable version of the Cross border ecommerce agent skill. It is meant for marketers, operators, founders, and other non-coders who want the workflow without reading agent-specific implementation instructions.

## When To Use This
- Use this when you need a repeatable process for cross border ecommerce.
- Use this when the task needs judgment, examples, constraints, or a clear output format rather than a one-off prompt.
- Use this when you want to hand an AI assistant enough context to produce a usable marketing artifact.

## When Not To Use This
- Do not use this when you only need a quick factual answer.
- Do not use this when the work depends on private data you cannot share with the assistant.
- Do not use this as a replacement for legal, compliance, financial, or medical review.

## What You Need Before Starting
- The goal or business outcome you want.
- The audience, customer segment, or market context.
- Any source material the assistant should respect, such as notes, briefs, examples, URLs, or brand guidance.
- Constraints such as tone, length, channel, deadline, region, or approval requirements.
- A clear definition of what a good final answer should look like.

## Step-By-Step Workflow
1. State the job clearly: "Use the Cross border ecommerce guide to help me with..."
2. Add context: audience, goal, offer, channel, source material, and constraints.
3. Ask the assistant to identify missing inputs before producing the final output.
4. Have the assistant follow the skill-specific guidance below.
5. Review the result against the final checklist and ask for revisions where needed.

## Skill-Specific Guidance
- Target market scoring on 8 weighted dimensions with composite ranking
- Fulfillment model comparison (direct ship, 3PL, FBA/FBT/WFS, dropship, consolidation) with cost and transit data
- Country-by-country tax and duty compliance guides (EU, UK, US, CA, AU, JP, and more)
- Local payment method mapping by market with adoption rates
- Currency display and FX risk management strategy
- Localization checklist (language, currency, units, SEO, cultural adaptation)
- Landed cost calculator framework with margin impact analysis
- Legal and IP protection requirements by market (trademarks, certifications, data privacy)
- Expansion readiness assessment — are you ready to go international?
- Phased expansion roadmap with milestones, KPIs, and decision points
- Cross-skill linking to market-specific execution skills
- Current sales platform(s) and markets

## Decision Points And Nuance
The original skill emphasizes: Install, Usage, Capabilities, How This Skill Works, The 6 Pillars of Cross-Border Expansion, Pillar 1: Market Selection & Prioritization, Ecommerce Market Size by Country *(eMarketer, Statista 2025)*, Pillar 2: Logistics & Fulfillment, Fulfillment Model Comparison, Shipping Corridors — Typical Transit & Cost.

Use these questions to steer the work:
- What is the intended audience or buyer?
- What source material must be preserved?
- What should the assistant optimize for: clarity, persuasion, accuracy, speed, creativity, or conversion?
- What examples represent the desired quality bar?
- What should the assistant avoid?

## Common Mistakes
- > 7. Key numbers (share what you know — skip what you don't):
- **Key insight:** Don't just chase the biggest markets. A $50B market with low competition and easy logistics (Canada, Australia) often beats a $3.2T market with brutal competition and complex regulations (China).
- **HS code classification:** Required for all imports. Determines duty rate (0-17% typically)
- **When to register for VAT:** If you store inventory in an EU country (e.g., Amazon FBA Pan-EU), you must register for VAT in that country
- **GBP135 threshold:** For goods ≤GBP135, seller must register for UK VAT, charge VAT at point of sale. Marketplace facilitator rules apply (Amazon, eBay collect and remit)
- **GST:** 10% on goods ≤AUD 1,000 — seller must register and collect if B2C revenue exceeds AUD 75,000
- **ABN registration:** Australian Business Number required for GST registration
- Do **local keyword research** — don't just translate English keywords (search behavior differs)

## Copy-And-Paste Prompt
```text
Use the Cross border ecommerce human guide.

My goal:
[Describe the business outcome]

Audience:
[Describe who this is for]

Context and source material:
[Paste notes, examples, links, or existing copy]

Constraints:
[Tone, length, channel, timeline, must-include items, must-avoid items]

Before producing the final output, ask me for any missing information that would materially improve the result.
```

## Final Checklist
- [ ] The output matches the original goal.
- [ ] The audience and context are reflected in the answer.
- [ ] Important constraints and source material were preserved.
- [ ] The assistant made the relevant decisions explicit.
- [ ] The final artifact is ready to use, review, or hand to the next person.

## Source
This guide was generated from the nexscope-ai/ecommerce-skills skill entry for `cross-border-ecommerce`.

## Source Skill Notes
These notes preserve the nuance from the original skill. Use them as supporting reference when the workflow above feels too generic.

# Cross-Border E-Commerce ✈️

Your strategic advisor for international e-commerce expansion. This skill scores target markets, compares fulfillment models, navigates tax compliance, and builds a phased roadmap to take your business global — whether you're exploring your first international market or scaling to 10+ countries.

This is the international expansion layer. It tells you **where to expand, how to get there, and what it will cost**, then connects you to specialized skills for execution in each market.

```bash
npx skills add nexscope-ai/eCommerce-Skills --skill ecommerce-growth-strategy -g
```

**Supported platforms:** Amazon, Shopify, WooCommerce, Walmart, TikTok Shop, Etsy, eBay, BigCommerce, and multi-channel sellers.

Built by [Nexscope](https://www.nexscope.ai/?co-from=skill8) — your AI assistant for smarter e-commerce decisions.

## Install

```bash
npx skills add nexscope-ai/eCommerce-Skills --skill cross-border-ecommerce -g
```

## Usage

Ask your AI assistant naturally. Example prompts:

> *"I sell pet products on Shopify in the US doing $30K/month. I want to expand to Canada and UK. What's the best approach for logistics, payments, and taxes?"*

> *"We're an Amazon US seller doing $80K/month in kitchen gadgets. Which 3 countries should we expand to next? Score them by market size, ease of entry, and competition."*

> *"I'm shipping consumer electronics from China to EU customers. Walk me through VAT, IOSS registration, customs duties, and the cheapest fulfillment setup."*

> *"My Etsy jewelry shop gets orders from Germany, Australia, and Japan but I'm losing money on shipping and returns. Help me fix my cross-border operations."*

## Capabilities

- Target market scoring on 8 weighted dimensions with composite ranking
- Fulfillment model comparison (direct ship, 3PL, FBA/FBT/WFS, dropship, consolidation) with cost and transit data
- Country-by-country tax and duty compliance guides (EU, UK, US, CA, AU, JP, and more)
- Local payment method mapping by market with adoption rates
- Currency display and FX risk management strategy
- Localization checklist (language, currency, units, SEO, cultural adaptation)
- Landed cost calculator framework with margin impact analysis
- Legal and IP protection requirements by market (trademarks, certifications, data privacy)
- Expansion readiness assessment — are you ready to go international?
- Phased expansion roadmap with milestones, KPIs, and decision points
- Cross-skill linking to market-specific execution skills

---

## How This Skill Works

**Step 1: Collect information.** Extract from the user's initial message:
- Product / category
- Current sales platform(s) and markets
- Current monthly revenue
- Target market(s) or expansion goals
- Known constraints (budget, team size, logistics setup)

**Step 2: Ask one follow-up with all remaining questions.** Use multiple-choice format:

> Great — [acknowledge what they told you]. To build your expansion plan I need a few more details:
> 
> 1. Business stage?
>    a) Early — under $10K/mo
>    b) Growing — $10K-50K/mo
>    c) Scaling — $50K-200K/mo
>    d) Established — $200K+/mo
> 
> 2. Current selling market(s)? (select all)
>    a) US only
>    b) UK
>    c) EU (which countries?)
>    d) Canada
>    e) Australia
>    f) Japan
>    g) Other: ___________
> 
> 3. Target market(s) for expansion? (select all or "recommend for me")
>    a) UK
>    b) EU (Germany, France, etc.)
>    c) Canada