CROSS-BORDER E-COMMERCE
Bringing Japanese goods
to the world.
We support the planning, construction, and operation of cross-border e-commerce sites — in partnership with a team that has spent years on the ground, traveling the world doing this work.
Language, payments, logistics, country-specific regulations — every call is made with someone who has actually been there.
SITUATIONS WE HANDLE
Don't know where to start
You have products that could sell abroad, but site, payments, shipping, language, regulations — you can't tell what to tackle first.
Extend your existing store internationally
You currently sell domestically and want to take on overseas orders, expanding the site and operations in stages.
Consolidate languages, payments, shipping
Site translation, international payments, cross-border shipping, customs display — designed together rather than bolted on piecemeal.
Marketing that works overseas
Domestic ad strategies don't translate. You want help designing customer acquisition that fits the channels and culture of each target market.
Regulatory concerns
Food, cosmetics, supplements — categories where rules vary widely by country. You want to understand what to check before committing.
Moving from distributors to direct sales
You've been selling abroad through trading companies or agents, and want to build a direct channel to your end customers.
WHAT WE DO
Storefront development
Shopify, BASE, or custom builds — chosen based on your product and goals. Multilingual UI, local currency, and purchase flows tuned for international buyers.
Payments & logistics
Major-country payment methods (credit cards, PayPal, Apple Pay, Alipay), international shipping partners, duties display, HS codes, returns — integrated into one design.
Branding & photography
Brand concepts that communicate the product's story to overseas buyers, product photography, and multilingual copywriting led by English.
International marketing
Paid campaigns on Meta, Google, TikTok, Pinterest; regional influencer partnerships; social and PR work tuned for each target country.
PROCESS
- 01
Discovery & market research
We study the product, target countries, and competitive landscape, then propose an initial strategy and a priority order for market entry.
- 02
Design & prototype
Site structure, UI/UX, and brand expression — designed in Figma and refined iteratively, with overseas buying behavior in mind.
- 03
Build & localize
Store development, payment and shipping integration, multilingual copy, and product photography — run in parallel.
- 04
Launch & ongoing care
Post-launch customer acquisition, operational support, monthly reporting, iterative improvements, and onboarding of new products.
HOW WE WORK
We take on cross-border e-commerce work in partnership with a team that has spent years in this field, traveling between markets and doing the work first-hand. KARHU is the point of contact; the on-the-ground execution is led by the team with real field experience.
We don't pretend to do everything ourselves. The right composition of skills varies by product and target market, so we take in the inquiry first, understand the situation, and then propose a team setup along with the approach.
Pricing is quoted per engagement, scaled to the stage you're at — from initial test sales through full operation — so you can start at a reasonable level for your phase.
CONTACT
“We have the product but don't know if it will sell abroad” is a fine place to start. Initial consultation and a quick read of the market are free of charge.