Fruugo is a unique, fully localised global marketplace that was founded in 2006 and enables sellers to distribute their products to over 46 countries worldwide. Interestingly, their mission is to enable all retailers to sell to consumers globally through one global marketplace, by offering products from all around the world in localised languages and currencies. Due to this, shoppers are able to add multiple products to their shopping cart from various retailers, even if those retailers are in different countries. The shopper automatically views the products and transactions in their own language and currency, respectively. 

Now in their sixth year of consecutive sales growth in excess of 100% year-on-year, it is clear to see that Fruugo is becoming a major driving force in ecommerce. If you are a seller who is looking to expand their brand into global cross-border trade, then Fruugo may be one of the marketplaces that you could consider working with. So, let us take a deeper look into Fruugo and get a clearer picture of how the marketplace operates and what it can offer you as a seller.

Key highlights:

• Product translation and currency conversion
• No sale, no fee policy
• Country specific payment methods
• Network of partners
• Intuitive UI

There are several reasons why you as a seller may want to use Fruugo to acquire orders from their rapidly growing base of cross-border shoppers, expanding your brand globally. So let us break down some of the key highlights that this marketplace offers. 

The first important note which we touched on briefly earlier, is that of product translation and currency conversion. As you can imagine, in terms of offering the customer a smooth shopping experience (particularly when selling cross-border), you will want shoppers to be able to view products in their own currency. There is nothing more frustrating from a consumer perspective than having to do different currency conversions yourself. Therefore, with Fruugo you have the ability to be paid in your own currency, yet sell in 31 different major currencies without risk. 

In addition, you will want your customers to be able to read product titles and descriptions in their own language. Fruugo uses their automatic translation technology to do this for you, localising the shopper’s experience wherever they are in the world by translating into 28 different languages. With these two factors together, the consumer gets a localised shopping experience in terms of currency and language, whilst you as a seller are paid in your own currency.

Another attractive feature of Fruugo is their no sale, no fee policy. We will touch on the specifics around fees later on, but essentially there are no monthly or annual fees – you only pay when you make a sale. Contrary to other marketplaces, this helps you to eliminate some of the risk of partnering with a new marketplace, as you will only be charged a fee if and when you are successful. 

Similarly to localisation in terms of currency and language, it is also important to consider localised payment methods – a pitfall which is often overlooked by many. It is easy to imagine that every consumer can and will make purchases with one of the major credit cards, but for cross-border trade it’s crucial to recognise that shoppers in different territories prefer different payment methods. Therefore, if you want to reach these markets then you will need to offer country specific payment methods, a strategy that Fruugo readily enables you to do.

Finally, Fruugo also helps you to reach these markets and new consumer bases by actively marketing retailers’ products in 46 different countries, by using a constantly growing network of affiliated and partner sites. Once you do reach these customers, they are met with an intuitive UI, optimised for mobile, tablet and desktop to give the best shopping experience possible (which perfectly combines with the localised language, currency and payment methods already mentioned).

As we have just explored, there are undoubtedly several benefits to consider when working with Fruugo, but what is the truly unique feature of this marketplace? For this, we will return to a point that was briefly mentioned earlier regarding the checkout. Possibly the most distinctive feature of Fruugo is that shoppers can purchase multiple items from different sellers (even across different countries) and check out in one single transaction. This feature offers buyers an unparalleled level of convenience which may attract them to your brand if you sell on Fruugo.

Fruugo offers all of the product categories that you would come to expect from a large marketplace. These include clothing and accessories, health and beauty as well as home and garden products. In addition, they offer categories such as electronics, games, puzzles and even food and beverages. The highest performing product categories are sports, outdoor and leisure, home and garden and health and beauty.

With Fruugo offering products in 46 countries, 28 languages and 31 major currencies, working with the marketplace will give you access to millions of consumers globally.

To expand on the point made earlier regarding commission, there are no monthly, listing or marketing fees for any of the products listed. Fruugo charges a 15% fee on shoppers’ basket value (excluding VAT) along with a funds processing fee (2.35% of transaction value). This funds processing fee contributes towards Fruugo’s payment and transaction processing costs. It is important to reiterate that Fruugo handles all foreign currency exchanges, so you are charged the same commission fee regardless of where the customer is located and which payment method they use. As a seller, you will always be paid in your own currency.

Although there is an option for customers to escalate issues to Fruugo, they do not handle the initial interactions, so the vast majority of the responsibility for customer service falls to you as the seller.

The retailer is responsible for the delivery and returns of products, Fruugo doesn’t hold or dispatch stock. However, Fruugo does use a shipping template which allows you to charge consumers using four available methods of calculation, meaning you can easily supply one set of charges or customise your costs to be different for each country. Additionally, you can provide two different costs where needed (standard and express), giving the customer different options depending on how they may need to order. 

The first option is flat rate shipping, which means the consumer will be charged a specific shipping price irrespective of the total amount or weight of the items ordered. Secondly, you have value based shipping which involves the shipping cost being calculated based on the total value of the items ordered. Similarly, weight rate shipping prices the delivery cost depending on the total weight of the items ordered. Finally, you can opt for quantity rate shipping, which calculates the cost as a base rate plus an additional charge for each subsequent product added to the order.

To conclude, Fruugo’s no sale, no fee policy, their product translation technology and currency conversion methods form a marketplace which could help support your global expansion. However, as a marketplace Fruugo is just a middleman – you would still be responsible for localised customer service and logistics, including international shipping and returns. For a more comprehensive solution where we handle these aspects for you, why not work with Arcade as your merchant of record? At Arcade, we can:

• Facilitate your brand’s cross-border trade strategy in the UK and beyond
• Leverage our relationship with Fruugo to secure you the best commercial terms
• Use our customer service network to respond to queries in the local language and time zone, taking the stress out of translation
• Design appropriate, localised product listings for your business
• Run local marketing campaigns during peak seasons and shopping events throughout the year so that you can be sure your products are reaching customers at the right time
• Handle local fulfillment and local returns of your products, so we can do the majority of the heavy lifting for you in terms of logistics
• Take care of compliance for you, using our existing partnerships and knowledge to ensure that you avoid any unnecessary problems with taxes, tariffs or documentation

Altogether, Arcade can offer your brand unparalleled speed to market, a far smoother transition and more comprehensive support once we help you set everything up. If you’d like to find out more, feel free to get in touch at: www.arcade.global/contact-us/.