Cross-border ecommerce agency in Japan – your overseas store, copy and marketing in one place

What a cross-border ecommerce agency can handle

Agencies differ a lot in what they take on. Before you compare quotes, list which of these tasks you want to hand over – it makes every conversation more concrete.

• Store build: an overseas storefront on Shopify or a similar platform, with currencies, languages and international shipping set up
• English product pages: descriptions, sizing, materials and care, plus shipping and return policies
• Payments and shipping: international card payments, shipping rates, carrier choice and clear information on duties
• Marketing: international SEO, Google Ads and Google Shopping, Meta Ads – setup and ongoing management
• Operations: adding products, English reply templates for customer questions, traffic and sales reports

Whether warehousing and packing are included, or the agency handles the store and marketing while you ship, changes both the budget and the workflow. For the basics of selling abroad, see our cross-border ecommerce guide.

Agency, consultant or partial support – which fits you

The three common options in Japan differ mainly in how deeply the outside partner is involved.

• Consulting: help choosing markets, channels and pricing. Your team does the work, so it suits companies with an in-house ecommerce person
• Partial support: help with specific tasks such as the build or ads. Good when you run the store yourself and want help only where you are weakest
• Done-for-you agency: the store, English pages, marketing and day-to-day updates in one package. Best for small and mid-sized brands without a dedicated person for overseas sales

When you compare agencies, ask who actually does the work, whether that person stays on the project, and who writes and answers in English. A single point of contact makes it much faster to respond to overseas customers and change details on the store.

Decisions to make before you sell abroad

Even with an agency, a few calls are yours to make. Settle them early and the store design and ad targeting fall into place quickly.

• Target markets: start with one or two regions, such as North America, Europe or Asia, to keep shipping and language settings manageable
• Can you ship it? Products with batteries, liquids, food and cosmetics face carrier and import restrictions that vary by country – check both
• Prices and shipping: decide who pays international shipping and duties, and whether to offer free shipping above a certain amount
• Channels: your own store as the core, or alongside marketplaces such as Amazon or eBay
• Returns and support: whether you accept returns, and how quickly you answer questions in English

Consumption tax on exports and the duty and VAT rules of each destination differ by country and change regularly. Check the latest information with Japan Customs, official sources in the destination country or your tax advisor before you set prices.

How a project runs and what to prepare

From choosing a partner to launch, a small store typically takes one to three months. A common flow:

• Review: your current store, product data, photos and how you manage stock
• Plan: target countries, lead products, pricing and shipping rules
• Build: overseas design and structure; currencies, languages, payments and shipping
• English content: product pages written for local buyers, adding what they look for – sizing, materials, delivery times
• Pre-launch checks: test orders, viewing from abroad, tracking tags and policy pages
• Marketing and tuning: international SEO and ads, then adjusting pages based on results

It speeds things up to have: a product list with SKUs, prices, weights and sizes, original photo files, your logo, access to your current store admin and two or three overseas brand sites you like. The build itself is explained step by step in cross-border ecommerce site build.

Common mistakes when outsourcing cross-border ecommerce

When an overseas store launches and nothing sells, the cause usually sits in the planning before launch or the marketing after it. Check these points when you brief an agency.

• Machine-translated descriptions that lose the brand's appeal and leave sizing unclear
• Shipping costs and duties appear only at the last checkout step, so carts get abandoned
• The store goes live with no marketing plan and almost no traffic from abroad
• The domain or ad accounts are registered to the agency and cannot be transferred later
• Nobody owns customer support, so replies to overseas buyers are slow

Marketing deserves extra attention: search terms and competitors abroad are different from those in Japan. Our page on overseas SEO explains how to get found in other markets. Create your domain, ad and analytics accounts in your own name from day one.

How UNANOBO works: a free demo of your overseas store first

Before you commit, UNANOBO builds a free demo of your overseas store based on your current shop and products, including English product pages. You open it on your computer and phone, click through it and decide whether to go ahead once you like the direction.

The process is simple: free demo, feedback, launch, growth. The founder handles every project personally – the build, the English copy, international SEO and Google and Meta Ads – so you keep one contact from start to finish. Everything runs by message in Japanese or English, which also means your English customer-facing copy is in the same hands as your store.