How Australian businesses can adapt international sales and returns policies amid tariff uncertainty
Samir Kamnani
·June 24, 2025
Is your brand ready to go global in 2025?
Recent changes to U.S. tariff policy may give you pause, but you don’t need to let that slow you down. By building an agile cross-border commerce strategy, you’ll be well-set to weather the storm and grow your brand sustainably in new regions.
Reducing the impact of tariffs on Australian exports
Try these tactics to help you build a global brand, sustainably:
Diversify your customer base
It can sting getting hit with a 10% (at time of writing) tariff rate on most exports to the U.S. market—but the fact is, there are plenty of other countries out there. Rather than focusing solely on U.S. shoppers, consider targeting regions with preferential trade agreements, including New Zealand, China, the U.K., and others listed here. Austrade’s Go Global Toolkit can help you identify strong export markets for your products, and understand their tariff impacts.
Be sure to localise your brand strategy for each target market, including language, payment methods, and currency; and ensure compliance with any local regulations on overseas imports. Shopify’s global ecommerce tools can help you navigate this process with ease.
Optimise your pricing strategy
Don’t give up on the U.S. market just because it’s gotten more expensive to enter, however. Consider updating your pricing strategy so that you can recoup the tariff fees in your end sales. Experiment with small price increases to see how they impact sales, and consider offering “bundle” deals that increase perceived value. If you sell products in U.S. stores, you may also be able to split the cost of tariffs with your U.S.-based distribution partner—work with them to find a suitable arrangement.
Work with a customs broker to ensure you’re paying the lowest rates
Whether exporting to the U.S. or to other foreign markets, it’s well worth consulting with a customs broker to help you navigate the maze of foreign duties payments. A customs broker can ensure that you’re choosing product classifications with the most favourable rates: For instance, a pair of yoga leggings may have a tariff rate anywhere from 5% to 28% for U.S. imports, depending whether it is classified as “women’s trousers” or “synthetic women’s trousers.” A customs broker can also advise you on design or materials changes that you can make in product development that will help you qualify for lower tariff rates going forward.
Curbing the high cost of returns
The returns process is a critical element of your cross-border strategy. Up to 30% of ecommerce purchases end up being returned—so it’s vital to set up a best-in-class AU returns management process that will help you protect your profits without alienating your valuable customers.
Set up local fulfilment centres
Partnering with regional 3PLs or renting warehouse space in each geographic region where you sell your products is a great move to facilitate a fast and affordable shipping process—on both the sales and returns side. By moving inventory in bulk into local warehouses, you’ll be able to fulfill your shoppers’ expectations around one- or two-day shipping, rather than waiting for their packages to travel from Australia. This also enables you to calculate U.S. tariff costs and other regional duties on wholesale pricing, rather than the retail price of the products—presenting a significant savings.
And, by returning stock to those local warehouses, rather than shipping it back overseas, you’ll be able to eliminate the risk of paying double tariffs or duties, protecting your profit margins.
“I would really advise any brands who have international shipping into the US and have any returns rate to set a rule pretty quickly that once stock goes in the US today, it never goes out, because paying duties back and forth could get really expensive,” Chris Ormonde, Director at Whanau, shared in our recent webinar. (We recommend watching the whole thing for some fantastic insights on navigating tariff policy!)
Recoup your costs with return fees
It’s true that customers don’t love paying for return shipping—but these days, they know it’s common practise for most ecommerce brands. Five years ago, 50% of Australian retailers covered the costs of their shoppers’ return shipping—but today, that number has dropped to 20%.
In December, 89% of Australian small businesses said that their operating costs had jumped over the past 18 months. Asking customers to subsidize the cost of returns is a simple way to recoup some of your AU ecommerce logistics expenses.
By using Loop’s Checkout+ tool, you can encourage your shoppers to pay at the point of purchase for access to free returns later—ensuring seamless and convenient AU returns policies that help you grow your top-line AND protect your P&L. You can also encourage customers to choose a product exchange over a refund by waiving return shipping fees in such cases, which will help you retain more revenue from your returns.
Building a sustainable returns process for your global brand requires the right toolset. Learn how Loop’s end-to-end returns management platform can help. Book a demo.
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