Multichannel consultancy Practicology talked retailers through how to develop an international ecommerce strategy at its 2016 client conference.

1. Practicology Conference 2016
International workshop –
Our formula for success
Nicola Huet
Head of Internationalisation

2. UK ecommerce exports
to hit £28bn by 2020,
up from £5bn in 2013

3. IntInternationalisation is the ability to combine a
globalised product offering with a localised
ecommerce experience allowing you to develop
market share across the world

4. The path to localisation
Most UK retailers have begun with international shipping. Your international
strategy might require a mixed approach, with different levels of localisation
for different markets
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5

5. Localisation is a journey, not a one-off development
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Ship to Local Returns
Integrated DDP
shipping
Local customer
service
Local fulfilment
centre
Create local site
domains/folders
Blanket
Marketing
Local currency,
no translation
Localised
communication &
database
Local payment
methods
Products and key
pages translated
Local content
Local SEM and
social
Local team with
local calendar
Local trading
LOGISTICS
ONSITE
MARKETING
Increase in conversion through localisation
Implementation paths towards internationalisation

6. Creating a country ranking
▶ Demographics – Population, middle class,
▶ On-line market trends– Internet penetration, online shopping, prevalence
of market places
▶ Fulfilment expectations – Trends, Benchmarks from local competitors
▶ Legal and tax considerations – Duty, import restrictions etc
▶ Language – Official language and others widely spoken
▶ Competition – Size and growth of market, market share
▶ Brand awareness and local demand – if already present
▶ Any barriers or ease of entry criteria eg: on-line marketplace-first, or
marketplace-only approach?
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7. Top 10 countries for web usage
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8

8. Market specifics – online shopping in Belgium
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100%
85%
53.5%
31.5%
Total Population Internet Penetration E-Shoppers
31.5% of Belgium’s online population does not shop online yet
Source: Western Europe B2C Ecommerce Report, 2015

9. Market specifics: Fulfilment expectations
For example, expectations differ by market
International workshop Growth in new markets

10. Infrastructure & resource gap analysis
Assess what people, processes and systems you
will need to enter a market:
► Ecommerce ecosystem (platform/systems)
► Supply chain & logistics
► Ecommerce/digital team resource and skills
► Marketing strategy including URL
structure/SEO strategy
► Customer service
► Localised product and merchandising
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11. 0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Credit / Debit
card
PayPal Online Bank
Transfer
Invoice Offline Bank
Transfer
Payment options often let localised sites down
Which payment
options are
offered by our
25 UK retailers
on their
German sites?
They fall down
on the German-
specific options
of bank transfer
and invoice.
Practicology Localisation Report 2015
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12. Customer service
The Help button
on Warehouse’s
German website
leads to an
English form.
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Practicology Localisation Report 2015

13. Product naming conventions
All Saints’
search tool
recognised a
German search
term, but
English product
names mean
results still
appear to be
returned
partially in
English.
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Practicology Localisation Report 2015

14. Language: even English can need translation
The sub-category names for jeans aren’t terms that are
widely used or searched for by the UK consumer, e.g. Hi-Rise
Jeggings, which could cause confusion
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Take transcreation and local nuances seriously

15. Content plan must include brand education
Customers will feel more connected and confident if they know
more about your brand
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Following launch, the home page of the Sweaty Betty US website contained
content about the brand and its USPs

16. Localised product and merchandising decisions
Boden’s UK and
German
homepages
highlight products
appropriate to each
market: German
women tend to buy
separates rather
than dresses.
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Practicology Localisation Report 2015

17. Our formula for assessing the opportunity
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Opportunity
ranking
Ease of
market entry
Resource &
infrastructure
gap analysis
Weighted
country
ranking

18. How to develop the opportunity into a success?
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• Do not underestimate the importance of understanding
the local market
• Localisation can be done in a gradual way; each step
should reap benefits in terms of conversion and enhance
the customer experience
• Weigh up the costs against the benefits.
• Listen to your customers and adapt your proposition to
their needs

19. Thanks for listening
Download our report on German
localised ecommerce sites at:
Practicology.com/localisation2015
nicola.huet@practicology.com
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