Connecting with the new
global consumer
Matt Brocklehurst, 2014
We are living in the age of ‘always on’
Online shopping continues to grow in the UK each year. Today, consumers across the globe are connected whenever and wherever they go. This poses a huge opportunity for businesses who embrace online.
But it’s not just in the UK where businesses can prosper; a grasp of digital can put you ahead of the competition in overseas markets.
Percentage of people who buy online1:
1 Connected Consumer Study, 2014
The time is now
A number of markets are prime for businesses to graspthe export opportunity through digital engagement.
2 Euromonitor, Forrester, Mintel, World Bank, WTO, Crystal 2003, OC&C analysis OC&C analysis
Market readiness framework2
The global opportunity online is growing
While there are 2.8 billion people online today, that’s still
only 39% of the global population3
3 eMarketer, November 20134 Eric Schmidt estimate
Looking forward to 2020 it is predicted thatthere will be 8 billion people online –
many connecting via smartphones4
So now is the time to embrace the global online opportunity.
The “Made in Britain” business
These businesses know that their country of origin can help drive sales – leading to a new generation of brands. These brands have successfully used the internet to help globalise and gain international fame.
5 Global Retail e-mpre, OC&C, 2014
Top international brands5
100
98
95
93
91
94
95
95
93
95
99
100
93
90
87
100
92
87
86
81
The “Global Pure Play” business
These business succeed across markets. Consumers often don’t care or know where a business is based if the product and service is good, andthe local web experience right.
6 Global Retail e-mpre, OC&C, 2014
100
97
87
90
76
79
67
71
63
100
100
96
79
77
59
93
100
88
79
53
Pure Play top 5 international e-Retailers6
The “Borderless Consumer”
When shopping online, consumer purchasing decisions are often not affected by the origin of the business offering the product or service.
While this could pose a threat to business through increased competition from overseas, it also brings huge opportunity – opening doors for expansion into new markets with new customers.
Where do you think ASOS is from?7 Where do you think Booking.com is from?8
74% of people in the US didn’t know that ASOS are from the UK.
When told over 80% said that would not affect the likelihood of buying from them
again.
96% of people in the UK didn’t know thatBooking.com are from the Netherlands.
When told nearly 90% said that would not affectthe likelihood of buying from them again.
7 & 8 Google Consumer Survey of US and UK 2014
New businesses have global expansion in their DNA
Increasingly, new online businesses are grasping the opportunityof digital - disrupting existing businesses at home and quickly expanding internationally.
It no longer takes decades for businesses to go global, it takes years.
Years to expand out of domestic market9
9 Press Search, Company Websites, OC&C analysis
All businesses can take advantage of the global marketplace
All businesses – whether big or small, old or new – have a huge audience at their fingertips and can use the internet to:
Identify the best markets to enter.
Develop their marketing toeffectively engage withlocal customers.
Reduce the time, cost, logisticsand need for a physicalpresence to try new markets.
But businesses must adapt to different local characteristics
To understand the complexities of the different markets businesses have a number of resources at hand.
Including Google Business Map – giving country specific details all in one place.
10 The CIA World Factbook, 201211 Connected Consumer Study, 201412 European Commission, 200613 Our Mobile Planet, 2013
For example, in the Netherlands...
No. 8 for export inthe world, with
$577billion exported10
65% buy things online11
87% of Dutch peoplespeak English12
67% of peopledon’t leave the
house without theirsmartphone13
Who knew?
14 eMarketer, August, 201315 eMarketer, February, 201216 Customer Journey to Online Purchase, 2013
Tools and research on the internet allow businesses to explore new markets and find interesting opportunities to adapt their marketing and business needs.
Mobile penetration inthe USA is 111.9%14
Use of social networks grew by 20% in China in
201315
In France display ads arethe best medium to raiseawareness vs. email inGermany and Social in
UK16
These opportunities aren’t restricted by industry
Global digital expansion is relevant across virtually all sectors including:
17 Market Reports by Vertical, OC&C analysis
UK ecommerce Exports £bn Estimates17
Case study: World First
As the leading foreign exchange company in the UK, World First needed to develop their marketing strategy to grow globally.
Search played a central part in the strategy and Google tools, enabled World First to see what was working most effectively and to refine the campaign along the way to drive traffic to their site.
The insight was that more people were using mobile. So, World First developed a new mobile site which enabled them to grasp opportunities brought to them by new behaviours and to reach people who want to transact with World First in any way that they want.
Ultimately, they increased monthly conversions to over 200% and reduced cost per conversion by 40%.
World First used country-specific insights to design their search engine marketing campaigns on Adwords.
Interview: Ralph Lauren
Serge Acker, SVP, Digital Marketing & eCommerce, Ralph Lauren on:
Technology allows us to be very specific, very locally driven… it goes back to that idea of data...how a British person is going to shop, how a French person is going to shop may be different, yesterday these were assumptions. Today they can be a fact just by going through our data.
Data informing localisation
The international success of an organisation such as ours is predicated upon the ability to build a global framework that is able to then serve local needs. So that means a global shared services team that is able to build for scale and local teams that are able to understand the local specificities... so, stay local.
Build a global framework, but stay local
See full interview
Interview: MATCHESFASHION.COM
See full interview
Ulric Jerome, Partner & COO, MATCHESFASHION.COM on:
Rebranding from Matches to MATCHESFASHION.COM:
Transitioning from a store-based business to a global player
We are a technology company now who happens to sellhigh-end fashion products.
The selection of the products on the website first startedto create the buzz...after that it is all about execution. How do you make sure the world has all the visibility on the MATCHESFASHION.COM website?
Two years ago less than 50% of our sales were online...today it’s 70% and the next two years it will be 90%… and70% of our online sales are now from outside the UK.
The time to expand is now
Your customers are always on, whenever and wherever they are and wherever they go
Online has broken down international trading barriers
Now is the time to expand your business and reach new markets
Where is your next opportunity?
Use Google tools here