In order to remain competitive in the long term and secure sales, fashion manufacturers must also push ahead with the growth of their brands. This includes establishing yourself in the domestic market as well as entering international trade. However, the hurdles to international growth are great – marketing and logistics in different countries often poses great challenges for manufacturers. With online marketplaces, however, entry into international markets can be quick and effective.
Last updated on November 15, 2022
Online shopping has been gaining in importance in the fashion sector for years, and the Corona crisis with its retail restrictions has recently intensified this trend. Younger generations in particular no longer rely on advice in the local store, but want to shop around the clock and have their new styles sent home conveniently and often free of charge – especially since the selection on marketplaces such as Zalando and About You is immense and significantly larger than is in the stores. You can even find brands here that are not yet available in the inner cities. Because when it comes to internationalization, manufacturers are increasingly relying on large marketplaces, in every direction: German brands are expanding abroad and international ones are enriching the range of goods in Germany.
Manufacturers, in turn, benefit from the huge reach that digital marketplaces offer – Zalando alone has 30 million visitors a month. With regard to internationalization, such platforms also offer the great added value that it can be carried out much more quickly: Because the large marketplaces are already known to the public in the individual countries and have established themselves there as their own brands. With Zalando, for example, brands can relatively quickly gain access to the entire DACH region, to Eastern Europe, Scandinavia, Belgium, France or Italy. So instead of laboriously building up your own structures, manufacturers can use the processes that have already been created and the security provided by standardization and simply jump on the bandwagon.
Brands that already sell their goods in Germany via large platforms such as Zalando or About You have the great advantage that they can fall back on the structures they are already familiar with internationally. The content that brands have already created for their products on the platforms for the German market can be easily translated for the marketplace in other countries – at Zalando this is even done automatically. Manufacturers who do not yet use large platforms in their domestic market can use them to enter the international market just as easily, but they must first provide the relevant product data. The individual marketplaces have high and sometimes different requirements for data quality, and providing them can be a challenge for manufacturers.
The major hurdles to internationalization are the areas of logistics and marketing. The aim is to make the brand known and established in other countries. Of course, classic advertising can be placed in the local media; but it is much easier to advertise your own brand and certain products directly on the digital platforms. Here, for example, advertising banners can be placed, landing pages with content in the form of storytelling about the brand can be created, or a top placement for your own products can be achieved with the help of “Sponsored Product Ads”. The advantage of the latter is that manufacturers pay per click and a direct benefit of the investment can be seen through the sales and by calculating the “Return on Advertising Spend”. As a rule, it makes sense to use a mix of the various marketing tools.
In addition to brand and product establishment, sales is another challenge. Because manufacturers cannot sell their goods internationally from their domestic warehouses, but have to set up the logistical structures in the countries themselves. Otherwise, shipping will take too long and become too expensive. Large marketplaces offer the advantage that they often have their own logistics in the respective country, which the manufacturers can then use. Only the depth of the inventory is a matter for the brand itself, above all the advertised products must always be available in sufficient quantities.
In order to master the challenges of international market entry via digital platforms quickly and smoothly, it can make sense for manufacturers to fall back on external partners. Service providers already have a lot of experience with the individual platforms, know which data has to be supplied and which marketplace is relevant in which country. The Dutch platform “BOL” or the French marketplace “La Redoute”, for example, are relatively unknown in Germany, but they are among the major providers locally. In addition, service providers know the right marketing tools, provide the technical interfaces to the marketplaces and have already negotiated contracts with them. If manufacturers build on these existing structures, they save a lot of time, since the entire process can easily take several months on their own.
Brands can enter international markets relatively easily and quickly via digital platforms. Above all, large marketplaces offer the advantage that they are already known in the individual countries and have established logistics. Brands can thus build on already existing structures. The last hurdles can be overcome quickly and easily with the support of a service provider, so that nothing stands in the way of entering the international market.
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