If you’re looking to expand your publisher portfolio across Europe, there are some fundamental steps every publisher should take to ensure a solid expansion strategy. Using real and recent learnings from Fashionchick’s expansion into France, the UK, Netherlands and Germany, this fashion-focused session will share the truths behind each European market directly from a publisher’s perspective. With useable insight from each market alongside considerations on technical concepts, HQ setup, employee considerations and monitoring results, this session will supply the big do’s and don'ts for publishers looking to up their game internationally

1. Kavita Verryth
@kavitaverryth
A Publisher’s Guide
to European Expansion
Catharina Zientz
@catharinazientz

2. Overview
An international education
1. Background
2. Fashionchicks International Strategy
3. International in 3 Steps
Tech
Market Research
Set-Up
4. Country Analysis
NL – DE – FR – UK – AU/AT/BE
5.Learnings

4. Find your look
Fashionchick ensures that every woman can easily navigate the online shopping world.
Whoever she is. Whatever her style. Wherever she is.
What we do

5. Company Timeline
From No Search to Sanoma
2009 2011 2012
Sanoma Interest
Cooperation begins with
analysis of companies to
ensure there is a strategic
match
No Search
Fashionchick.nl turns
profit and proves the
platform is a success
Sanoma 25%
Sanoma buy 25% share in
No Search showing positivity
about the concept.
Sanoma 55%
1st January: Future
prospective growth increased.
Majority ownership enables
int. expansion
2013 Q3 2013
Sanoma 100%
Earlier then expected,
Sanoma buys No Search for
ease of investment and
result reporting.
Q3 2014
Final Integration
Fashionchick moves
headquarters to Sanoma BV in
Hoofddorp

6. “80% of Fashionchick-women are
shopping here with an intention to buy”
Business Model
How we earn
Performance Marketing
• Product data feeds
• Interesting content
• Categorisation & filtering
• Conversion driven focus
• Popularity rankings
• Sending 80% of all traffic to conversion
focused pages

7. Our International Progress

8. Our Markets
Our current international presence

9. Growth Strategy
Vertical & Horizontal Expansion
Fashion: Women
Fashion: Men
Fashion: Kids
Home Decoration
Netherlands Germany France UK US

10. International Timeline
Fashionchick goes abroad
20092006 2011 2012
No Search B.V.
Fashion related
comparison company
created
Expansion #1
Fashionchick expands to
France and Germany
Focus
Fashionchick.nl live and
becomes the
companies focus and
main offering
Expansion #2
Fashionchick expands to the
UK and USA
Expansion #3
Cross platform
expansion. Mentoday
NL & DE
2013 2014
Expansion #4
Cross platform expansion.
Kidstoday.nl

11. International in 3 Steps
1.Technical Concept
2.Market Research
3.Set-up Phase

12. Technical Concept
Innovative Platform
• Front-end translation
• Internationally recognised design (one-
for-all concept)
• Easily adapted to new market
segments
• Speedy performance
• SEO friendly
• Responsive v Mobile
• Corporate Identity
“Don’t duplicate a second-rate product!”

13. Market Research
Orientation Phase
• Population Size (target group)
• Internet Usage
• Average Income
• National economic growth
• Unemployment
• Spending patterns
• Top 3 online shops
• Online sociability
• Mobile behaviour (2014)

14. Ecommerce Readiness
Market Research
NL DE FR UK AT BE PL ES IT TC
Total Population 16,9 81,0 66,3 63,7 8,2 10,4 38,3 47,7 61,1 81,6
Women 15-64 5,5 26,0 20,8 20,5 2,3 3,4 13,6 15,8 20,4 27,4
Internet Usage 81,1% 80,2% 68,2% 80,7% 74,4% 77,9% 58,7% 58,9% 48,4% 33,3%
Total Target 4,5 20,9 14,2 16,5 1,7 2,6 8,0 9,3 9,9 9,1
Ranking 3 10 8 9 1 2 4 6 7 5
GDP / capita $41.400 $39.500 $35.700 $37.300 $42.600 $37.800 $21.100 $30.100 $29.600 $15.300
Ranking 9 8 5 6 10 7 2 4 3 1
Growth 2010 -1,3% 0,5% 0,3% 1,8% 0,4% 0,1% 1,3% -1,3% -1,8% 3,8%
Ranking 3 7 5 9 6 4 8 3 1 10
Unemployment 6,8% 5,3% 10,2% 7,2% 4,9% 8,8% 10,3% 26,3% 12,4% 9,3%
Ranking 8 9 4 7 10 6 3 1 2 5
% Fashion of all purchases 6,8% 5,2% 5,3% 5,4% 5,7% 4,0% 5,4% 8,5% 7,0% 6,2%
Ranking 8 3 2 5 6 1 5 10 9 7
Smartphone Usage 52,0% 39,8% 42,2% 62,2% 48,0% 33,5% 35,0% 55,4% 41,3% 29,6%
Ranking 8 4 6 10 7 2 3 9 5 1
OVERALL RANKING 6,50 6,83 5,00 7,67 6,67 3,67 4,17 5,50 4,50 4,83

15. Market Research
The Decision Makers
• External factors
• Online shop analysis
• Competitive analysis
• Cross-market potential
• Branding
• Marketing strategy (traffic)
• Set Year #1 goals

16. Set-Up Phase
2 months to launch!
• 1 FTE Native: Project Owner
(personally invested in the project)
• Location: major city preferable
• Research and abide local laws
• Minimum content requirements
• Focus on business relationships
• Cultural differences in your organisation

17. Country Analysis
Germany
France
The Netherlands
UK
Austria/Belgium/Australia

18. Germany
"trust and communication is key"
• Largest EU economy
• Strong e-commerce market
• Slightly more male skewed
• Wealthy, tech savvy population
• Stricter laws and regulations
• Impressum
• Preisangabenverordnung
• Very mature e-commerce market, many
players
• CPA and CPC as attribution
models

19. Germany
cultural nuances
• Major International Players/Competitors =
• Highly competitive  expensive traffic
 higher start-up cost.
• Risk & reward higher ROI  more
potential
• Highest shopping basket value
• Privacy and trust
• Lower Facebook growth
• Shop certifications are relevant to the
consumer (e.g. Trusted Shop)
• Post-pay
• Be wary about high return rates for fashion

20. France
"personal contact drives the sales"
• Internet Access: 82% of households
• Paris is the ecommerce and fashion
hub. Paris HQ strongly advised.
• Ecommerce website growth (+17%)
• Mobile ready market
• Tracking influenced by a large
retargeting and email marketing market
• Region specific purchases and
marketing (local knowledge)
• Made in France mentality
• International players should look at
investing in local presence

21. France
• Network support and data sharing is
limited
• Controlled sales period for all sectors
= high demand for advertising
• Favorite payment method: credit card
• Main criteria for decision making
(ranked from the most important): price,
trust in website, delivery options, and
product diversity
• Local players dominate
• Kiala delivery popular (free) over home
delivery (paid)
cultural nuances

22. The Netherlands
“the home-market advantage”
• Manageable market  Population
and geographic.
• Highly active start-up city &
international > 50% expats in
Amsterdam.
• Advanced performance marketing
market – in terms of retailers and
publisher knowledge, local
networks, local events.
• Good to know legal: cookie
guideline strict

23. The Netherlands
• iDeal payment option is a must
• Free shipment & voucher codes
• The Sanoma Advantage
• International hot-bed for fashion stores
esp. from UK and DE
• High product feed qualities (due to
knowlege)
• Early adopters
• Local orientated sites perform well
(bol.com, wehkamps, marktplaats)
cultural nuances

24. The UK
“sales? voucher codes? of course!”
• Worlds leading e-commerce market
• Highest mobile conversions
• High risk = high reward
• Discount code and cash back sites to
compete with
• International competition from USA; less
so from EU
• High interest in spot positions and focus
on branding
• Agency driven landscape; more
influence

25. The UK
• Improvement in data feeds (catching up
to ie: NL & DE)
• Large local players with intentions to
expand to EU
• Conversion is lower in start-up phase
• Traffic buying is relatively inexpensive
(until the Christmas rush)
• Quick turn-overs. Highly trend driven
with continuous discounting means
product moves fast
• 25% Click & Collect
cultural nuances

26. AT/BE/AU
Where to next?
Step 1 & 2: Complete
Australia, Austria, Belgium (fl)
- How we are doing it differently from
what we learned.
- Shared resources
- Low content/Low profile/Low Risk
- Alternate tags (html)
- Traffic Sources
Step 3: Set Up July/August 2014
Looking ahead:
Pending success = expansion of teams,
local base/contact within 6 months etc

27. Don’t Forget
International Nuances…
• Local presence
• Network partnerships are key!
• Sale seasonality
• Local social media players
• Share your data!
• Don’t duplicate content
• Continually test and evaluate over 6-12
months

28. catharina@sanoma.com
kavita@fashionchick.co.uk