Global e-retailers trying to maintain a consistent and successful marketing program face many challenges, including payment, cultural and other issues. With 16 e-commerce sites for as many countries, VistaPrint overcame challenges with one overriding strategy: centralize all marketing efforts in its home country; specifically, in Lexington, MA.
“When we first started, the United Kingdom was the only country we were marketing to outside of the U.S.,” explains vice president of European marketing Sven Ripper. “We saw great results from that marketing effort, which was handled here at home. So we implemented the methods that worked for us with the U.K. and gradually began rolling out new sites and marketing campaigns for them aimed at locations throughout the world.”
VistaPrint offers its more than 7 million customers across the globe graphic design, Internet printing and other services aimed at small businesses and individual consumers who seek small quantities of printed materials at low prices, the company says. The pure-play, No. 96 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide to Retail Web Sites, hit 2005 sales of $90.9 million, a 54.6% jump over $58.8 million in 2004.
“Our goal was to leverage best marketing practices across a variety of markets. We took effective elements from our U.S. marketing campaigns, made the necessary cultural adjustments, and applied them to our international campaigns,” Ripper says. “It would be difficult to accomplish this if our global marketing team operated in multiple locations. It also would be hard to build a strong team, especially in the beginning, if team members were separated by geography.”
About 30% of VistaPrint’s sales are generated from outside the U.S. The centralized approach to global marketing plays an important role in achieving this, Ripper contends. “Some companies based in this country have trouble marketing to international customers because they try to copy their U.S. marketing practices without making subtle adjustments from market to market to allow for cultural differences,” he says. “For example, we offer international customers market-specific payment methods that make purchasing our products more convenient. It’s so important to make these kinds of adjustments.”
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