Launching Your Brand in Europe | Marknology

As Amazon keeps expanding to European markets, many sellers come across the urge of wanting to sell their products on new marketplaces to reach millions of new customers. Is it a smart move, or are they risking entering an unknown market that has its own rules and regulations? The answer boils down to how much sellers are familiarized with Amazon’s European stores, the listing tools available in Europe, and the correct choice of products, just to mention a few.

If you want to use a single account to sell across all of Amazon’s six European stores- Amazon.de, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.fr, Amazon.it, Amazon.es, and Amazon.nl- and set up for success,  keep reading, this article is for you!

1. Understand the differences between selling in Europe and selling in the US

Even though Amazon has designed its marketplaces worldwide so that the process of selling is similar no matter the place sellers are offering their products, there are still processes that differ from marketplaces due to regulation, culture, and language.

These are the main things you should take into account when trying to expand to Europe:

-Taxes: If you will import and move goods between European countries, you will likely need to register for VAT - Value Added Tax and is a tax on consumer expenditure- the equivalent of US sales tax. In simple words, VAT is a tax  VAT-registered traders in the EU add to the price of the goods they sell and pass on to the national tax authorities when they file their tax returns.

The key factors that determine whether you need to register for VAT: 

-Your business location

-Your inventory location

-The level of your sales

-Fulfillment model

For more information, click on this link https://sell.amazon.com/global-selling/case-studies/eu-vat?ref_=sdus_gs_eu_vat_i

-Product compliance: Before listing your products, check if they’re appropriate for the country you’re trying to sell to and comply with the local regulations.

If you’re trying to sell in more than one EU country, visit the respective policy pages of each country, as they may differ and certain categories might require Amazon’s previous approval.

-Languages: Your product listings and product-related customer questions need to be translated into the marketplace’s local language mandatory. You can find an external translator in Amazon’s Solution Provider Network.

However, keep in mind that your product listing might already exist in the European marketplace. To find out if your listing is already being offered in Europe, use The Build International Listings tool (BIL). If your product listing already exists in a European marketplace, BIL will automatically synchronize that listing for you. Learn more in our multi-marketplace selling guide.

2. Choose What to Sell

The most logical thing to do would be to list your top-selling products but, as entering a European market means also entering a diverse culture and language, you should first perform detailed research on your potential customers. 

We advise you to start by segmenting your customers into groups based on the following traits:

-Demographic: By segmenting your audience on traits such as age, gender, education, occupation, religion, and income level, you will better understand their needs and their capability to purchase your product.

-Geographic: By segmenting potential customers based on their locations, dietary preferences, and type of settlement, you can know if your product is suitable for the people living in the country you are targeting., therefore avoiding inefficient spending.

-Behavioural: this type of segmentation helps you understand your potential customer’s  buying habits and patterns.

Also, besides performing research on your potential customers, you should spend time doing a competitor analysis to help you better understand customers. By identifying what the competition is doing well and those areas they’re not covering,  you can capitalize on new opportunities and ensure you have everything you need to survive a highly competitive industry.

You can also opt to use Amazon’s tool, The Global Expansion Opportunities, to find out which products you should offer in a European market. GEO reviews your products, estimates the potential demand over 12 months for different products across different stores and goes over your customer reviews and similar products to recommend which of them to sell in a different Amazon store.

3. Get Familiarized With Amazon’s Build International Listings Tool

With Amazon’s Build International Tool (BIL tool), you can automate the process of expanding your offers internationally without having to repeat the process of updating your listings each time you move to a new European marketplace, saving you considerable time. In other words, you just create one listing in your source store and it will automatically synchronize eligible listings in the marketplaces you want to expand. 

If you have an existing Amazon seller account in non-European stores, use BIL to synchronize your listings in European stores. However, keep in mind your product should already exist in your target marketplace to be able to use the tool. Otherwise, you will have to update the listings one by one.

Also, make sure you get a native speaker to read over the copy of your product listings, as sometimes, the tool can mistranslate the product listing, which might affect your sales and profits. 

Final Thoughts

Expanding to a European market is a big step for your business and is definitely worth the risk if you:

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• Know the rules and regulations
• You are certain that your product would be competitive enough to survive the fierce competition and matches the customer’s pain points
• You are familiarized with Amazon’s Build International Tool

If you are missing one of the items mentioned above, the risk would be too high for your business and failure is 100% possible. But don’t worry! If you haven’t noticed yet, selling on Amazon is hard. You should constantly find out how the algorithm works, stay up to date with its policies to avoid account suspension and familiarize yourself with all its tools to get the most out of the platform.

So, if you're not an experienced Amazon seller and still trying to keep up with Amazon's fast-paced environment, hiring an experienced team that has taken the challenge of entering a new marketplace is something you should highly consider.

Marknology has worked with more than 200 worldwide brands and helped hundreds of businesses from diverse categories sell in 11 different countries. If you would like to have an expert team by your side, click on the button “request a consultation” and we will contact you!

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