8 min.
April 12, 2023
The way to the world is through Google and Amazon
Text:
Rasmus P. V. Jacobsen
Photo:
Nicolaj Ditlev
Amazon accounts for 30% of Germany's digital revenue. Many Germans are "Amazon Prime" members with free shipping and fast delivery. Many also have Amazon as their homepage in their browser.
Amazon is a giant that Australian Bodycare CEO Jan Kruse Hansen and the rest of the team are deeply committed to.
Australian Bodycare has become an online export success via Amazon - with several of their skincare products in the top 10 most popular items.
In 2016, Jan Kruse Hansen had spent over a year ensuring that Australian Bodycare, which he and some investors had bought the year before, had a solid and unique product program. But the online presence was virtually non-existent.
However, they had found that many consumers used Google when searching for information about skin conditions - and if you were present in Google's search results, you were closer to the consumer and thus a potential sale.
They implemented a help universe based on skin problems on their website - some 200 articles later they were ready to relaunch in Denmark.
- We ranked quickly on the most relevant searches in Google - and fortunately, that traffic also converted into sales," says Jan Kruse Hansen.
- We also worked with retargeting ads. Those who had visited our website without making a purchase were greeted with product ads for their particular skin problem.
DID YOU KNOW:
- GTIN stands for Global Trade Item Number and is the series of numbers you find at the foot of a barcode on an item.
- Amazon, Google Shopping and Pricerunner require GTINs on all products.
- GTINs ensure that online marketplaces and customers can find the product they are looking for. Google the number range from a barcode - and you'll find exactly that model.
- Amazon has 18.5 orders per second and over nine million sellers worldwide.
- In 2021, Amazon took up 41% of the e-commerce market for physical products in the US. In Germany, it's 34%.
- The Confederation of Danish Industry states that the day Amazon sees the light of day in Denmark, it will be with texts and services in English from their German marketplace.
Scalable setup
After great success in Denmark, Australian Bodycare began focusing on exports in 2019.
They had a feeling that the tactics from the Danish market were scalable. After all, they were dealing with the same skin problems across borders and searching for information was the same way - via Google.
The approach was simple: translate content and run the same digital strategy.
- From 2017 to 2021, we grew overall by over 50 percent per year, and this was largely due to our digital strategy and approach to the markets, says Jan Kruse Hansen.
After great success in Denmark, Australian Bodycare began focusing on exports in 2019.
They had a feeling that the tactics from the Danish market were scalable. After all, they were dealing with the same skin problems across borders and searching for information was the same way - via Google.
The approach was simple: translate content and run the same digital strategy.
- From 2017 to 2021, we grew overall by over 50 percent per year, and this was largely due to our digital strategy and approach to the markets, says Jan Kruse Hansen.
Success on Amazon
At the same time, they tried to get through to a couple of German retail chains, but without success.
- We walked around the German market a bit. We knew we were good at digital marketing and search engine optimization, so suddenly it wasn't that far to Amazon, which was - and still is - huge in Germany," says Jan Kruse Hansen.
They decided to learn 'Amazonian' and relatively quickly got a number of products in the top 10. And they attracted the same retail chains that had previously ignored them.
- Rossmann, which has 2,300 stores in Germany alone, called us and said they were interested in talking to us. We jumped in the car and drove to Germany, and six months later our products were on their shelves.
Not resting on your laurels
Then Australian Bodycare entered the Netherlands, Belgium and Austria. In the Benelux, where Amazon is a relatively new player, they started up on Bol.com, which is the big online shopping platform there.
Lots of articles are still being written and optimized on existing content based on how each piece of content performs.
- Today, competition has increased significantly, so it's clearly to our advantage that we started thinking about online marketing and positioning relatively early on.
