Perhaps it’s our US roots, but international expansion has been a recurring theme since eTail’s inception in London. This year we take a roundtable and workshop approach for you to take a closer look in an interactive environment. Sessions are open to retailer executives only to create an open environment for idea and insight exchange.
9:00 am Introduction & Business Card Swap
9:30 am Roundtable 1
10:15 am Roundtable 2
11:00 am Payments Workshop, part I
12:00pm Lunch
1:00pm Payments Workshop, part II
2:00pm Roundtable 3
2:45pm Roundtable 4
3:30pm Take Away Assessment
4:00pm Close
ROUNDTABLE OUTLINES:
A.
Entry Strategy
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Boots.com, Alliance Boots – Russell Harte, Head of Business Development
- What is your entry strategy?
- Tools that help you ‘scout’ a new market effectively
- Are you outsourcing a number of functions?
- Are you operating from local hubs or a central one?
- What is scalable and cost effective?F
B.
Fulfillment, Traffic Control & Service Delivery
•
Aldo Group – Eric Wagstaff, Director of Store Operations
- How are you managing logistics and shipping in consideration of the large expense to your business?
- How are you managing a local supplier network, as this may be country and culturally specific?
- How are you managing the international delivery information, charges and timescales?
- How do you manage overseas traffic control and service delivery effectively?
- What issues are you likely to come across?
C.
Marketing, Site Translation & Architecture
•
Zazzle – Michael Karns, Director of International
- How are you expanding your marketing footprint in other countries?
- What should you consider in delivering continuity & consistency across markets (e.g. reward card schemes, gift vouchers, on-site, mobile and in-store)?
- In terms of site architecture, how much do you localise for regional relevance versus share across countries for international consistency?
- What technology are you using to translate your website?
- Which languages are you translating to, and what is your strategy around the overall site translation?
- Which areas of your site? Are you translating page by page, only terms and conditions, checkout and homepage?
D.
USA- How to market and drive sales in the US?
- Start thinking about using tools like facebook to get a foothold in the market
- What barriers to be conscientious of such as risks and legalities?
E.
Asia
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Vonage – Vincent Potier, MD, UK & Canada
Getting a foothold and selling into Asia is key for retailers seeking substantial growth within the next few years. The powerful rise in Internet and mobile penetration as well as consumerism and wealth makes Asian markets a save bet in theory. In practice, who of you has any idea about the intricacies of Asian markets? If adjusting your back and front office operations were challenging to serve, say, the German market; how will you tackle Vietnam? Thankfully, Vincent Potier has lived and worked throughout East Asia for 7 years. He’ll be hosting your discussion today.
F.
International Payments
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ChatandVision (Skype) - Alan Lim, MD
- Ways to overcome customer fears of overseas payments
- Challenges in managing a multitude of currencies and payment options
- What merchant service and maintenance fees for foreign currency to take into account
- How to overcome overseas banks flagging your transactions as fraudulent – making for a horrible customer experience and potentially lost sale
Payments Workshop
Payment Landscape Developments: Unraveling The Complexities
Objective: What you need to know to walk the tight rope in managing the complexities of international card scheme charging methods effectively
The biggest change in the payment landscape over the last year has been the increasing awareness of retailers as to the true total value costs of international payments. Payment structures are a major piece of the puzzle in branching out internationally. Each country has its own payment instruments, regulations, clearing systems and legislation. For retailers to maximize their sales worldwide, it is necessary to accept the most popular local payment method in each country.
International and local credit and debit cards, gift cards, direct debits, real-time bank transfers, bank transfers, cash and bill payments, cash on delivery, eWallets, prepaid methods, cheques…
- How many of these are you offering to cater to your growing number of your international customers?
- How are you keeping track of all the legal and business implications?
- What innovations are around the corner you need to be aware of now?
Take Away Assessment
All participants are invited to digitally communicate their key findings and take away points throughout the day. During this group assessment, we put these findings on the projector screen for a closing debate and summary. Results will be shared through the eTail download centre post event.