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MS Mode on international expansion tour

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MS Mode's store base includes 220 stores across Europe. Online, Roland Kahns Coolinvestments' womenswear brand operates seven country shops in the Benelux, France, Germany and Spain; an eighth is in the works for Austria. Twinkle spoke with e-commerce manager Jolanda Lamboo.

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]MS Mode has an international expansion strategy: experience shows that each country requires a different approach, Lamboo says. During the CrossBorder Event (Sept. 6), she explains that strategy in more detail. 'Each market has its own challenges. In Spain, for example, consumers are mainly inspired online; they then often still buy in stores. We also see that Instagram is very popular there, most followers are Spanish. Our customer group in Spain is somewhat younger and predominantly more fashionable than in other countries. We definitely need to take that into account in our online marketing strategy: who do we target and where are they?

The growth strategy has been developed step by step. 'Soon we will also offer an English-language dotcom site, but for the time being in European countries where we are not located and which carry the euro, so that we have to make as few financial adjustments as possible, such as the processing of certain taxes. We are starting very simply, and if that catches on well, we will then open a country webshop. In time, we hope to expand to non-euro countries.'

Store stock gives confidence

A cross-section of orders shows that most come from urban settings where MS Mode stores are located. 'Having a store gives a lot of confidence among consumers. That is why we offer, for example, a returns service in our stores in all countries, which is used quite heavily. In-store pick-up is available in Belgium and France and will soon be rolled out in the other countries. '

That leaves open a challenge for the regions where there are no stores. Lamboo: "In France we don't have stores everywhere, so we try to activate our substantial member base there through direct mailings, but also through marketing campaigns and e-mails. Because France is very large, we put a lot of effort into localization: we advertise much more around existing stores. In Germany we no longer have stores, so we encourage loyal members to visit our webshop.' To increase brand awareness abroad, MS Mode regularly capitalizes on the reach of local platforms. 'In France, for example, we do that through La Redoute, the 'French wehkamp'. In other countries, we are also looking at joining platforms.

Austria: reverse process

Setting up the women's fashion brand's newest country shop is proceeding differently from previous variants. We will start with an online shop ourselves and then connect with a platform to increase our brand awareness. This shop is relatively less work for us: we already have the language version and the currency. Then we only need to find a logistics partner, which we recently found. The moment we go live with the shop, the logistics structure has to be in place, as well as the online marketing and PR to generate traffic.

Crossing the border: two tips

Voor de e-tailer die graag op crossborder-toer zou gaan, heeft Lamboo een tweetal aanbevelingen. ‘Zorg dat je het hele proces vooraf doordenkt. Je bent er niet met een webshop alleen; je moet inventariseren wat er moet gebeuren met je financiële systeem, hoe je de geldstroom uit andere landen gaat verwerken. Dat geldt ook voor je achterliggende systemen. Bepaal of je gelijk in het begin zaken als KvK-registratie en belastingverwerking op touw zet, of dat je daarmee wacht totdat je een bepaald maximum bereikt hebt. Bestudeer daarnaast de kwestie ‘verzendkosten’. In Oostenrijk kunnen wij soortgelijke tarieven afspreken zoals die in Duitsland en Frankrijk, dat is voor ons te overzien. Zodra je echter gebruik gaat maken van local heroes, wat deel uitmaakt van onze strategie, wordt het lastiger, want je weet niet waar de orders vandaan zullen komen, wat er op je af gaat komen. Wanneer ik een dotcom-site open, wil ik één vervoerder hebben, die goede tarieven biedt voor verschillende landen, maar in het geval van landenwebshops ligt dat dus anders. Daarbij het dilemma: ga ik die verzendkosten doorbelasten aan de klant, of die zelf op me nemen en een aantrekkelijk verzendtarief bieden, of levering zelfs helemaal gratis maken? Verzendkosten vormen een barrière, zeker als je een nieuwe speler bent in de markt, daar moet je goed over nadenken.’[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1534145273863{padding-top: 10px !important;}”]Bron: Twinkle Magazine – MS Mode[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]