Despite the fact that Amazon is already present in several European markets, few Danish companies have realised the opportunities it brings. “Denmark is full of small and medium-sized companies producing great products, but the economics of setting up abroad are becoming prohibitive – but not with Amazon,” says Jeppe Hamming, partner at Nørgaard Mikkelsen, which helps Danish companies sell through the global marketplace.
The article was written in collaboration with Nørgaard Mikkelsen and is part of the magazine ‘Tech & Retail’, which we have published with the Confederation of Danish Enterprise. Read it in full here.
For many Danish companies, the key to the European market – and eventually the global market – could be Amazon. But the American trading platform is not just a sales channel. With Amazon, small and medium-sized businesses no longer have to build a website in a new language, acquire new customers and keep track of logistics and customer service. Amazon is an all-in-one solution for companies with great products that want to explore new markets.
“Amazon is a gamechanger in lowering barriers to exporting. Denmark is full of small and medium-sized companies producing great products, but the economics of setting up abroad are becoming prohibitive – but not with Amazon,” says Jeppe Hamming, Head of Marketplaces and Partner at Nørgaard Mikkelsen.
Nørgaard Mikkelsen is a full-service advertising agency focused on creating impact for clients, which is why the agency has been helping Danish companies achieve commercial success on Amazon for several years.
“One of the big benefits is that your organisation gets experience with Amazon, which is the absolute frontrunner in digital sales. This is experience that companies can use on all the other channels and not least when Amazon opens in Denmark at some point,” says Jeppe Hamming.
He therefore points to three points that a Danish company should bear in mind when it starts selling through Amazon.
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- Strengthen the customer experience: On Amazon, good reviews mean everything! That’s why it’s crucial that you as a company get a good start on your export adventure by securing good reviews from your first customers. The product must meet the customer’s expectations and the service must be top-notch.
- Stand out: Carefully consider which products you will initially put on sale. If there are already hundreds of products in a particular category with good reviews, that may not be the place to start. At the same time, it is important to have good pictures and a detailed description of the product, as the export market may not know your product beforehand and therefore needs to be convinced through your texts and pictures that you are the right choice.
- Exploit your brand: If you have registered your brand, you can use it to create much stronger content, videos, brand shop and advertising. You can use this to tell the story of the value it brings to customers. If you haven’t registered your brand, then you’d better get started.
- Take advantage of advertising: Getting found in Amazon’s great search engine requires combining advertising strategy and launch. It’s usually not enough to just put products on sale. And even if you’re not selling on Amazon today, you can actually advertise on Amazon now and leverage the data they have on customers.
Advertising in particular is an important point for Jeppe Hamming.
“There is no doubt that Amazon has not only transformed online commerce, but is also going to transform advertising online. They are now the third largest marketing platform in the world after Facebook and Google, which is why Danish companies need to gain experience with the possibilities they offer as soon as possible,” says Jeppe Hamming.
Art industry succeeds on Amazon
One of the companies that Nørgaard Mikkelsen has helped to export via Amazon is Kunstindustrien, which mainly sells candles and candle holders.
Thanks to increasing exports, the Art Industry has grown strongly in recent years. That’s why Steen Frost, owner of the company, was keen to try out Amazon as a sales channel.
“We worked with Nørgaard Mikkelsen to analyse which market we should go after first: the UK or Germany? We ended up going into the UK because there was a gap in the market for us there,” says Steen Frost.
After a process lasting several months, during which the Art Industry worked with Nørgaard Mikkelsen to sort out VAT numbers and trademark protection, among other things, the Art Industry’s Amazon shop went live in November last year.
“It has been such a success for us that we are now also starting up on Amazon in Germany,” Steen Frost says and adds:
“Nørgaard Mikkelsen knows Amazon inside out and has been a great help when it comes to marketing, product descriptions and any challenges we have run into.”
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