Established companies generally know how to proceed when launching a new product in their home market. They do market research, map out their target group well, define their needs, and make sure that the product offering matches what the target group is looking for. In short: they know who their customers and competitors are and make sure their pricing and offering fit the market.

However, those same companies often fail to properly replicate this approach when they enter new foreign markets. Almost daily, there are companies that simply offer their products on Amazon to international audiences, without a strong underlying strategy or clear, market-specific plan. Such an expansion almost always ends in disappointment, despite the fact that Amazon is an ideal platform for reaching international target groups via e-commerce.

The question is: how do you properly handle international expansion on Amazon?

Three best practices for successful international expansion via Amazon

Best practice 1: Treat international expansion as a new product launch

While it sounds logical, you cannot simply copy your product offering, pricing, and promotional content one-to-one to another country, even if it is a neighboring one. Some of the world’s biggest companies still go wrong with this. For example, the world’s largest manufacturer of children’s toys went completely wrong when they brought ‘typical American’ dolls’ houses, (which sold like hotcakes in the US), to Europe. European customers found the American-looking houses fake and unrelatable, and so did not buy them. 

Applying a ‘copy-paste’ strategy when you want to expand into another market is a persistent trap. Instead, treat your international expansion like an entirely new launch. Do market research again, for each individual market. Look at who your competitors are and what they do. Research how the product you want to offer is currently represented in the local market, and what keywords, product categories, and typical seasons go with it.

Would your target audience prefer different content? Different keywords or search terms? Different outfits and model representation? Any specific slogans, statements, or tone of voice? Are there local laws and regulations you need to take into account, or are there perhaps some seasonal and cultural nuances you might overlook? These are all questions that usually don’t come back until it’s too late, so ask them well in advance and include them in your strategy.

Best practice 2: Amazon’s game, Amazon’s rules

One of the reasons why Amazon is such a great platform for e-commerce businesses is that it offers low-threshold access to countless consumers worldwide. At the same time, getting in touch with Amazon as a seller is not always easy, especially if you are looking for more support than an AI chatbot. Often, the best way to deal with this is simply by familiarizing yourself with Amazon’s internal best practices – how should things ideally go, according to Amazon? What kind of content do they want you to use, and what rules do they expect you to follow? 

Amazon has numerous specific guidelines of its own, and it would be wise to get to know these and go from there.

For example, if you are going to sell food in the US market via Amazon, you will find – if you do proper research – that the product categories are interpreted very differently than in Europe or Asia. Food can very quickly fall into the ‘snack’ category in the US. As a result, the product category ‘snacks’ is not only huge, but this is also where the vast majority of Americans search.

Are you going to launch a healthy food product that is also tasty and sustainable? If so, you may not want to be immediately categorized as a ‘snack’. But it could well be worth testing if profiling yourself on Amazon as a snack rather than health food generates better results. In the latter case, you could quickly end up amongst the supplements and protein shakes, potentially missing your ideal target market. Don’t fight Amazon – work with it.

Best practice 3: Do it right the first time and avoid being shut down by Amazon

Apart from getting as many sales as possible, Amazon only has one priority: satisfied customers. If Amazon thinks that your presence on the platform is not contributing to that, your account may just be shut down.

How can this happen? There are plenty of possible reasons, including:

• You deliver later than advertised;
• Your products do not match the description;
• You receive a relatively high number of return requests or complaints about your products.

You can probably appease some dissatisfied customers yourself with a refund or a discount code. But things get trickier if Amazon decides they would rather lose you than lose them. A shutdown is easy enough for Amazon to implement, and once it happens it’s very difficult to get your account reopened.

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The key principle for Amazon success

When it comes to Amazon, the simple principle applies: whatever you do, do it right (“right” as defined by Amazon) the first time. 

Given the immense number of sellers and providers on the platform, Amazon is constantly rewarding sellers who understand and follow the rules, and penalizing those who don’t. 

The premise is simple. If you understand your audience and satisfy them through Amazon, it’s a win-win-win: for Amazon, for you, and for your customers.

This article was originally published in Dutch on Emerce (Read here).

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