Think Your E-Commerce Brand Is Ready for Global Expansion? Read This First! See What’s Stopping Customers From Buying—& Fix It Fast!
Blue Triangle
Only Blue Triangle will quantify revenue-robbing website friction so you can prioritize solutions for the greatest ROI.
In this issue of FRICTIONLESS:
Launching an e-commerce brand in a new market? Here are 4 tips to succeed.
By: Chuck Moxley
?Launching e-commerce for a legacy brand is never easy.
But starting from scratch in a new market with no historical data? Now that's a challenge!
In the latest episode of The Frictionless Experience , Nora Arzoumanian, MBA gave us her playbook on how to do it.?
Here are 4 strategies Nora, former E-commerce and Digital Marketing Director at Specialized Bicycle Components in Canada, used to overcome these hurdles.
1. Use proxy data. When historical data is unavailable, look at similar markets to set benchmarks.
?When Nora joined Specialized in August 2022, the Canadian e-commerce site had just launched with no historical data. Without past sales figures, setting revenue goals or planning marketing strategies was difficult.
She recalled:
To overcome this, Nora used data from Specialized's U.S. and European markets, analyzing performance metrics and leveraging Google tools to set baseline revenue goals and marketing strategies.
?This flexible approach allowed her team to adjust expectations as more data from the Canadian site became available.
2. Build brand awareness for e-commerce.?A strong digital presence is essential, even for well-known brands.
Despite Specialized's 40-year presence in Canada, the brand's e-commerce awareness was minimal.
?To address this, Nora's team worked on building a digital presence through targeted marketing, social media, and paid campaigns. This helped introduce the idea of shopping for bikes and accessories online to Canadian consumers.
3. Adapt to local seasonality.?Tailor marketing and sales strategies to align with seasonal shifts in demand.
Unlike the U.S., where holiday shopping drives peak sales, winter in Canada creates a unique challenge.
As Nora put it, "Everything is literally frozen, and no one's going to ride a bike. So no one's going to buy a bike."
Bikes are high-investment, seasonal products, not typically bought as holiday gifts.
With sales slow in January and February, Nora's team focused on promoting biking accessories, indoor gear, and maintenance products that could be used year-round.
This strategy helped maintain sales momentum despite the harsh winter months.
4. Plan inventory wisely.?Adjust inventory management for seasonal demand fluctuations.
?Canada's seasonality also meant fluctuating demand for bikes.
Specialized refined its inventory strategy to ensure bikes were available when consumers were ready to buy, while avoiding overstocking during the off-season.
Nora's experience offers valuable lessons for digital product leaders looking to launch in new markets.
Want to hear the entire conversation? Listen here and read my full blog post for more practical advice.?
Think globally, act locally: why friction is in the eye of the beholder ??
By: Dominick Costa
The saying "Think globally, act locally'" in e-commerce has never been more fitting.
For companies looking to grow their brand and bottom line, creating frictionless experiences for a diverse international audience is crucial.
But, it can be a challenging and friction-filled undertaking.?
Nora Arzoumanian's learnings from launching Specialized's e-commerce site in the story above reminded me of a classic episode of The Frictionless Experience with Naveen Gunti from American Eagle Outfitters Inc. , a brand that excels in tailoring experiences to international markets.
One of Naveen's key, myth-busting insights was "international is not one country."?
So, understanding and respecting the unique cultures, languages, and expectations of consumers across the globe is crucial when expanding your brand.
Here are 8 factors to consider when expanding your brand internationally:
1. Don't let your brand's strength turn into a weakness.
When entering new markets, redefine and reposition your brand according to local demographics and strengths. Misconceptions can cause friction and turn potential customers away.
2. Instead of driving more traffic, focus on converting more traffic.
Attracting an audience and driving traffic to your site can be expensive. But a lot of that traffic often leaves because of the experience that the customer has once they get there.
Removing friction can increase conversion rates from the traffic already on your site. And over time, we at Blue Triangle have seen this cycle of identifying and resolving friction recapture literally tens of millions of dollars for a typical large eCommerce brand.
3. Localization is key.
Product names and translations should reflect local terminology and nuances to avoid confusion and meet customer expectations. For example, consumers in the UK are searching for "trousers", not "pants".
So if you haven't addressed that for a UK audience, it can cause friction. "They might not even see the product, or we might end up showing the wrong product, which is even worse," says Naveen.
4. Friction is not one-size-fits-all.?
For some consumers, the "guest checkout" experience when completing a purchase is their ideal scenario because, for them, it provides a better experience than logging into an account that has poor UI/UX.
But for others, checking out as a guest is riddled with friction, and logging into an account with saved payment methods is preferred. Plus, maybe they get loyalty points by doing so.
To help with the subjectivity of friction, Naveen advises putting the word "user" back in "user experience". And instead of making assumptions about what is (and what's not) friction, you must test and learn to continually improve the user experience.
For the 4 remaining tips to expand your brand internationally, read my full article and listen to Naveen's episode of The Frictionless Experience.
Supercharge your digital experience analytics with session replay integration.
By: Chuck Moxley
Ever wished you could instantly see exactly what your users experienced during a friction-filled session?
Now you can.
Blue Triangle 's integration with leading session replay tools lets you bridge the gap between performance metrics and real user behavior—with just one click.
Why This Integration Matters
For high-traffic sites where every second counts, understanding the relationship between performance and user behavior is crucial.
By connecting your session replay tool with Blue Triangle, you can:
This powerful combination gives you both the "what" and the "why" of user experience issues, helping you prioritize fixes that matter most to your bottom line.
Ready to Get Started?
Integration is straightforward with most popular session replay partners, including Microsoft Clarity, Glassbox, FullStory, Quantum Metric, and ContentSquare.
For step-by-step integration guides for each platform, visit this blog post.
New to Session Replay?
If you're just getting started with session replay, we recommend Microsoft Clarity.
It's free to use and features deep integration capabilities with Blue Triangle, making it an excellent entry point for any organization looking to enhance their digital experience analytics.
Ready to unlock deeper insights into your user experience? Contact our team today to learn more about setting up session replay integration with Blue Triangle.
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