The rules of international business have changed. The internet has removed boundaries, changing markets forever. See how you can take advantage of online tools and digital marketing to easily target new territories and engage with new customers.

1. Connecting with the new
global consumer
Matt Brocklehurst, 2014

2. We are living in the age of ‘always on’
Online shopping continues to grow in the UK each year.
Today, consumers across the globe are connected whenever and
wherever they go. This poses a huge opportunity for businesses who
embrace online.
But it’s not just in the UK where businesses can prosper; a grasp of digital
can put you ahead of the competition in overseas markets.
Percentage of people
who buy online1:
1 Connected Consumer Study, 2014

3. The time is now
A number of markets are prime for businesses to grasp
the export opportunity through digital engagement.
Market readiness framework2
2 Euromonitor, Forrester, Mintel, World Bank, WTO, Crystal 2003, OC&C analysis OC&C analysis

4. The global opportunity online is growing
While there are 2.8 billion people
online today, that’s still only 39% of
the global population3
3 eMarketer, November 2013
4 Eric Schmidt estimate
Looking forward to 2020 it is predicted that
there will be 8 billion people online –
many connecting via smartphones4
So now is the time to embrace the global online opportunity.

5. The “Made in Britain” business
These businesses know that their country of origin can help drive sales – leading to a new
generation of brands. These brands have successfully used the internet to help globalise and
gain international fame.
Top international brands5
5 Global Retail e-mpre, OC&C, 2014
100
98
95
93
91
94
95
95
93
95
99
100
93
90
87
100
92
87
86
81

6. The “Global Pure Play” business
These business succeed across markets. Consumers often don’t care or know where a business
is based if the product and service is good, andthe local web experience right.
6 Global Retail e-mpre, OC&C, 2014
100
97
87
90
76
79
67
71
63
100
100
96
79
77
59
93
100
88
79
53
Pure Play top 5 international e-
Retailers6

7. The “Borderless Consumer”
When shopping online, consumer purchasing decisions are often not affected by the origin of the
business offering the product or service.
While this could pose a threat to business through increased competition from overseas, it also
brings huge opportunity – opening doors for expansion into new markets with new customers.
Where do you think ASOS is from?7 Where do you think Booking.com is from?8
74% of people in the US didn’t know
that ASOS are from the UK.
When told over 80% said that would not affect the
likelihood of buying from them again.
96% of people in the UK didn’t know that
Booking.com are from the Netherlands.
When told nearly 90% said that would not affect
the likelihood of buying from them again.
7 & 8 Google Consumer Survey of US and UK 2014

8. New businesses have global expansion in their DNA
Increasingly, new online businesses are grasping the opportunity
of digital - disrupting existing businesses at home and quickly expanding internationally.
It no longer takes decades for businesses to go global, it takes years.
Years to expand out of domestic market9
9 Press Search, Company Websites, OC&C analysis

9. All businesses can take advantage
of the global marketplace
All businesses – whether big or small, old or new – have a
huge audience at their fingertips and can use the internet
to:
Identify the best markets to enter.
Develop their marketing to
effectively engage with
local customers.
Reduce the time, cost, logistics
and need for a physical
presence to try new markets.

10. But businesses must adapt to different
local characteristics
To understand the complexities of the different markets businesses have a number of resources at
hand.
Including Google Business Map – giving country specific details all in one place.
For example, in the Netherlands...
No. 8 for export in
the world, with $577
billion exported10
10 The CIA World Factbook, 2012
11 Connected Consumer Study, 2014
12 European Commission, 2006
13 Our Mobile Planet, 2013
65% buy things online11
87% of Dutch people
speak English12
67% of people
don’t leave the
house without their
smartphone13

11. Who knew?
Tools and research on the internet allow businesses to explore new markets
and find interesting opportunities to adapt their marketing and business needs.
Mobile penetration in
the USA is 111.9%14
14 eMarketer, August, 2013
15 eMarketer, February, 2012
16 Customer Journey to Online Purchase, 2013
Use of social networks grew by
20% in China in 201315
In France display ads are
the best medium to raise
awareness vs. email in
Germany and Social in UK16

12. These opportunities aren’t restricted by industry
Global digital expansion is relevant across virtually all sectors including:
UK ecommerce Exports £bn Estimates17
17 Market Reports by Vertical, OC&C analysis

13. Case study: World First
As the leading foreign exchange company in the UK,
World First needed to develop their marketing strategy to
grow globally.
Search played a central part in the strategy and Google
tools, enabled World First to see what was working most
effectively and to refine the campaign along the way to
drive traffic to their site.
The insight was that more people were using mobile. So,
World First developed a new mobile site which enabled
them to grasp opportunities brought to them by new
behaviours and to reach people who want to transact with
World First in any way that they want.
Ultimately, they increased monthly conversions to over
200% and reduced cost per conversion by 40%.
World First used country-specific insights to design their
search engine marketing campaigns on Adwords.

14. Interview: Ralph Lauren
Serge Acker, SVP, Digital Marketing & eCommerce, Ralph Lauren on:
Data informing localisation
Technology allows us to be very specific, very locally driven… it
goes back to that idea of data...how a British person is going to
shop, how a French person is going to shop may be different,
yesterday these were assumptions. Today they can be a fact
just by going through our data.
Build a global framework, but stay local
The international success of an organisation such as ours is
predicated upon the ability to build a global framework that is
able to then serve local needs. So that means a global shared
services team that is able to build for scale and local teams that
are able to understand the local specificities... so, stay local.
See full interview

15. Interview: MATCHESFASHION.COM
Ulric Jerome, Partner & COO, MATCHESFASHION.COM on:
Rebranding from Matches to MATCHESFASHION.COM:
We are a technology company now who happens to sell
high-end fashion products.
Transitioning from a store-based business to a global player
The selection of the products on the website first started
to create the buzz...after that it is all about execution. How
do you make sure the world has all the visibility on the
MATCHESFASHION.COM website?
Two years ago less than 50% of our sales were online...
today it’s 70% and the next two years it will be 90%… and
70% of our online sales are now from outside the UK.
See full interview

16. The time to expand is now
Your customers are always on, whenever and wherever they are and
wherever they go
Online has broken down international trading barriers
Now is the time to expand your business
and reach new markets
Where is your next opportunity?
Use Google tools here