Molton Brown sets out international expansion plans London-based beauty brand Molton Brown has announced plans to expand into new international markets. Molton Brown, a £70 million business whose products are already available in 80 countries through 60 stores, at department stores, hotels, through airline partners, airports, and spas, is looking to expand its eCommerce capabilities.
Molton Brown currently operates two websites that serve US and UK customers, but eCommerce sales only account for 8.4 per cent of the company’s total sales. To boost its online turnover, Molton Brown plans to extend its eCommerce reach to other European countries, as well as to Japan and Australia, and grow the figure to 10 per cent next year and to 15 per cent of sales by 2015.
“After our home market in the UK, the USA remains the market with the greatest hope for expansion and growth,” says Molton Brown’s group marketing director Amy Nelson-Bennett. Molton Brown’s Stateside eCommerce activity is “rapidly growing”, she says, adding that the company is keen to build on its presence in the market.
Looking beyond the US, Molton Brown is targeting Australia as a market that will benefit from increased eCommerce focus, “like the US, it is a very large geographic region that we would not look to cover through conventional stores,” explains Nelson-Bennett. “The Australian site will allow us to provide convenience to consumers across the country but in particular reach Australians living outside of the urban areas.”
To support its expansion, the retailer is building its new website on the ATG Commerce platform with the aim of increasing online sales and creating a single view of the customer across all channels, as well as giving customers a more personalised shopping experience.
Work on the new site began in February, and Nelson-Bennett says all is on track for launch in the UK and USA by autumn. Rollout to Europe, Australia, and Japan will begin in 2011.
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