Following the trial of its Simply Be website in Germany,
multititle mailer N Brown Group is putting aside £1 million
for further international activity. And N Brown is not the only
direct seller to view international expansion as a potentially
lucrative opportunity. Otto Group, New Look, and Jaeger also
recently announced forays overseas.
Germany-based Otto, which in the UK operates Freemans, Grattan,
and Kaleidoscope, announced in April that it was taking Limango,
its German online shopping club, to Turkey. Otto had acquired
Limango, whose members receive discounts on childrenswear,
children’s furniture, toys, and accessories, in January. The
Turkish operation, however, will focus on fashion rather than
family. In a statement Otto said it chose Turkey for its
“rapidly expanding online market”. The fact that 57
percent of Turkish citizens are 15-34 years old and that the
country has high internet use also contributed to the decision to
launch there.
Fashion retailer New Look is starting its international efforts
with websites in France and Belgium. It has appointed
e-inbusiness, which designed its first transactional site in
December 2007, to carry out the project.
Continental Europe is also the destination for British fashion
brand Jaeger, which is taking its website to Austria, Belgium,
Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy,
Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden,
and Switzerland, as well as to Ireland. It is also targeting the
US. Orders will be shipped from Jaeger’s UK distribution centre
via DHL. Jaeger’s website has become the brand’s second largest
UK store, and 25 percent of its traffic comes from overseas.
Published: 1st June 2009
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