While Amazon has expanded steadily into Europe over the past decade, that expansion has accelerated in recent years and shows no signs of slowing down.
Along with its e-commerce sites, in the last 10+ years Amazon has launched services such as Prime, Amazon Fresh, and more in Europe, and built a continental logistics operation network comprised of fulfillment centers and warehouses.
Recent expansions for Amazon in Europe include last year’s launches in the Netherlands and Sweden. In late January of this year, Amazon announced plans to launch Amazon.pl in Poland on March 2.
Why Amazon Europe?
Europe’s online shopping audience second only to China in terms of size. With the COVID-19 pandemic pushing an increasing number of European shoppers online, now is a great time for North American and European brands to form a strategy for growing with Amazon in the European market.
What does this accelerating expansion mean for brands looking to conquer the European market? Having long been at the ground floor of Amazon content and advertising, we have advice for brands looking to capitalize on Amazon’s European growth.
Amazon Europe Brand Advice and Best Practices for Amazon Advertising
Amazon Advertising is a self-service, pay-per-click (PPC) advertising solution for keyword-targeted ad campaigns. Below are some Amazon Europe brand advice and best practices for companies interested in expanding Amazon Advertising campaigns into Europe.
- Choose Assortment Wisely: Start with your best-known products in each European marketplace that already have strong existing content on the product pages to which your ads will be directing customers. Amazon Advertising campaigns work best when they are paired with optimized product page content.
- Set a Budget: Amazon Europe budgets for Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, and Sponsored Display ads are where US budgets were several years ago. This means brands can get more for their advertising campaigns in Europe than they can in the United States.
- Create Amazon-Specific Keywords: Optimizing keywords for Amazon differs from search engines, as customers are already at the point of sale—think products over information. Research and evaluate current product-specific keyword lists and choose ones most relevant to Amazon. For more information on how negative keywords are used in Amazon Advertising, check out our post here.
Adidas: Assessment of a Pan-European Brand on Amazon
We recently spent time evaluating a number of pan-European brands that are selling across various Amazon Europe sites. We chose to highlight Adidas because the company claimed early in 2020 that it would “double down” on e-commerce in light of the changes in shopping patterns caused by COVID-19.
Adidas grappled for years with how to approach Amazon in the United States. And while the German company has invested in Amazon with brand stores and enhanced content, the company continues to share listings with 3rd party sellers and does not appear to be using Amazon Advertising strategically. Here is our assessment:
- Assortment
Adidas sells clothing, footwear, and gear aimed at a wide variety of sports and activities. When it comes to essential content (above-the-fold titles, images, and bullets) the brand maintains a consistent look and feel across products and countries and has the basics covered. - Brand Stores
Adidas has a consistent look and feel to its brand stores and has opted for shoppable designs. It takes more clicks than would be ideal to reach product pages from the brand stores, but the pages are well-organized and showcase the full product range. The Amazon US brand store takes a different approach from its European counterparts, highlighting the company’s Ultra Boost line with vibrant imagery and video content. - Enhanced Content
Adidas is inconsistent with its enhanced content, creating A+ pages for products in some countries, but not others. This could stem from different priorities in different markets, or could point to a lack of internal resources or agency support for pan-European content localization. While adequate, the A+ content we found was standard and generic. Adidas does not seem to have opted for Premium A+ content, which could be a good way for Adidas to differentiate its brand from competitors. - Ad Campaigns
We searched several dozen branded and generic keyword terms pertinent to the brand, and Adidas did not seem to be competing consistently on any of the search terms. Additionally, we were unable to find any pan-European ad campaigns that would allow us to analyze the company’s strategy.
Getting A+ Content onto Amazon Europe
How should a brand start with content on Amazon Europe? The answer will depend on budget and strategy. If you feel confident that you are ready to launch A+ Content onto Amazon Europe, our advice is to talk with your internal team or agency about your next course of action.
Here are a few things to think about as you are working towards a strategy for Amazon Europe:
- Evaluate your existing European content: Prioritize and create enhanced content for your bestselling products first. This will also help you figure out your costs. Content26 can advise on this.
- Plan for translation: Properly translated and localized content ensures consistent branding. Whether you decide to find your own translation agency or have content26 translate your content, accurate translation is an important priority.
- Outsource the content creation: If you plan to create A+ content for 10 or more products in multiple European countries, the work can add up fast. We’ve had many clients who became overwhelmed when they attempted all of the content creation independently.
