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~ Velasca~

be reserved for the Italian market, while the other 50% will be in new markets. That influences the way we communicate. For
used to boost sales across border. Six months ago, we started to example, we are testing the French market. We try to be very
set up shop in the United States. Here, we will keep focusing on informal but learned that this might not suit French prefer-
a digital marketing solution too. Our goal is to target our audi- ences. Another challenge is based on the size of our company.
ence to bring them to our website, social pages and/or get them We are still a start-up and have limited resources. We need
to subscribe to our newsletter. That way, we can retarget them to be very keen on how we invest our money. That is reflected
through automation flows.” in our product portfolio. We know our products work in the
United Kingdom, and our main product, the formal ‘Oxford’,
Who fits your target group? originates from the UK. Again, French consumers might have
“Velasca sells shoes for men. Our target audience is males different tastes. We invest in marketing to see how our prod-
in their forties. They are mostly well-educated, know how to ucts are perceived. It is about testing, testing and more testing.”
dress and like to wear nice clothes. It is important that they
are willing to try new brands, and not only rely on estab- You mentioned logistics earlier…
lished, ‘big’ brands. We have a lot of customers that previously “Yes, another part is related to logistic and shipping costs. We
only purchased from big brands, then found Velasca due to currently have a warehouse and logistics partner close to Milan.
its price point, and now have changed their view completely. From there, we ship worldwide. However, shipping costs
Some even let us know that they stopped purchasing from increase when you sell cross-border, and you want to provide
established brands altogether.” excellent service. Our goal is to deliver to the end-consumer
within two days, no matter where they are located. Otherwise,
Does brand loyalty still exist today? you do not have a competitive business model in a market.
“We are in an era of storytelling and content. Consumers want We take import duties and other local taxes into account as
to be fascinated by a brand and brands need to make people well. A final challenge is the returning of products. Our most
feel that they can be anything they want, fitting their niche. common return reason is ‘incorrect size’, in which case the
Patagonia is a brand that does this very well, creating a com- customer often wants to exchange their purchase. This is good
munity that makes you feel you can be a mountaineer, even if feedback to us, as it does not mean people dislike our products.
you are not. I believe storytelling is key, while it is just as im- Despite that, it still is a costly procedure to get a return back
portant to diversify the portfolio of products. This increases the to our warehouse. We provide free shipping and return in our
lifetime value of a customer. If a customer purchases a regular core markets. That means it is up to us to take care of all costs.
formal shoe, he might also like to buy some summer shoes or Shipping and returning from the United States, for example, is
writer-shoes for the weekends. Without storytelling, you can- very costly, especially if you need to pay customs duties for re-
not convince a customer why they might want that. They need turns. We are thinking about opening a local logistic warehouse
to be convinced of the quality. We paid a lot of attention to this in the US, as it is becoming a very important market.”
respect, both online and offline. The tone of voice and perso-
nas we created need to provide a consumer with a consistent How do you maintain the customer experience when
experience, making him feel he is part of the community. It is selling cross-border?
not just about the product, but also about who is enjoying the “When targeting the entire world, without a specific focus on
product these days. People are eager to learn about our stories, one country, you might forget about this. Your customer care is
so we keep on improving them.” English, and that is it. If a country becomes more important, you
have to look for a solution to this potential obstacle. Currently, we
What is the main challenge when starting to sell have a French-speaking customer service agent to take care of our
internationally? French customers’ requests. We are working with a customer care
“There are several challenges. On the marketing and communi- partner too, which covers our service department 24/7 for us. It is
cation side, it is figuring out if the target audience is the same a necessity when selling in different time zones.”••

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