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~ Ranpak ~

the brand in combination with our target demographic: country is lean on already well-established and recognised
Dog-cat owners are often women between 25-65 years premium brands that are selling well in that particular
old, who want to get the product delivered directly to their market. For example, Royal Canin is a brand that is well
door.” known, and we offer that kind of product first in a new
market. After that phase, we begin to fine-tune our product
Currently, all your cross-bordering is done inside the offer to the specific needs or opportunities of that market.”
EU, right?
Mathieu: “Yes indeed. We are selling exclusively to countries What would you say is the key thing needed to sell
inside the EU at this time: the Netherlands, Germany, effectively across the EU?
Austria, Belgium, France, and the UK. The UK is, well, Mathieu: “First, we do not open markets just for the sake of
not part of the EU, but so far, we still sell there, and we opening them. We want to do what’s right. So we don’t open
will continue to do so, if possible. Most of our orders go to a new market until we are prepared. And by being prepared,
the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, France, and the UK. I mean, for example, localisation. I think that is a key factor
And we believe in doing everything ourselves; we do all the behind any possible successful cross-border operation.”
picking and packaging and delivery. We haven’t outsourced
any fulfilment service. And keep in mind that some of these “When we open our online store in France, and you are in
countries are really large markets. For example, in Germany, France, and you visit our e-commerce store, we want you to
we have to send three trucks into Germany every day.” think that it is French e-commerce. When you call us, we
“The only thing we do not have in-house is the logistic part want you to speak to a person that is French. And we have
from our warehouse to your own door. But we also have a done all that for each country: we have our customer service
development department. And I know this is something that with natives from those countries. Because it’s important
the customer might not notice at first glance, but it creates that you have someone that really understands you. And
a seamless customer journey, and that’s precisely what we keep in mind that localisation is not equal to translation. It
want.” is that, of course, but it is a lot more also. The localisation is
to keep the customer journey experience in each culture, to
Localisation, localisation, localisation! The key to success translate that customer journey to each culture. You can’t use
Google Translate in your e-commerce and then think, “oh, it
For Medpets, the journey into cross-bordering inside the is localised, as that’s not true.”
EU has been a journey of discovery and self-discovery: on
one side, to be able to identify their in-house strengths, What do you think is the reason behind Medpet’s
and on the other, to understand the unique characteristics constant growth?
of each market. The European Union might be a nice Mathieu: “I think we owe our success to the fact that we
economic and fiscal dream of unity, but it is, in reality, a believe in doing all things in-house, from marketing and
continent of multiple nations, peoples, and cultures. To digital to logistics and customer service. All departments
sell effectively in Berlin requires an understanding of what work well together and switch quickly with each other for
makes the German buyer tick, and to achieve the same thing support.”
in Paris will require the same degree of comprehension of
the French buyer persona. This is, by no means, an easy “With all expertise under one roof, we ensure that no
feat. And to achieve it, Mathieu explains how Medpets has department is left behind in terms of capacity and that
based its strategy on localising its stores for each culture and cooperation is optimal. In this way, we are ahead of the
nationality. game, and everything remains controllable. With a fantastic
team of colleagues, Medpets has grown over the years
How do you choose which markets you will expand into a wonderful professional and progressive e-commerce
to? company that is ready for the future.”
Paul: “We investigate each new possible country using a
template we have created to assess the e-commerce climate, And do you do all your warehouse logistics in-house
possible competition, how many pet animals there are, the also?
purchasing power of an average household, and many other Mathieu: “We have our own warehouse, and we just opened
things. But we take our time to expand. We have always a new one this year, and it’s about eleven thousand square
chosen a natural growth rate, a healthy financial growth meters at the moment. Everything is done in-house with
rate. We do not want to expand aggressively by incurring the two Ranpak machines. A lot of automation goes into
extreme debt.” the process here, and that has allowed us to stock thirty-six
hundred pallet places in the new warehouse, in comparison
What is the first thing you do when you enter a new with the old location where we got three hundred twenty at
market? most.”
Paul: “One of the first things we do when we launch in a

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