Europe Bound: Expand Prospecting in the EU

The nations of the European Union enjoy well-developed mail-order markets; much of the continent now shares a common currency; and the Internet’s rise has dismantled many of the perceived barriers to international trade.

U.S. catalogers have much to offer Europeans, too. American catalog executives well understand the power of branding and have developed niche offerings that are only now beginning to be exploited across the Atlantic.

That said, however, there are differences between the two regions that can make your navigational efforts difficult. Below, we’ll identify those challenges and explore ways around them.

Creative Challenges

While language differences are more apparent when marketing to Germany, France or Italy, the English language also differs in significant ways from the version spoken across the Atlantic. In fact, George Bernard Shaw once said, “England and America are two countries divided by a common language.”

Traps await the unwary. For example, in the U.K. apparel market, pants are something you wear underneath trousers, and suspenders are something women use to hold up their stockings. The lesson: Carefully craft your catalog creative.

Germany, France and Britain are the largest catalog markets in Europe, and so generally are the first targets for many American catalogers. This does, of course, require translating your copy into three languages and formulating your prices into two currencies. (For now, the United Kingdom remains faithful to its pound sterling, while Germany and France have leapt wholeheartedly into Euro adoption.)

Appropriately devising your copy isn’t the only consideration. Each language will take a different amount of catalog space to say the same thing. English (whichever side of the Atlantic it’s from) is a relatively compact language.

But if you’re translating copy from English to German, allow enough space on your catalog pages for 5 percent to 10 percent more verbiage. Meanwhile, French, with its smaller vocabulary, takes many more words to say the same thing, so allow room for 10 percent to 20 percent more copy.

Product Differences

Measurements comprise another great divide. Metric measurements have been used on mainland Europe for decades and are the norm, so straightforward conversions can be used.

But in the United Kingdom, the situation is more complex. Until recently, the country used feet, inches, pounds and ounces, but now, it uses the metric system. The problem is that relatively few people age 50 or older fully understand the metric system, so if you’re targeting the U.K.’s mature market, include both forms of measurement.

Product sizes also differ. The U.K. uses a sizing system for women’s clothing that appears so similar to U.S. sizes you could be fooled into thinking they’re the same. Not so. A U.K. size 8, for example, is equivalent to a U.S. size 2. And U.K. shoe sizes are about one size larger than those in the United States.

To make matters even more confounding, mainland Europe has a totally different sizing system, but luckily, it’s consistent across the rest of the continent.

Electrical products also differ between the EU and the United States—Europe uses 220v, while U.S. products use 110v. And just about every EU nation has its own plug style, some of which are fused.

Furthermore, a product’s UL listing will cut no ice in the EU. Most product lines sold in Europe have their own standards and should carry a “CE” mark to reassure the consumer it satisfies relevant regulations.

Luckily, a standard set of EU laws covers the safety and performance of each product type. A good product-testing lab can examine your merchandise for EU compliance. Far East companies, in particular, are familiar with European standards and can test your products in the country of manufacture.

Legislation

In Germany, data-protection laws allow only certain selections to be made on mailing lists. And all 15 EU member nations have data-protection laws governing the export of customer data outside Europe.

If it seems complicated to enter the European market, take heart. While Europe may have many bureaucrats, it has relatively few lawyers when compared to the United States. Translation: There’s more regulation but much less litigation in Europe, which helps many companies keep their operating costs down.

The great news is that the European market is ready for American niche catalogs and has fully acquired the mail-order habit. This year may be just the right time to give Europe a try.

Andrew Wilson is president of The Catalogue Consultancy based in the United Kingdom. He can be contacted at +44-117-944-5226 or by e-mail: aw@catalogueconsultancy.com.