Levent Iscan is responsible for ensuring that the South German manufacturer Venta continuously expands its US business. In addition to classic retail channels such as Lowe’s, Home Depot or Bed Bath & Beyond, the US marketplace Amazon is also an important sales channel for Venta.
We spoke with Levent about the opportunities and challenges of internationalization via Amazon.
Amazon USA: Opportunities and Challenges
How long have you been present on Amazon’s US marketplace? And why did you decide to do so?
Levent Iscan: Amazon is the No. 1 e-commerce platform in the world – and in the U.S., of course. That’s why we very quickly decided to play on Amazon. Both as a vendor and via the seller platform.
All in all, we’ve been on Amazon for eight years now, and of course we’ve already learned a lot about how to sell on it, how to prepare the content properly, and so on.
Why do you use both the vendor and seller programs? Did this strategy grow over time or was it a conscious decision?
L.I.: I think it came about gradually. Before I came into the company, Amazon was mainly played through the vendor program. And there are pros and cons to that. The contact with Amazon is very good, you are better looked after in many respects and the deliveries work very quickly. But there are also advantages in the seller program, for example, in terms of pricing, strategy, or driving smaller deals.
Internationalization and Market Entry
What do you have to consider when you start on Amazon USA?
L.I.: There are a lot of points here. In the USA, for example, Amazon is even more of a marketplace than in Germany. Accordingly, there are very many participants who act as marketplace retailers. So, if you fire up distribution and distribute a product across the entire country, 10 to 15 different marketplace retailers quickly get involved, which ultimately leads to cannibalization and you can no longer manage the business as sensibly as you originally wanted.
What about the product range? How do you determine which products are suitable for the USA?
L.I.: In the USA, companies that sell products from the air treatment sector must comply with various certificates. For example, if you don’t have the California Air Resources Board (CARB) certificate, you can sell anywhere in the U.S., but not in California.
Differences Between US and European Markets
Where are the biggest similarities and where are the biggest differences between the Europe domains and the US marketplace?
L.I.: I would say that the advertising platforms and marketplaces are 70 to 80 percent identical. Of course, there are a few features here and there that have already been activated in the U.S. but not yet in the EU. But that is quite normal.
Logistics and Customer Service
Let’s take a look at logistics. Where are the differences between the USA and Europe?
L.I.: There’s a whole range of issues there. If we leave aside FBA and look in the direction of fulfillment by merchant (FBM), then shipping from our warehouse via a logistics partner directly to the end customer is extremely expensive.
Is it possible to manage Amazon USA from Europe or is it only possible locally?
L.I.: You can already see from my example that it is possible. All high-level tasks such as pricing, product listings, deal management, etc. can be controlled from Europe. However, day-to-day business – customer service, fulfillment, shipment – is only possible to a limited extent from Europe. You need a team on site.
Future Plans and Reflections
With the knowledge you have today – what would you do differently if you could start again?
L.I.: I wouldn’t do much differently – just faster and with a slightly different focus. Instead of focusing only on Amazon and content, I would also focus on logistics right from the start. Logistics is and remains the key to success in the USA.
And what is your focus for the coming 12 months?
L.I.: Logistics remains a major issue. We will expand our product range in the USA and increasingly sell air purifiers, in addition to our humidifiers. In addition, we have to make sure that we optimize the channeling of products. The focus should not only be on Amazon, but on all marketplaces.
