How a successful US business became a global brand
"We had European customers on our Facebook page asking when they could buy our product."
David Laubner
Senior Manager, Blink
Expanding worldwide—one step at a time
Update: Amazon acquired Blink in November 2017, after this case study was originally published.
Many sellers are eager to take their US businesses global, but aren’t sure how to do so without overcommitting their limited resources. For David Laubner, Senior Manager of Sales and Marketing at Blink, a home security camera company, Amazon made it simple to expand his company’s brand from the US to Europe.
By breaking its growth into Europe into key stages, the home security camera company generated impressive sales and proved to investors that its product has global reach.
Many sellers are eager to take their US businesses global, but aren’t sure how to do so without overcommitting their limited resources. For David Laubner, Senior Manager of Sales and Marketing at Blink, a home security camera company, Amazon made it simple to expand his company’s brand from the US to Europe.
By breaking its growth into Europe into key stages, the home security camera company generated impressive sales and proved to investors that its product has global reach.
"[Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA)] allowed us to get our product out to millions of people, and to do it quickly and efficiently."
David Laubner
Senior Manager, Blink
From semiconductor manufacturer to global Internet of Things (IoT) brand
Going from a B2B semiconductor manufacturer to a global Internet of Things (IoT) brand in four years sounds improbable, but for the founders of Blink, building a global brand was only a matter of time.
“We always wanted to go direct to consumer,” says Don Shulsinger, Senior Manager of Sales and Marketing at Blink. “We knew our technology would allow battery-operated cameras, which hadn’t really been done before. So we took the technology we had and decided to build Blink.”
“We always wanted to go direct to consumer,” says Don Shulsinger, Senior Manager of Sales and Marketing at Blink. “We knew our technology would allow battery-operated cameras, which hadn’t really been done before. So we took the technology we had and decided to build Blink.”
Meanwhile, the company felt increasingly frustrated from working with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).
“They’re slow to move. It can take years before a great technology idea shows up with a third party’s brand,” Don says.
In July 2014, to test out its DIY home security camera concept, the company ran a successful Kickstarter campaign.
“In six weeks, we sold over $1 million worth of products to around 7,000 customers,” Don says.
The company founders realized their concept was feasible, so they garnered additional investors, put together their supply chain, and opened sales channels in the Amazon store and their own website. Then they officially launched their flagship product at the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
“They’re slow to move. It can take years before a great technology idea shows up with a third party’s brand,” Don says.
In July 2014, to test out its DIY home security camera concept, the company ran a successful Kickstarter campaign.
“In six weeks, we sold over $1 million worth of products to around 7,000 customers,” Don says.
The company founders realized their concept was feasible, so they garnered additional investors, put together their supply chain, and opened sales channels in the Amazon store and their own website. Then they officially launched their flagship product at the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
"We had European customers on our Facebook page asking when they could buy our product."
David Laubner
Senior Manager, Blink
Going global, starting with Europe
“We always knew there was a market in Europe for our product because our competition was doing very well there,” David says. “It was important for us to be an early mover into the marketplace.”
The company had also heard directly from European customers eager to buy its cameras.
“We had European customers on our US Facebook page asking us when we were going to deliver a localized version of the product in their region,” David says.
Blink had already enjoyed success selling in the US Amazon store using Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA). So the choice to expand into Europe with Amazon was a no-brainer for the company.
“What we needed to do was figure out a way to take what we had done in the US and move it into the European marketplace,” David says. “But we also had to make it easy enough for a small team of us to be able to pull off without getting swamped because we still had our business to run in the US.”
So how does a small American business with no prior European experience pull off a successful launch?
The company had also heard directly from European customers eager to buy its cameras.
“We had European customers on our US Facebook page asking us when we were going to deliver a localized version of the product in their region,” David says.
Blink had already enjoyed success selling in the US Amazon store using Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA). So the choice to expand into Europe with Amazon was a no-brainer for the company.
“What we needed to do was figure out a way to take what we had done in the US and move it into the European marketplace,” David says. “But we also had to make it easy enough for a small team of us to be able to pull off without getting swamped because we still had our business to run in the US.”
So how does a small American business with no prior European experience pull off a successful launch?
3 steps for a successful European launch
Step 1: Understand the European market
Before committing to a launch in Europe, Blink performed extensive online research to understand the market opportunity and competitive landscape.
“The hardest thing for a small US company to do is take that first step to get over into the new region,” David says. “We used Amazon’s retail sites and tools to understand if there was demand for our products and then to build a plan for how we’re going to enter.”
“We researched European markets from the eyes of a consumer physically located in Paris, Berlin, or London to gain some insight as to what our competition was doing within local ecommerce marketplaces,” he says.
As part of its initial research, Blink gleaned insights by exploring products in its category in Amazon’s European stores, including Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de, and Amazon.fr.
“You can see how other companies are referring to their products. What do they put in their titles, their detail pages, the keywords they’re using,” David says. “That helps you understand how the local customer searches for—and thinks about—your product.”
“The hardest thing for a small US company to do is take that first step to get over into the new region,” David says. “We used Amazon’s retail sites and tools to understand if there was demand for our products and then to build a plan for how we’re going to enter.”
“We researched European markets from the eyes of a consumer physically located in Paris, Berlin, or London to gain some insight as to what our competition was doing within local ecommerce marketplaces,” he says.
As part of its initial research, Blink gleaned insights by exploring products in its category in Amazon’s European stores, including Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de, and Amazon.fr.
“You can see how other companies are referring to their products. What do they put in their titles, their detail pages, the keywords they’re using,” David says. “That helps you understand how the local customer searches for—and thinks about—your product.”
Step 2: Launch in one country first
By November 2016, Blink had decided to begin with the UK. The company’s next step was the actual launch, which included shipping units to the country.
“We first moved our product into Amazon’s UK fulfillment centers,” David says. “We had already learned how simple things were when using FBA for our US business, so it was natural for us to start in the UK using FBA Europe.”
Another part of this stage involved copying Blink’s product listings from Amazon.com to Amazon.co.uk.
“We applied a lot of the same principles we used in the US, along with research we had done on the UK to optimize and localize our detail pages for the UK customer,” he says.
“We first moved our product into Amazon’s UK fulfillment centers,” David says. “We had already learned how simple things were when using FBA for our US business, so it was natural for us to start in the UK using FBA Europe.”
Another part of this stage involved copying Blink’s product listings from Amazon.com to Amazon.co.uk.
“We applied a lot of the same principles we used in the US, along with research we had done on the UK to optimize and localize our detail pages for the UK customer,” he says.
Get European expert support
Amazon’s Service Provider Network connects you with third-party providers who offer international help across several categories, ranging from tax and trademark application to translations and shipping.
After publishing its new listings, Blink used different Amazon tools, including Sponsored Products ads and Lightning Deals, to generate initial sales in the new store.
“Everything we do is about ABS—always be selling,” David says.
“Everything we do is about ABS—always be selling,” David says.
Step 3: Scale across Europe
Approximately six months after launching in the UK, Blink was ready to launch in four other Amazon Europe stores. The company began by translating its listings into other languages, taking into consideration country-specific findings from market research.
“Each country has its own nuance,” David says. “For example, the way a consumer searches for your product in Spain is not the same as in France or Germany.”
In terms of fulfilling orders, Amazon’s fulfillment network in Europe required no additional effort from Blink.
“We were able to just open the listings and have those listing sales pull from the inventory in the UK and deliver to consumers in the other countries,” David says. “It’s almost a no-brainer for us to start selling across Europe that way.”
However, Blink soon upgraded its fulfillment method to Pan-European FBA, given the importance of fast delivery times—and Prime eligibility—to sales conversion.
“Similar to the US, European consumers expect speedy delivery,” David says. “If a customer waits four or five days for a package, we’re at a disadvantage because our competition is already providing faster delivery speed. Pan-European FBA helps ensure our listings are Prime-eligible across all five European stores.”
“Each country has its own nuance,” David says. “For example, the way a consumer searches for your product in Spain is not the same as in France or Germany.”
In terms of fulfilling orders, Amazon’s fulfillment network in Europe required no additional effort from Blink.
“We were able to just open the listings and have those listing sales pull from the inventory in the UK and deliver to consumers in the other countries,” David says. “It’s almost a no-brainer for us to start selling across Europe that way.”
However, Blink soon upgraded its fulfillment method to Pan-European FBA, given the importance of fast delivery times—and Prime eligibility—to sales conversion.
“Similar to the US, European consumers expect speedy delivery,” David says. “If a customer waits four or five days for a package, we’re at a disadvantage because our competition is already providing faster delivery speed. Pan-European FBA helps ensure our listings are Prime-eligible across all five European stores.”
Blink’s tips for entering Europe
After it launched in Europe in 2016, Blink doubled its European sales in 2017.
“We were surprised how quickly our European business grew,” David says. “To build a multimillion-dollar business with minimal boots on the ground is amazing.”
“We were surprised how quickly our European business grew,” David says. “To build a multimillion-dollar business with minimal boots on the ground is amazing.”
David and Don offer the following advice to sellers:
- Research the opportunity.
“Do an initial internet search of the local stores to gain insights regarding the local opportunity and requirements.” - Use Amazon promotional tools to build customer interest and search rankings.
“We’ve always got something happening promotion-wise, something we offer the customer so they’ll say, ‘Hey, there’s something different today, there’s something going on.’” - Consider finding a local expert.
“The long-term winning strategy is to have boots on the ground. In every country, eventually, you’re going to need someone who knows the nuances of the local market. We were lucky enough to find an excellent partner that was based in Ireland who had experience in our category, knew how to help us grow the business on a day-to-day basis, and could manage the details of selling in Europe.”
