Dear Amazon!
First and foremost, welcome to Sweden. God knows we’ve been waiting!
Having that said, online retailing in Sweden is very different from the US. For that reason, here are a few hints to serve as a welcoming gift ;-)
The Achilles heel of shopping online in Sweden is it’s fragmented and unreliable logistics network. If you can figure out a way to — reliably — get people’s orders to their doors (not a grocery store a mile away) within in 2 days, you are home free and can stop reading here.
If, at first, the country’s current delivery system won’t allow for consistent 2-day deliveries, here are a few things you can do while you work on making that happen.
1. Partner with Klarna (note — the author has no affiliation) for an easy payment option. Klarna has done for the payment part of online shopping in Sweden what Amazon has done for the shipping part in the US.
Paying online doesn’t get any easier than with Klarna. Check the box that says order with Klarna and pay 2 weeks after you receive your order. No charge and an easy way to put a hold on your payment should anything go wrong with your order. Who knows, maybe you could even partner with Klarna in the US at some point.
2. Set up physical “Amazon Toy Stores” where people can see and touch novel games, Lego sets, action figures etc. and possibly even electronics. I realize this suggestion sounds counter intuitive and out of place for an online retailer breaking new ground but…
…remember that most Swedes do not know what makes Amazon so great. They have never experienced the bliss of not having to use Google to search for products with a bunch of Chinese retailers posting as Swedish ditos hiding in the search results. You need to build trust and brand recognition before we will be ready to abandon CDON.com, Wish et al.
A great way to do so is to capitalize on the fact that all Swedish toy retailers except one have closed shop over the last year or two. We are really longing for a way to hold and feel these type of products up close, especially around Christmas time.
And don’t get me wrong, you won’t be expected to sell anything out of these stores. Just make it easy for people to order (with 2 day home delivery) right from the shelves. I happen to work for a company (CGI) that both has extensive online retail expertise and has already developed similar solutions. We can help you ;-)
3. Find a way to bring some of the great selection of products you have on your US store to Sweden. Many “experts” in Sweden are preaching that physical stores are closing here because online shopping is cheaper (due mostly to high city center rents for the physical stores). That is for the most part inaccurate. People have stopped shopping in stores because the selection of merchandise available, quite frankly, sucks!
When I was in college in Florida (many years ago ;-), we were taught that American companies used Sweden (and Iceland) as a test market because the shopping trends were similar enough to draw valid conclusions while the countries were also insignificant enough for news about any product failures not to make it back to the US.
Now, while that is a punch in the gut for us Swedes to hear, it was never the less true and probably still is, which tells you that Swedes love American products and are also dying for a new and wider selection of merchandise to choose from.
Follow these friendly advice and maybe throw in a Prime membership option while you work on getting all the Swedish distribution ducks in a row and success is assured ;-) Or as they say in another of my favorite shows — Resistance is futile (Sweden), you will be assimilated!
