Sanitino‘s Entry into the European Market

When you have the right partner on your side, nothing holds you back. Find out how we increased e-commerce sales many times over through the right strategy and helped define key markets for expansion.

How it started

Since the cooperation with the previous digital agency did not bring the client the desired YoY growth and the e-shop’s turnover stagnated they reached out to a new proposal. Therefore, we met over a tender out of which we left winning. 

Proficio doesn’t have a habit of half-hearted solutions, that’s why a digital strategy was tailored for the client from scratch. We built it on a carefully selected marketing mix with the aim of becoming a strategic partner for the growth issues of the entire business. 

The goal was to multiply turnover at least threefold within 5 years by expanding abroad.

At least one new market per year

An expansion analysis was performed by Proficio, detailing all the local particularities of each market, together with a plan on how to wrap the entire strategy around these. With our partner we set a strategy to launch 1-2 new markets per year, successively Italy, Netherlands, Belgium, France, Austria, Spain, Germany, Romania. 

Moreover the introduction of customized BI reporting showed the company new possibilities for growth. 

Financial and data analysts, team leaders and senior management have obtained a top-notch and simple tool with which they could implement strategic changes: 

• eliminate inefficiency,
• put an end to loss-making products or orders,
• optimize the way of working in the warehouse,
• identify changes in the market and respond to them in a short time frame. 

Additionally, we changed the campaign optimization paradigm from revenue evaluation to margin evaluation to achieve higher precision and profitability. 

How do we drive an international growth?

Initially, it is important to know the average monthly search rate for queries relevant for setting up appropriate expectations. For this we use the Keyword Planner. At the same time, by using the average click-through rate and average conversion rate from our existing accounts and the observed monthly search rate from the Keyword Planner, we calculate the average monthly investment to capture a certain market share.

We then primarily use shopping campaigns and automated strategies (especially tROAS) to maximize conversion value at an adequate return. In addition to classical optimization, such as eliminating or reducing investment for underperforming products and checking search queries, we also monitor Auction insights, as this is where market position can be observed. We also use advanced product segmentation to maximize the potential of automated strategies.

In terms of search campaigns, we mainly use DSA. By utilizing our own list of sites, we can advertise for the specific products or product categories we want. 

We also track the development of brand term impressions, as this gives us an indication of how brand awareness is developing in a given country.

A big benefit is the absence of environmental influences on the campaigns, as the original campaign and the experiment run simultaneously and can invest the same amount of money. We then evaluate whether to apply the change to a particular account.

We also use seasonal adjustments as part of the optimization and last but not least, we use the Google Merchant Center to compare the price levels of promoted products with our competitors. When high prices are detected, we communicate the information to the client and address any price reductions or discounts.

Results of the export strategy

• We did not only achieve the goal, we overcame it almost 3 times when we multiplied the revenue ten folds. 

• Costs were reduced for around €17 000 in monthly savings thanks to the optimization of transport costs, €6500 in monthly savings as a result of streamlining processes in the warehouse and more accurate margin calculation down to the level of individual products and across all markets.

• Revenue grew from €8 million at the beginning of the cooperation in 2017 to reaching over €80 million in 2022.

If we compare the H1 of 2023 and 2022 of all countries together (except Romania, which has been launched at the end of 2022), we managed to reduce costs directly in Google Ads by 30 % while increasing the value of conversions by 22%, therefore increasing ROAS by 72 %. 

• Conversions also increased by 52 % in total. 

• In the German and Italian markets, for example, we were able to directly double the efficiency. 

• All countries saw at least a 20% increase in efficiency.