Luxury British jewellery brand, Astley Clarke, has announced that it has selected Global-e as its cross-border commerce partner to accelerate its international online expansion and deliver an improved ecommerce experience to international markets.
The luxury jewellery brand is now live with the Global-e solution, with localised ecommerce available in over 200 markets worldwide.
Astley Clarke is not new to international retail; the brand has shipped to over 100 countries in the last five years. Growth to date has largely come from a UK and US customer base with typical cross-border barriers to ecommerce such as shipping rates, import duty calculations, local returns, and difficulties supporting local currencies and payment methods hampering conversion in territories further afield. Astley Clarke shoppers in the UK were three times more likely to convert than international shoppers, which prompted the brand to explore how it could establish itself more firmly as an international, multi-channel, luxury brand.
To be competitive in international markets, Astley Clarke felt it needed to deliver a more engaging customer shopping experience that matched the high standard of treatment that UK customers received. In particular, Astley Clarke wanted to offer the ability to pay with local currency, different payment methods and the option to pre-pay all import taxes and duties. Like many other retailers, Astley Clarke found it difficult to justify in-house investment in localising its platform for international markets, and realised it could find a global partner to better service its needs and meet international sales expectations.
Astley Clarke’s chief executive officer, Scott Thomson, joined the retailer in 2013 with a mission to drive global growth. Commenting on Astley Clarke’s partnership with Global-e,Thomson says: “We wanted to partner with an ecommerce provider that had demonstrated results. Global-e doesn’t just house software people – their strong competency in delivery gave us confidence that they understood how markets grow and they could adapt customer service strategy accordingly.
“After a smooth and guided implementation process, this is just the beginning of a strategic partnership between Astley Clarke and Global-e which will see us moving ahead with our international goals as we transform shopping in local markets through investment in more efficient and engaging ecommerce experiences.”
Nir Debbi, co-founder and CMO at Global-e, comments: “Retailers today are looking to drive growth by targeting shoppers overseas, however a major barrier has been poor customer experiences for international shoppers resulting in low conversion rates . Shoppers expect more from the online retail experience and features like effective shipping, guaranteed landed cost, localised pricing and currencies, and no surprise fees or duties are not just nice-to-haves, but essential components of a seamless shopping experience.
“Astley Clarke understands just how important this level of personalisation is in the competitive retail market, and their commitment to delivering localised shopping experiences will be the driving force for impressive international growth.”