How direct-to-consumer brands are going global with THG Ingenuity

A lot of direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands share the ambition of going global. You’ve worked hard to scale from a local business to one with a national presence, and now you’re at the next stage of growth: going international. But, while you might feel like you’ve mastered the intricacies of scaling your business at a local and national level, going global is a different beast altogether. 

Why? 

Going global was no small feat a decade ago, and it certainly isn’t any easier in 2021. Because the e-commerce landscape is changing at an incredibly fast pace, entering a new market today comes with its unique set of considerations.

For example, did you know that:

• 67% of consumers say their standards for good experience are higher than ever and 51% of consumers say most companies fall short of their expectations for great experience.  
• Around 56% of consumers state that the ability to receive information on products and services in their native language was more important than price, and 55% of consumers prefer shopping on websites that use their native language.  
• 70% of consumers choose to purchase goods from a provider due to the delivery options it offers.

What is THG Ingenuity?

THG Ingenuity is the technology services division of THG plc (THG). 

Its proprietary, end-to-end technology and operating platform powers some of the world’s leading brands, allowing them to scale globally and at pace. This includes THG’s own brands—such as household names Myprotein and LOOKFANTASTIC—along with hundreds of third-party clients. 

THG Ingenuity's full suite of services enables brands of all sizes to focus on their ambitions to scale, while it takes care of every element of DTC e-commerce, including:

• Putting into action a profitable, bottom-line approach model geared specifically for online DTC commerce
• Leveraging a data-driven, proprietary platform to access insights from THG’s global brand ecosystem
• Employing a flexible and highly scalable solution that will help businesses go global in a seamless way, benefiting from a long pipeline of innovation 
• Globally digital brand services that attract audiences, and covert people into customers

A case study: LOOKFANTASTIC 

All these strategies are great in theory, but what does entering a new market look like in practice? Let’s explore LOOKFANTASTIC which, powered by THG Ingenuity, entered the Chinese market in 2016.

THG Ingenuity devised and implemented a bespoke brand and marketing strategy for LOOKFANTASTIC’s expansion into China. This leveraged Ingenuity’s deep knowledge of the Asian beauty market, their retailing of over 500+ beauty brands in the region, and DTC knowledge through localised partner brand sites.