EU fashion firms eye international expansion in 2020 despite Brexit cloud

Despite the backdrop of a looming Brexit, 53 percent of marketers across Europe have made expanding into new markets their top priority for 2020, new research reveals.

An international study by Rakuten Marketing - which commissioned among 610 brand marketers in the UK, France and Germany from the luxury fashion, mainstream fashion, retail, travel and finance industries - found that 74 percent of marketing budgets are set to increase despite economic uncertainty. For mid-size brands of between 101-500 employees in the UK, this reflects an average budget increase of 275,000 pounds.

Driving this investment, 41 percent of marketers surveyed said tougher competition from online retail giants poses the greatest threat to their work in 2020. In the UK, this is felt most acutely by the marketers in mainstream fashion, of whom 57 percent are feeling this particular pressure point.

Anthony Capano, managing director of international at Rakuten Marketing, said in a statement: “Marketers clearly see 2020 as a vital year to find solid international footing amid the rise of the digitally native retailers have rocked the UK high street. It’s positive to see that brands are looking to take advantage of globalised shopping habits that have emerged in recent years and establish their business in new and lucrative markets. Focusing on how they are going to reach these new markets, as well as reduce marketing spend wastage, will be key for those looking to expand internationally and continue to boost revenue.”

In the UK, surveyed marketers reported that 30 percent of their marketing budget is still wasted on the wrong channels or strategies - up 10 percent since the start of 2018. Travel marketers in particular expressed the highest level of known ad wastage (36 percent), whereas mainstream fashion marketers report just 23 percent.

With more traditional channels such as email marketing (31 percent) identified as chief drivers of wasted ad spend, 45 percent of the survey’s respondents said innovation in marketing would be a key challenge they tackle in 2020, alongside sourcing new customers. As such, marketers are focused on investing fresh budget into channels such as affiliate marketing and social media advertising (both 40 percent), reflecting the drive to work with the best partners capable of identifying relevant and valuable customers.

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