Our panel of experts dig into the top 30 global retailers, their strategies and the technology they're using to grow at scale.

1. How the world's top retailers
are using technology to deliver
a great global experience

2. Our expert panel
Kris Britton - Host
Head of Marketing, Europe,
Loqate, a GBG Solution
Matthew Furneaux
Global Commercial Director,
Loqate, a GBG solution
Robert Gregory
Global Research Director,
Edge by Ascential Ian McGarrigle
Chairman of World Retail Congress
and former editor of Retail Week

3. The cross-border opportunity
Cross-border shopping will
make up 17% of eCommerce
in 2023, with sales of US
$736 billion globally.
In 2018, the global revenue
of the fashion e-commerce
market reached $600.99
billion. It is predicted to grow
to $825.55 billion in 2022.
The Asia-Pacific region
will see growth of 25.0% to
$2.271 trillion by the end of
2019, representing 64.3% of
global ecommerce spending.
Cost is the main driver of
cross-border shopping, with
nearly a quarter of
consumers citing shipping
costs as more affordable.Forrester Online Cross-Border Retail
Forecast, 2018 To 2023 - Global
Cross-Border Magazine eMarketer PayPal Insights 2018 Global Report

4. The International Retail Index

5. Matrix of metrics
Retailer Global Metrics
• Size of International sales (2018).
• Share of International sales (2018 & 2023).
• % compound annual growth rate of international sales (2018-23).
• Proportion of international stores vs domestic stores (2018 & 2023).
• # of international markets with physical presence.
• International strategy (retreat, stable, expand).
• Does primary/home ecommerce operation allow international
ordering?
• # of international markets delivered to via ecommerce operations
• Transactional app in home/primary market.
• # of social media followers.
• Marketplace offering.
• Cross border intermediary platform partnership
Retailer Digital Capabilities
• Ability to easily change language on or from primary/home ecommerce
operation
• Ability to easily change currency on or from primary/home ecommerce
operation
• Address verification for international customers.
• Digital payment solution (Paypal, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Amazon Pay).
• Minimum delivery requirements for international orders
• Click & collect capabilities.
• Free delivery thresholds for international delivery.
• Delivery time for international deliveries (next day, 2-3 days etc)
• Express delivery for international orders
• Order tracking on ecommerce site
• Free returns for international orders
• Delivery subscription service
• Voice presence
• Strategic partnership with global technology ecosystem
• Digital leadership

6. The world's top 30 retailers
The rise of ecommerce and digital influence has rewritten the rules of international expansion
Rank Retailer Index
1 83
2 73.4
3 72.9
4 ASOS 71.6
5 Boohoo.com 64.2
6 Zalando 61.4
7 Apple 61
8 Inditex 60.6
9 Sephora 58.2
10 Fast Retailing 57.3
11 Paul Valentine 56.6
12 Gymshark 53
13 Walmart 51.9
14 GAP 51.2
15 Deichmann 47.6
16 Ahold Delhaize 46.8
17 AS Watson 46.6
18 Sports Direct 46.4
19 Zooplus 43.8
20 Marks & Spencer 41.4
21 Target 39.5
22 Nordstrom 37.2
23 CECONOMY 36.9
24 The Hut Group 33.8
25 Walgreens Boots Alliance 29.3
26 Costco 28.9
27 TJX Companies 26
28 Best Buy 24.1
29 John Lewis and Partners 22
30 Dixons Carphone 20.8

7. Amazon and the surprises of the Index
Amazon is unsurprisingly crowned King of the International Retail Index
Based on metrics such as percentage of sales from non-domestic operations, online and fulfilment
capabilities, social media activity and a willingness to innovate with new technology.

8. Amazon and the surprises of the index
eCommerce and digital influence have rewritten the rules
Taking the silver and
bronze medals are Ikea
and H&M, with 90% of
their sales coming
from outside their home
country of Sweden.
Tech giant Apple ranks
lower than ASOS,
Boohoo and Zalando​.
Four marketplace
retailers made it into
the top ten this year –
Amazon, ASOS,
Zalando and Sephora​.
Nearly half of
all retailers recognised
are fashion
and apparel brands​​​.
Social media and smart
technology has been
the driving force behind
new entry, and the UK’s
fastest-growing fashion
brand, Gymshark.

9. International strategies and
technology used by the top 30 to
deliver a great global experience

10. Quick, easy and convenient
1. Keep it local 2. Friction free
3. Express delivery 4. The future of retail
The best international retailers
understand that in order to reach and
engage with audiences far and wide,
the entire experience needs to feel
local, be frictionless, for orders to arrive
quickly and to constantly innovate.

11. 1. Keep it local
Make your international experience local
Recognise the individual
Over half of the top 30 offer
the ability to change
language and currency on
their ecommerce site. This
is because they understand
the regional differences and
want to create a localised
experience.
Transactional apps
27 out the top 30 all offer a
transactional app in their
home or primary market.
The key is to tailor your
transactional mobile app to
individual regions.
Bricks and Clicks
Despite the digital
revolution, don't forget
traditional models of
international expansion via
partners, acquisitions and
physical location. Plenty of
the top 30 offer a
multichannel experience.
Retailers who do this well:

12. 2. Friction free
Friction free digital experiences are powered by innovations in technology
Design for the user
All the top 30 retailers have
designed an intuitive and
convenient site that enables
a seamless online shopping
experience.
International address
verification
More than half of the top 30
include international address
verification in their online
checkout. This helps improve
checkout UX and reassure
your customer that their
order will arrive on time.
Offer digital payment
solutions
Consider adding multiple
payment methods to your
ecommerce site. 93% of the
retailers featured in the top
30 offer a variety of
payment options.
Retailers who do this well:

13. 3. Express delivery
In the US, 75% of consumers
expect free shipping, while nearly
40% want online orders to arrive in
two days.
Of the total volume of online orders
delivered to UK consumers in June
2019, almost 62.5% were sent
through specified-day or next-day
delivery services.
11% of German retailers offer
same-day delivery and 38% provide
free shipping when a minimum
order is reached.
Survey by the National Retail Federation
IMRG MetaPack Delivery Index
ParcelLab
75% 62.5% 11%

14. 3. Express delivery
Speedy, convenient fulfilment has become one of the critical battlegrounds in ecommerce.
No minimum delivery
requirements
By removing minimal
purchase rules, you
won’t risk loosing
international
customers.
Address verification
for international
customers ​
International
addressing can be
complex, using address
validation in your
checkout mitigates the
risk of failed deliveries.​
Express shipping ​
Your customers want
their products now.
Avoid losing
customers to your
competitors ​by offering
speedy delivery
solutions​​.
Retailers who
do this well:
Order tracking ​
Constant
communication
reassures international
customers, especially
first-time shoppers
Free international
returns ​
By offering free returns
you can reduce cart
abandonment, ​increase
conversions, and create
happier customers

15. 4. The future of retail
Voice-enabled technology is rising in importance and will define the retail winners of the future​
111.8 million people in the US will
use a voice assistant – such as
Amazon’s Alexa or Google Home –
at least monthly in 2019.
There will be a shift from Natural
Language Processing to Natural
Language Understanding, leading
to more natural conversational
exchanges where a device will
understand what you meant.
Voice shopping is predicted to grow
to a whopping $40 billion-plus in
2022, up from $2 billion today
across the U.S. and the U.K.​
eMarketer​
David Isbitski, Chief Alexa Evangalist at
Amazon speaking at Voice Summit 2019
TechCrunch

16. 4. The future of retail
14 of the 30 retailers in the Loqate International Retail Index have an official presence or app for
voice assistants ​
Look at Alexa and
Google Assistant
Of the 30 retailers in the
ranking, 14 have an official
presence or app for either
Alexa or Google Assistant.
Use voice to
emphasise your key
proposition
Creating free and useful
content for your customers,
centred around your main
product, creates brand
loyalty. Sephora are
winners at this.
Allow customers to
link to your
transactional sites
Commands such as, “Hey
Google, buy headphones
from...” will enable a
transaction. Consumers
can also use the technology
to hear store hours and
locations near them or track
an existing order.
Retailers who
do this well:
Create voice only
deals
Best Buy launched voice-
only deals via Alexa in
2018, focused on smart
home products. In effect, it
is a case of a retailer that
sells cutting-edge
technology practicing what
it preaches by offering
cutting edge offers.
Get ready for
conversational
exchanges
Smart Speakers will soon
understand and act upon more
conversational exchanges.
This could mean in the very
near future you will be able to
tell an ecommerce site where
to deliver goods instead of
having to type the address.

17. The importance of good quality data
Fundamental to delivering a great global experience is data quality​
1 in 20 orders go missing or are not
delivered on the first attempt, and
according to retailers 19% of this is
caused by bad data. ​
65% of retailers admit it results in
significant loss in revenue.​
78% of consumers expect the
retailers to resolve a delivery issue,
whether it's the retailer or the
courier that's at fault.​
Research findings from the Loqate Fixing Failed Deliveries report​
65% 78%

18. Key takeaways for global commerce success​
Keep it local and personal​ Create a friction free
online experience​
Optimise delivery​ Invest in innovation​

19. Q&A
Find out where you rank against the world's best in
international retail by taking part in the quiz.
loqate.com/retail-index

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