Story of successful expansion of e‑shop ČistéDřevo.cz in Europe

How the Czech e‑shop grew from zero to a turnover of over 100 million CZK in a few years.

Discover the process of this successful journey of the e‑shop ČistéDřevo.cz and how the owners managed to succeed abroad.

E‑shop ČistéDřevo.cz

Founded in 2013 by two friends, ČistéDřevo.cz has quickly grown from a small business running out of a garage into one of the leading Czech companies in the field of wood products.

After its success on the domestic market, the company began expanding to Slovakia in 2018, which was the first step towards international expansion. This expansion brought an important change in their business model, as they focused on efficient logistics and marketing strategies specific to foreign markets. This success inspired the owners of the e‑shop to plan further expansion abroad.

Thanks to improvements in the field of digital marketing, focus on high‑quality localization of the e‑shop for foreign markets and an expansion of the product portfolio, the company succeeded in gaining new customers abroad. Its plan for 2024 is to reach total sales of over 110 million CZK.

Assignment for NK Expand

The owners of the e‑shop ČistéDřevo.cz contacted us at NK Expand at the beginning of 2023 with a request for complete assistance in expanding abroad. Leaving aside sales in Slovakia, this was the first experience for the e‑shop with entering foreign e‑commerce markets.

The initial assignment was to assist in the development of the Hungarian language version of the e‑shop ČistéDřevo.cz, which would give Hungarian customers a trustworthy impression and would invite them to make purchases in the e‑shop. This included support in creating and setting up the conditions for operating the e‑shop in Hungary.

The solution

It was necessary to prepare a complete overview of the steps associated with the expansion abroad. And to begin completing tasks dutifully, step by step.

Choosing the right market – data is key

The owners of the e‑shop have decided for Hungary as their first entry into a foreign market. Other markets being considered have also included Slovenia, Romania and Croatia. In order to provide relevant data for the selection of the next most suitable market, our market research specialists designed the following parameters for assessment and comparison:

Size of foreign e‑commerce markets of selected wood products.
Prediction of growth of these markets until 2027.
Analysis of relevant competition in selected countries (prices, sales arguments, carriers, marketing…)
Other specifics of the considered e‑commerce markets.

Based on these indicators, it was possible to compare the markets and determine whether they are suitable and promising for future expansion of the e‑shop ČistéDřevo.

It should be mentioned that similar surveys are used for expansion by most e‑shops heading abroad. It adheres to the principle that strategic decisions should be made based on data and numbers and not feelings.

Opening a bank account in a foreign bank

Other initial steps included opening a bank account in Hungary. The decision to allow customers in Hungary to pay into a Hungarian bank account was linked to the inability to pay in euros in Hungary. To open an account, we chose OTP Bank, with which we have great experience and a strong relationship in Hungary.

The bank requested a number of documents related with the opening of the account for the Czech company. After delivering their certified translations to the Hungarian state agency OFFI and visiting the company director with our interpreter at the Komárno branch, the bank account was opened and handed over for use.

The whole process took several months mainly due to additional questions from the bank about the subject and method of doing business of the e‑shop ČistéDřevo.cz. However, this is relatively common, as banks thoroughly screen foreign applicants in virtually all European countries.

Keyword analyses for successful SEO abroad

From the beginning, the owners of the e‑shop were interested in gaining a share of the Hungarian market and operating there for a long time. This was related to the effort to gain customers of the e‑shop not only from paid campaigns, but also organic search.

To achieve this long‑term goal, NK Expand's SEO specialists, together with native Hungarian speakers, prepared a keyword analysis to identify the most searched Hungarian terms associated with the e‑shop's range of products.

The analysis was prepared in a bilingual Czech‑Hungarian form so it can be used not only for translations of texts, but also for future translations of marketing materials, PPC campaigns, banners, newsletters, social media posts, etc.

Translation and localization of e‑shops into foreign languages

The translation and localization phase of the texts followed immediately after the keyword analysis was completed. During the translation we took advantage of modern machine translation technology, which helped to significantly reduce costs of the translation and speed up its completion.

The implementation of keywords was done during the proofreading phase by a native speaker. Thanks to well‑prepared keyword analysis, it went smoothly and without additional costs for the e‑shop.

When translating, we approached different types of texts individually (products, categories, e‑mailing, system phrases, terms and conditions, news, etc.). This individual approach has proven successful for the NK Expand's linguists for a long time. It results in high‑quality translations for the lowest possible costs for the e‑shop.

Trustworthiness check of foreign language versions of e-shops

Any e‑shop has a chance to achieve business results only if it appears to be trustworthy and customers feel confident shopping there. In order to meet these conditions, the e‑shop needs to be user‑tested. In the case of e‑shop ČistéDřevo.cz (the Hungarian language version works online under the domain Atmowood.hu), this check was carried out by a native speaker living in Hungary, who also belongs to the target group of the e‑shop.

The e‑shop review focused on the following elements:

General visual aspects and first impression
Language accuracy and completeness
Review of commercial and legal documentation
Check of contact details
Execution of a test order incl. review of related communication
Check of mobile interface of the e‑shop
Review of the claim and return process
Check of customer support
Check payments, shipping methods and shipping costs
Check of URLs
Assessment of social media presentation of the e‑shop
Check of customer references used

It's evident from this list that the trustworthiness analysis of the e‑shop by NK Expand's specialists is truly in‑depth and checks all elements of the e-shop. In the case of the Atmowood.hu e‑shop, the final report had 20 pages of suggestions for fixing flaws and further improving the quality of the e‑shop.

Only after implementing the findings from the trustworthiness analysis do we recommend e‑shops to launch paid campaigns and invest their finances in gaining paid traffic. Without a trustworthiness check, the e‑shop risks bringing visitors to the e‑shop who leave without completing any order.

Customer support abroad

After the e‑shop became fully operational, it was necessary to set up and implement the last step that the owners of the e‑shop ordered from NK Expand. That was Hungarian‑language customer support available on a Hungarian phone number and provided by native Hungarian speakers.

With regard to the range of products offered by the e‑shop, we selected an operator from among the Hungarian NK Expand's operators who was close to the DIY products and at the same time had experience in operating the Shoptet e‑shop platform.

Her training took place in November 2023 and since November 14, customer support of the e‑shop is continuously being provided. The initial training was focused not only on the operation of the e‑shop and frequently asked questions, but also on the product offer. NK Expand's operators are not only tasked to resolve customer requirements, but also to assist them with selection and to guide them to complete the order.

In retrospect, the training can be considered a success. The operator is able to process, successfully resolve and close more than 80% of all written and telephone inquiries addressed to Hungarian customer support. There is still space for a higher degree of the operators' independence. We can compare this for example with the German customer support provided by NK Expand, which is almost completely independent.

It doesn't end with Hungary

And in which countries does the e‑shop ČistéDřevo.cz (or its foreign language versions under the domain Atmowood) successfully operate in 2024? After the initial expansion into Hungary, we have immediately et the end of 2023 began with preparations for further expansion into other European countries. During 2024, we helped launch the e‑shop in Germany, Austria, Slovenia and Croatia.

Thus, at the end of 2024, the e‑shop ČistéDřevo successfully sells its products in 7 European countries. And since the owners of the e‑shop evaluate the results of foreign expansions positively, it can be assumed that other European countries will soon follow.

How do e‑shop owners evaluate the success of foreign expansion through numbers?

“The success of expansion can be assessed by a variety of metrics. For obvious reasons, some of them cannot be published. But we can look at it from the perspective of the share of Hungarian e‑shop in the total turnover of the company. After 6 months from the launch of the e‑shop, it already accounted for 10% and stabilized at this figure. Of course, the Czech e‑shop is doing better, still generating the most significant part of the turnover (53%), but this has been a functional e‑shop with the greatest marketing support for over 10 years. The second in line is the Slovakian e‑shop (21%), which operates twice as long as the Hungarian one. Our goal is that the Hungarian e‑shop reaches the Slovakian level. According to the stability of turnover growth, we should achieve this during first quarter of 2025.

And how are our other e‑shops doing abroad? The same goal (about 20% of turnover) is likely to be achieved in twice as fast with the German version. Interesting figures are also provided by the Croatian e‑shop, which has only been open for a short time.”

Tomas Kruczek, founder of ČistéDřevo

Do you have an e‑shop and want to experience similar journey and success abroad? Contact us! Specialists at NK Expand are the guides who will assist you in achieving your goals abroad.