The Central and Eastern European (CEE) region is a rapidly growing area that is gaining more and more importance in the world of e-commerce every year. Although often overlooked in favor of Western European markets, its potential is enormous, provided we approach it strategically and with local understanding.
In an interview with Artur Michalak, Head of Operations CEE, at Tradedoubler, we take a look behind the scenes of the company's expansion in the CEE region. We find out what the origins of the operations were, what the specifics of the local markets are, what challenges have to be faced, and why it makes sense to think of this part of Europe as one cohesive, forward-looking region.
Tradedoubler Team: What were the beginnings of Tradedoubler in the Central and Eastern European region?
Artur Michalak: Until 5-6 years ago, the only country in the Central and Eastern European bloc available to Tradedoubler advertisers and publishers was Poland. Around that time, we were able to take our first steps in Poland's southern neighbors - the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The driving force was finding and contracting a local affiliate network as our strategic partner, which gave us access to the local publisher network. Over time, this strategy was repeated in the rest of the CEE region - Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Ukraine. The next youngest countries in Tradedoubler's portfolio, where performance marketing activities have been launched, are the Balkans + Greece and the Baltics.
TT: What are the company's main goals and strategies in the region?
Artur Michalak: The main goal at the moment is primarily to expand and strengthen Tradedoubler's influence in the various countries of the region, and to make sure that we maintain and develop the services and service levels of the performance marketing campaigns we run for our advertisers, usually large international brands, from a wide variety of industries.
TT: What challenges do you face in working in CEE markets compared to other regions?
Artur Michalak: Individual countries in the region, taken individually, are often considered a difficult or even questionable investment. Many brands focus their business strategy on Western or Southern European markets, wrongly overlooking the CEE region. Meanwhile, when we treat this area holistically, especially since we can distinguish sub-regions, culturally or even linguistically similar (such as the Czech Republic and Slovakia, or the Balkan countries), the picture of potential benefits, sales volumes and profits presents itself much more favorably. That's why we always recommend expanding business in our region to more than 1-2 countries, and that's what we have the most implementations of. There are even business cases when we deploy 9-10 countries simultaneously with one brand. This guarantees rapid growth and realization of the full potential of the region, although of course it also requires more preparation and investment budgets.
TT: Do you notice any specific consumer needs or behaviors in CEE that influence marketing strategies?
Artur Michalak: Yes, of course. Although it is a region made up of many smaller countries, in terms of area or population, each has its own characteristics. We encounter many differences in the context of doing e-commerce business in each country, whether on the ground of consumer expectations in terms of available forms of payment or quality and speed of delivery. For example - in the Czech Republic, one of the best developed and fastest-growing countries in the region, the form of payment on delivery is still very popular. Failure to include this in your business strategy, greatly limits your potential target audience. In Romania, on the other hand, consumers place a very high emphasis on the appearance of the shipment, making a high percentage of package returns possible, for what seems a trivial reason. However, there are also some commonalities - regardless of the region, consumers value transparency, transaction security and fast delivery.
TT: What cooperation models does Tradedoubler offer to partners and customers in the CEE region?
Artur Michalak: The basic model is always CPS, or commission per effect. However, we also recommend and offer our affiliates other models, which often combine different forms of remuneration in one campaign, such as CPC+CPS or FF+CPS. Such hybrid models allow us to optimize both the cost and effectiveness of the campaign, and at the end of the day we still measure the profitability of the activities by converting the total costs into the so-called eCPS. From this angle, we assess whether the given activities in hybrid models have proven themselves cost-effectively and whether it makes sense to continue them.
TT: Can you share examples of successful campaigns or collaborations with local brands?
Artur Michalak: What sets us apart is our long-standing partnerships with local brands as well as with many international brands. We have many integrations with brands from industries such as fashion, consumer electronics, or popular marketplaces, with which we have launched performancerelated activities at once in multiple markets (there have been integrations covering 10 markets simultaneously, continuing to this day). There are also cases of advertisers who entrusted us with their business in one selected market to see if there would be the so-called business “chemistry” between us, in order to later add more markets. These cases confirm the great trust we enjoy, and the growing business results are a perfect confirmation of this.
TT: What Tradedoubler tools and technologies are used in the CEE region?
Artur Michalak: Tradedoubler uses proprietary advanced tracking technology to ensure reliable and stable tracking of marketing campaigns. The platform offers modern and intuitive user interfaces and connectivity after an API solution, making it easy to integrate and automate billing, validation and reporting processes.
These automations are crucial for the efficient management of hundreds of partners and campaigns, which is particularly important in the rapidly growing CEE region. Additionally, Tradedoubler supports activities in channels such as email marketing, remarketing, influencer marketing, app marketing and Comparison Shopping Service (CSS). All of these activities have become an integral part of Tradedoubler's offering and their use by advertisers is growing steadily.
TT: What are Tradedoubler's plans for further growth in the CEE region?
Artur Michalak: Tradedoubler plans to further expand and develop its partner network in the CEE region, capitalizing on the growing potential of e-commerce and digitalization markets in these countries. We are currently placing particular emphasis on scaling our clients' business through efficient billing models and developing the range of services we can offer to both our advertisers and publishers. We are also investing in local teams and partnerships to further tailor our offerings to the specifics of each CEE market.
Tradedoubler's activities in the CEE region show that thoughtful expansion, local presence and flexibility in cooperation models are the key to success. Our company is successfully developing its campaign portfolio not only in Poland, but also in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, the Balkans and the Baltics.
CEE is no longer a “second-choice region,” it is a full-fledged player on the European e-commerce map. Tradedoubler proves that a skillful combination of technology, local knowledge and international experience is a recipe for successful development.
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