In 2020, former hedge fund investor David Kong combined his business acumen with his love of wine by launching two companies in the wine industry: Somm.ai, a sales and data analytics tool for wine companies, and Glasvin, a premium hand-blown wine glass company. Today, Glasvin has carved a unique niche in the market with their flagship all-purpose glass designed for all wine types. However, David found that expanding international sales came with challenges that limited Glasvin’s global expansion.
Since their founding, Glasvin has focused on selling quality wine glasses exclusively online for a reasonable price. As part of this commitment, the company has to ensure that their customers are happy with their handcrafted stemware and with the costs of getting these products delivered.
But as their customer base expanded beyond the US to places like Canada, the UK, and other parts of Europe, Glasvin faced increased shipping costs and taxes that surprised their international customers. This added friction to the sales process left many customers requesting refunds when they were charged duties and fees they hadn’t expected. The Glasvin team activated Managed Markets to make their shipping experience more seamless and to lower shipping costs as much as possible, all in order to keep their promise of accessibility and value to their customers.
After activating Managed Markets from Shopify, Glasvin saw the following results:
- 71% growth in global sales
- 11% increase in global conversion rate
- 122% increase in global conversion rate in Canada
- 109% increase in global conversion rate in Australia
The Challenge: Cross-border shipping costs put customer experience at risk
Global shipping was confusing to Glasvin’s customers, particularly when it comes to duty taxes. “Customers would email me wondering why they got charged around $50 in duties for a $100 shipment,” David says. “We would refund them the $50. It’s such a bad experience for the customer, regardless of who’s making money.” With thin margins already, Glasvin clearly needed to rectify this issue quickly.
“Our margins are close to zero when it comes to selling internationally,” David says, attributing the high costs to selling products like wine glasses, which are heavier than many ecommerce purchases and require packaging with more complex dimensions. Add duties and other taxes to the shipping cost, and the Glasvin team found that they would either have to increase prices or take a lower profit on its products. Refusing to accept either option, Glasvin was determined to find a better solution for continuing to serve their customers around the world.
The Solution: Managed Markets helped reduce costs and enhance transparency
When David received an invitation to let Shopify help manage Glasvin’s financial and legal operations in international markets, he jumped at the chance. “I was one of the first people to request beta access to Managed Markets,” he says. “The number one thing I wanted to do was see what DDP [Delivered Duty Paid] shipping cost was. I was very pleasantly surprised with how low the shipping costs were with Shopify. And the timing worked out really well.”
David found that the exclusive discounted shipping rates on Managed Markets were a very good fit for his business. “Delivered Duty Paid is obviously a big headache-saver for us,” he says, referring to how Glasvin offers DDP shipping at checkout so customers don’t have to pay any extra fees at the time of delivery. This feature also allows Glasvin to communicate the exact shipping fees customers can expect to pay without any surprises, which typically helps with cart conversion. This eliminated surprise post-delivery charges and reduced the number of emails and calls David’s team had to field from surprised customers.
In addition to this clear and upfront listing of duties, Managed Markets improved Glasvin’s international customer experience in several ways. Customers could see the cost of Glasvin’s products in their local currency, removing confusion further as they decided on purchases. The experience also became more personalized as shoppers gained access to local payment methods based on the country they lived in. “The local payment methods feature is one of those things Shopify just takes care of, which is partly why we all like Shopify,” David says. The team also found that using Managed Markets led to fewer packages getting lost in transit.
Managed Markets empowered David as he evaluated where to expand his business next. He can now better assess market appetite and determine whether to expand the company’s presence in a given location to meet untapped demand.
“I can see where we’re strong thanks to the analytics Shopify provides,” David says. “Managed Markets is our bridge to starting a distribution center in a new location. It helps us prioritize where we should open a warehouse next in Canada, the UK, or Europe.”
The Results: Enhanced global sales and global expansion strategy
In the five months since Glasvin activated Managed Markets in October 2023, the company saw 71% year-over-year growth in global sales. Additionally, they saw 11% year-over-year global conversion rate growth, which was particularly notable in Canada and Australia, which experienced 122% and 109% year-over-year conversion rate growth, respectively.
As David plans for future global expansion, he says that Managed Markets makes it easier for him to weigh distribution center openings in new locations and to consider international marketing investment as part of his roadmap. “Because Managed Markets offers competitive DDP shipping rates and transparent pricing, it attracts qualified buyers who clearly value our product, with the full understanding of what shipping will cost,” David says. “Managed Markets has given me confidence that I can continue to reach more buyers like these around the world, and I didn’t have that assurance before.”
While navigating the many decisions involved in expanding internationally can be complex, David can count on Managed Markets to help him safeguard the most important part of Glasvin’s business: the customer experience. By giving his customers transparent pricing, localized payment methods, and competitive shipping rates, David can manage global expansion while keeping his connection with customers intact. And that makes a huge difference for a direct-to-consumer company carving a niche in new markets.
Our customers expect high-end glassware without the high price tag, and they expect the same from our products’ shipping costs. Managed Markets enables us to keep our promise to customers and stay true to our brand, no matter who’s buying our glasses or where they live.