In this episode of Adil Talks 2.0, host Syed Zurriyat Adil interviews Ula Stepancic, a young entrepreneur from Slovenia who specializes in helping brands scale on Amazon’s European marketplaces. Ula shares her journey from managing customer support to running her own full-service Amazon agency, offering deep insights into the complexities of the German, Italian, and Spanish markets, and how localized strategies are the key to succeeding in Central Europe.

Five Key Points

1: Localization is Non-Negotiable: Ula emphasizes that simply translating listings is not enough. To truly connect with European customers, brands must localize everything—including text on images and A+ content. Using English images on an Italian marketplace, for example, signals a lack of effort and can drive customers away.

2: The Power of the “Corporate” Client: While Ula started with smaller startups, she highlights that working with established corporate brands is often more efficient. Corporates have defined processes, clearer goals, and higher retention rates, though managing them requires a more sophisticated communication strategy.

3: Germany’s Market Dominance and Strictness: Germany is identified as the largest marketplace in Europe (second only to the USA globally). However, it is also the most challenging. Ula notes that Amazon Germany has become increasingly strict with documentation and approvals, often declining valid invoices without specific feedback.

4: Strategy for New Sellers in Europe: For those entering Europe, Ula recommends focusing on one marketplace first (like Italy or Germany) to build reviews and history before expanding. She also points out that since Brexit, selling in the UK has become significantly more complex due to duties and shipping hurdles, making the EU marketplaces a more attractive starting point for many.

5: Cultural Fluidity in Business: Being from Slovenia—a small country of 2 million people—Ula speaks four languages (Slovenian, English, Italian, and Croatian). This multilingual background is a massive asset in the fragmented European market, allowing her to navigate different cultural nuances and business requirements effectively.

Final Takeaway

The “one-size-fits-all” approach does not work in Europe. Success on Amazon Europe requires a localized, patient, and persistent strategy. Whether it’s navigating the strict documentation of Germany or the cultural preferences of Italy, the brands that win are those that treat each country as a unique market rather than just a translation task.

Podcast Transcript

[01:48] Syed Zurriyat Adil: Hi Ula, how are you?

[01:50] Ula Stepancic: Hi, hi! I’m great, thank you. How are you, Adil?

[01:55] Syed Zurriyat Adil: I’m doing great. So can you introduce yourself?

[01:58] Ula Stepancic: Yeah, sure. So I’m a young entrepreneur from Slovenia, a small country in Europe. What I do is help clients get on Amazon, register their brand, their company, list their products, advertise for them, and also mentor some of them. So basically, full service for Amazon.

[02:21] Syed Zurriyat Adil: Awesome. So how long did you start it, and where did you get the idea to start an agency for people who are starting on Amazon?

[02:34] Ula Stepancic: When I was finishing my Master’s, Corona hit all of us. I decided I needed a student job because I had some free time. I decided to try my luck in KingsBox—it’s a Slovenian company in the fitness industry.

[03:00] Ula Stepancic: They wanted me to help them in customer support for Italy. After one month, they switched me to trying to sell on Amazon. We had to register their brand and company and put all their fitness equipment on all European Amazons.

[03:22] Ula Stepancic: I worked for KingsBox for two years, and then many Slovenian clients reached out to me for help with their Amazon. I saw the potential, and I always wanted to have my own company, so I just said, “Yeah, let’s go now or never.”

[04:23] Syed Zurriyat Adil: So you mostly have experience in the European market, right?

[04:31] Ula Stepancic: Yeah, mostly. I have some clients from the States, but mostly Europe.

[04:39] Ula Stepancic: I would say European markets are more strict than the American ones because we have different VAT numbers for each country if you stock in FBA. You have different demands from the countries and ministries.

[05:06] Ula Stepancic: It requires a lot of work—translations in all languages like Spanish, German, Italian, Swedish, and so on.

[05:25] Syed Zurriyat Adil: If someone is starting out, how should they start?

[05:33] Ula Stepancic: I always say to focus just on one marketplace first. Build that marketplace, have some reviews and sales, and then move forward. And always localize everything—the pictures, the content, the A+, the store.

[05:49] Ula Stepancic: Never have English images on the Italian marketplace because you won’t get close to customers. They will think you didn’t have the will to take care of their marketplace.

[06:19] Syed Zurriyat Adil: Is Amazon just fine nowadays, or do you recommend other marketplaces?

[06:27] Ula Stepancic: It depends on the company strategy, but Amazon is huge. I would definitely always say go on Amazon first. If you succeed on Amazon, you can succeed on other platforms as well.

[07:04] Syed Zurriyat Adil: Comparing Spain and Germany, how easy is that transition?

[07:16] Ula Stepancic: It depends on the product. I would say Germany is a bit more strict. For example, a food supplement company might need many more documents and approvals for Germany than for Spain.

[08:13] Ula Stepancic: What I noticed in the last few months is they are becoming more strict than ever with business owner documents and statements. They won’t allow you to start selling until you send everything.

[08:44] Ula Stepancic: They will decline documents that were correct in the past and won’t tell you what’s wrong. You just need to keep calm and keep trying. Maybe in half a year, you will be approved.

[09:12] Ula Stepancic: I think they are focusing on big, professional brands so there wouldn’t be any Chinese resellers or drop shippers. This is good for big brands that want to own their part of the market.

[10:47] Syed Zurriyat Adil: You studied Economics for your Bachelor’s and Master’s. How was that shift to customer support and Amazon?

[11:02] Ula Stepancic: In Slovenia, you get a lot of theoretical knowledge. In high school, I was doing jobs in marketing and sales, so customer support was not a big deal. I just needed to learn the processes and the products.

[12:00] Syed Zurriyat Adil: What is the good thing about Slovenia?

[12:09] Ula Stepancic: Slovenia is very small, next to Italy, Hungary, Austria, and Croatia. We have mountains, lakes, and the sea. It’s only 2 million people. It’s very calm and great to live here.

[13:09] Ula Stepancic: We don’t have our own Amazon. We normally order from Germany or Italy. I think we won’t have it for many years because we are so small.

[16:33] Syed Zurriyat Adil: If you were to start a product, which marketplace would you start from?

[16:39] Ula Stepancic: I would start in Italy because it’s the closest to us. Shipping to FBA is cheaper. Also, I think it’s important to know your customers and how to approach them with the right graphics and listings.

[17:23] Syed Zurriyat Adil: How do you approach translations for different marketplaces?

[17:32] Ula Stepancic: I normally prepare the listing or we do it together, and then I send the English version to the client. They usually have their own translators or agencies to do it properly.

[18:11] Ula Stepancic: Even if you succeed on one marketplace, you can’t think in an instant that it will work on all marketplaces without optimization.

[19:44] Syed Zurriyat Adil: Which country in Europe has the highest CPC (Cost Per Click)?

[19:55] Ula Stepancic: Definitely Germany. The German marketplace is the biggest one after the USA.

[20:13] Ula Stepancic: I think it’s harder to run in the UK now after Brexit. It’s doable, but there are higher costs, duties to pay, and the shipments are more complicated.

[21:14] Ula Stepancic: My clients usually get their stock in their own country first to check it and repack it for FBA. Quality control is a very big job. If you send directly from China, you have to be very sure about the FBA stickers, or Amazon will decline it.

[23:02] Syed Zurriyat Adil: What is your advertising strategy in Europe?

[23:13] Ula Stepancic: We always start with automatic campaigns and move to manual ones with keyword research from Helium 10. We use Sponsored Display and Brand, but it’s different for every company.

[24:50] Syed Zurriyat Adil: Is it better to work with new clients or corporates?

[25:03] Ula Stepancic: Corporates, definitely. They have established processes, they are big enough, and they know what they want. It’s much easier to work with them.

[25:24] Syed Zurriyat Adil: How do you do lead generation for your company?

[25:30] Ula Stepancic: Mostly word of mouth. You connect with people at events, someone recommends you, you get two big brands as references, and then you post case studies on LinkedIn.

[27:06] Ula Stepancic: I always post on LinkedIn in English. I want to reach foreign companies abroad rather than just local Slovenian ones.

[28:19] Syed Zurriyat Adil: How many languages do you know personally?

[28:23] Ula Stepancic: Slovenian, English, Italian, and Croatian. Four for now. We are small, so we always need to learn other languages.

[29:36] Syed Zurriyat Adil: How do you say thank you in Slovenian?

[29:41] Ula Stepancic: We say “Hvala lepa.”

[29:49] Syed Zurriyat Adil: And in Urdu, we say “Shukria.”

[30:04] Syed Zurriyat Adil: Thank you so much for coming on the podcast, Ula.

[30:11] Ula Stepancic: Thank you for inviting me. It was very nice and cozy to talk about these things.