Once upon a time in London

Based in Farringdon, London, Wonderbly is on a mission to bring people closer to the ones they love through the power of stories. But these aren’t just any old stories. Working with amazingly talented authors and illustrators, their range of 60 book titles can be individually personalised online with each child’s name, hairstyle and even skin tone. “So not only are kids learning a love of reading, they’re also discovering their value and importance in the world,” explains Sarah Rickwood, VP of Marketing at Wonderbly.

That brings with it all kinds of other benefits too, especially in areas like inclusivity. “Customers often tell us how their family isn't represented in traditional books, or that fairytale heroes rarely reflect their race,” says Sarah. “We get many customers sharing heartfelt appreciation because, for the first time, their child can see themselves and their family within the story – which is a powerful thing for many.”

“I love that you have different races represented even within the same family. We are a family by adoption so we extra love this! Families don't have to match!” Wonderbly customer

How it all began

After starting out in 2012, the business soon began creating localised products for customers across Europe. Like a lot of fast-growth businesses though, this rapid expansion brought its own challenges. “Being active in so many markets meant having to understand the unique preferences of each region’s consumers, and how to best convert them,” says Caiti Black, International E-commerce Manager at Wonderbly. “That’s when we asked Google’s international team for a helping hand.”

One of the team’s top priorities was deciding which global markets to focus on first. Being an online-only business, they also needed help to score their ecommerce and UX against best practice, and identify the consumer behaviours that drive conversions.

For the German market especially, the team wanted to explore the role and importance of the ‘Trusted Shops’ badge. “Another big consideration was finding ways to meet the needs of the higher-than-average number of users who want to ‘self-serve’ in this region,” adds Caiti.

The next chapter

The Google Market Finder tool helped Wonderbly quickly identify the most suitable markets for its product range, and provided useful operational, marketing and customer insights. Next, the team attended a GBS Bootcamp and developed an action plan – including the development of a ‘German first’ product with a strong cultural fit.

They also added the Trusted Shops badge to the German website, and made additional improvements like adding more details around delivery costs, improving the navigation bar, and including a free shipping threshold to encourage users to spend more per order.

The story continues

In Germany, Wonderbly’s new nursery rhymes book quickly gained popularity on paid Search and Shopping, and revenue for their Bedtime Series has more than doubled. Between Q1 and Q2 2021, the business also saw a 50% increase in volume, while conversion rates for intent traffic reached 4.24% – a record high for German market traffic.

Since the pandemic, the team has also worked hard to nurture their connection with families and children in more direct ways. “During the first UK lockdowns, we produced free digital content for homeschooling families that reached over 300,000 customers through email,” explains Marketing VP, Sarah Rickwood.

“And we’ve continued our tradition of charity giveaways with a special NHS campaign where we donated a thousand books to NHS workers across the UK.”

From start-up publisher to market leader and global exporter, it’s been a rollercoaster ride for the team at Wonderbly. “Working with Google has definitely helped us achieve our growth goals,” says Sarah. “We’re learning a lot about our markets, and about ourselves. And this story is only just beginning.”

“Google’s international team has allowed us to optimise our German customer experience, and achieve excellent results.” Caiti Black, International E-commerce Manager, Wonderbly