This year’s top stories explored everything from global trade trends and supply chain resilience to AI-driven marketing, trade terminology, and cautionary tales of market entry gone wrong. Together, they offer a snapshot of the questions and challenges that mattered most to TradeReady’s audience in 2025, and a useful starting point for anyone looking to sharpen their trade knowledge moving into the year ahead.

1. 10 global trade trends we’ll be watching in 2025

10 global trade trends we’ll be watching in 2025

2. How AI can power your international marketing from localization to market insights

How AI can power your international marketing from localization to market insights

3. Combating food fraud with technology-driven traceability

Combating food fraud with technology-driven traceability

4. Lessons from a failed export plan: why Starbucks couldn’t crack Australia

Lessons from a failed export plan: why Starbucks couldn’t crack Australia

5. 25 International trade terms you should know

25 International trade terms you should know

6. The fastest-growing international trade jobs for 2026 and how to get them

The fastest-growing international trade jobs for 2026 and how to get them

7. How IKEA’s inflatable furniture flop teaches us the value of rigorous product testing

How IKEA’s inflatable furniture flop teaches us the value of rigorous product testing

8. From the classroom to global impact: The inspiring journeys of FITT’s 2024 Educational Award winners

From the classroom to global impact: The inspiring journeys of FITT’s 2024 Educational Award winners

9. How to start an export business in Canada

How to start an export business in Canada

10. Export is not a sales channel: It’s a business model!

Export Is Not a Sales Channel. It’s a Business Model!

The post Best of 2025: Top 10 most-read international trade articles from the past year appeared first on Trade Ready.

But eight years later, Starbucks closed nearly three-quarters of its Australian locations.

 Headlines screamed: “Shunned Starbucks in Aussie exit.”

So what happened?

Clearly, Starbucks wasn’t working with a bad product. Its success in the American markets testified to that. And there weren’t any obvious instances of bad luck or misfortune. Instead, Starbucks’ expansion highlighted the cultural gap that can make international expansion challenging. And given that Starbucks Australia eventually started turning a profit decades later, there are some interesting lessons to learn from what went wrong—and how Starbucks turned it all around.

The risk of skipping the necessary cultural research

Most market entry failures start with poor preparation. Starbucks’ foray into Australia proved no exception.

The brand went full-throttle: Starbucks opened 84 Australian stores in just eight years, many in major cities with established coffee markets. However, Starbucks failed to take into account the highly developed coffee culture already present in Australia. After World War II, an influx of immigrants from Italy brought espresso machines and introduced coffee en masse. Australians had already “met” coffee cafe culture.

As the Australasian Marketing Journal reports:

“Australia’s taste for coffee is a by-product of the waves of immigrants arriving on the country’s shores following World War II. European migrants, predominantly Greeks and Italians, were the first to establish the coffee culture, which was later embraced more widely in the 1980s.”

In the U.S., that hadn’t been quite as true. Starbucks had already defined cafe culture. Meanwhile, Australians already had deep-set preferences for strong, artisanal coffee being served in locally-owned shops. In Australia, Starbucks wouldn’t be driving the culture. It would feel more like an outsider selling a familiar product. And its corporate approach felt less authentic (and often, more expensive) than the local cafes.

According to Justologist,

“Australians are spoiled for choice when it comes to coffee” while “the large coffee chains are not dominating the market like Starbucks is in America.”

Australian coffee culture was largely fragmented, not as ripe for national domination as American coffee culture had been.

What Starbucks could’ve done differently

Succeeding in any export market requires companies to clearly define their customer and adapt their approach as appropriate. That begins with thorough market research: a deeper understanding of the cultural context into which you’re exporting your products.

Creating detailed customer profiles

[This content is an excerpt reproduced from the FITTskills International Sales & Marketing course]

Customer profiles are used for product and service adaptations and other marketing decisions. Profiles are also often created for specific segments for the market. Customer profiles are almost certain to be diverse within every foreign market, taking into account income levels, culture, living standards, fashion, religion, politics and general attitudes toward imported products. Include the following 3 sections:

Demographic Portrait

This part of the profile demonstrates a detailed understanding of the organization’s customers and typically includes demographic characteristics such as age, gender, career or job, income, level of educational attainment, geographic location and language(s) spoken.

Estimated Demand

Based on collected research, marketers estimate demand for products and services, and the rate at which the demand is expected to grow.

Purchase Motivation

It is important to understand what motivates customers to buy. Are they looking for savings or a way to simplify their lives? Perhaps they are seeking attention or safety. Why will customers choose the company’s product or service over the competition? Is what they have to offer too inexpensive or too costly? Do they offer something unique? What cultural factors influence the values, preferences and behaviours in this target market?

For more on how to conduct customer research including collecting and analysing data and identifying insights about market segments explore International Sales & Marketing

In Australia, a full profile of coffee customers would have revealed that they weren’t necessarily looking for big-time chains. They valued their independent cafes. They already had their favorite barista-crafted coffee shops. They were fine with a localized, relaxed experience, and didn’t see a need to change

Starbucks had been encouraged by its rapid expansion in the U.S. and may have assumed that success in another western-style country would be assured. Instead, they tried to transplant the American model wholesale. And it was a model that simply wasn’t going to work in a country with a different coffee history.

A flawed international marketing strategy

‘‘I just think the whole system, the way they serve, just didn’t appeal to the culture we have here,” said Andrew Mackay, VP of the Australian Coffee Traders Association.

A key point of issue for Starbucks’ strategy was differentiation. International marketing can get tricky if your brand can’t figure out what makes it different. While the Australasian Marketing Journal notes that Starbucks had an initial spike of interest thanks to the novelty of the store and Australians’ curiosity, it failed to differentiate why it was superior to the already-embedded local coffee culture across the Australian continent.

Starbucks was perceived as having a premium price that required some point of differentiation to justify paying that much for coffee. The extant coffee culture in Australia made that selling point difficult. Other marketing problems—such as the uniformity of the store design—didn’t appeal to Australians the same way they had appealed to Americans.

The rapid expansion strategy also introduced an element of fatigue. While the appeal of a standardized coffee store had legs in America, the uniformity and success of the brand eventually started to wear on many customers. The same was true in Australia, where Starbucks’ rapid entry to the market and aggressive expansion strategy failed to make inroads.

Ultimately, Starbucks was a first-mover in America, while the brand had failed to acknowledge that in Australia, it would simply be another place offering coffee.

Additionally, Australian cafe owners weren’t intimidated by Starbucks. Starbucks’ fast-expansion philosophy might have worked in the United States, but Australian cafes were able to double down on the specialty brews and cozy atmospheres that had already made them popular with the Australian public. In that environment, it was difficult for Starbucks to differentiate itself from the competition.

How Starbucks Australia eventually recovered

A younger demographic eventually came to the rescue. According to Coffee Intelligence, “a new cohort of Gen Z and young millennials are driving coffee consumption in Australia, and they exhibit new drinking preferences that align with what Starbucks offers.”

Starbucks finally found itself aligning with what Australian consumers wanted, which was now an on-the-go lifestyle. Convenience and mobile online ordering systems were becoming preferable to the cozy cafe experience—which played to Starbucks’ strengths.

Additionally, Starbucks eventually shifted from a pure growth strategy to focusing on tourist-friendly locations with more international audiences. Shopping centers and popular commuting destinations proved valuable in this strategy.

In other words, Starbucks eventually found success not in trying to teach Australians to be like Americans, but in finding where its current Australian market already existed, then doubling down on that strategy.

Actionable lessons for exporters

Starbucks made some expensive missteps, but eventually learned some key lessons to enter a new international market:

• Define your customer profile, remembering to keep it local. Don’t assume what worked for your current customer base will work for the new one, too. Use customer profiling to understand demographics, demand, and culturally-driven purchase motivations in the new market.
• Adapt your product or service to fit the culture. Starbucks started seeing more success when it a mobile-driven generation stared drinking coffee. Rather than stick to its old U.S. playbook, the brand eventually shifted to finding its niche, which provided further opportunity to grow.
• Localize your marketing strategy. One-size-fits-all branding can often be a mistake, as you use previous successes to predict future ones. But sometimes, those successes were due to elements that may not exist at the next stage of your expansion.

A powerful “export plan” takes plenty of research, along with generous dollops of patience and humility. Starbucks was able to turn things around by addressing their mistakes and doubling down on customer research and adaptations. Lesson learned? Don’t skimp on your customer profiles and never assume your domestic approach will work in global markets.

FITTskills content adapted from: FITTskills International Sales & Marketing. Forum for International Trade Training (FITT), © 2023.

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In endeavoring to maximize profit margins, companies have been outsourcing their manufacturing as the cheapest way to source their goods. The focus on ethical sourcing is a relatively new trend.

In recent years there have been some major success stories of companies that have gone out of their way to make their sourcing and manufacturing both ethical and responsible. These companies not only boosted the reputation of their brands, but also ensured that workers on their supply chains were being treated well.

Here is a look four companies who earned outstanding reputations and found international success by going the extra mile to achieve ethical sourcing and manufacturing.

1. Patagonia

Patagonia, an American outdoor clothing company, has used organically grown cotton for all of its products since switching from pesticide-heavy cotton crops in 1994. The clothing company altered its entire supply chain to ensure environmentally friendly, safe working conditions. Furthermore, they provide excellent health insurance and gives paid paternity and maternity leave for all of its workers.

Patagonia has built a very strong reputation for being ethical, environmentally friendly, and using ethical sourcing. This positive reputation only strengthens its brand, and gives conscientious customers more incentive to buy.

2. Starbucks

Starbucks is committed to 100% sustainably sourced coffee, and uses a system called C.A.F.E. (Coffee and Farmer Equity Practices) in order to optimize its sustainable sourcing. There are four ideas at the heart of Starbucks’ C.A.F.E. sourcing system: quality, economic transparency, social responsibility, and environmental leadership.

Starbucks strives to always buy coffee at fair prices and ensure each step of the coffee planting, harvesting, processing and purchasing is always done ethically. The coffee giant even uses third parties to verify that its sourcing is ethical. The standards set by Starbucks are now recognized as the industry standard for ethical sourcing.

Starbucks works with over 170,000 farmers and generates billions of dollars in revenue every single year. Its ability to remain both profitable and set the industry standard for sustainability has been a shining example for North America’s coffee industry.

3. H&M

Clothing retailer H&M is committed to supply chain transparency. They publish a list of 98.5% of their suppliers’ names and addresses on their website and update it on a quarterly basis. Anyone can verify whether their suppliers live up to the standards set by the company. This also ensures they can be held publicly accountable for the conduct of their suppliers.

In addition to sharing its supply chain information, H&M also has a responsible sourcing goal of using only 100% recycled or sustainably sourced materials by the year 2030. This makes H&M a trendsetter, and an ethical leader in clothing retail.

In terms of sustainable and ethical sourcing, the fashion industry is view by many as problematic. If a leading clothing retailer like H&M can demonstrate its dedication to ethical practices and sustainability while maintaining profits, there is a potential to change this reputation as other retailers follow this example.

4. The Dr. Pepper Snapple Group

The Dr. Pepper Snapple Group features a social responsibility section on its website which explains the company’s policies regarding ethical sourcing, and outlines the code of conduct it expects each of its suppliers to follow. This section explains how the Dr. Pepper Snapple Group uses third party metrics from groups like the UN Human Development Index and the International Labor Association to evaluate the ethics and quality of the companies that it sources from. This helps to ensure that all of the materials that go into Dr. Pepper, Snapple, and the other beverages made by this company are from good quality companies who treat their workers fairly.

The social responsibility report outlines further efforts to improve energy efficiency, reduce water use, packaging waste, and more. This report allows anyone to take a deeper look into the ethics of the companies sourcing and get more informed about their suppliers.

How ethical sourcing and manufacturing improves the world and the bottom line

Not every company prioritizes ethical sourcing and many products in developed markets are still tied to unethical business practices. Despite this, the long-term trend is turning towards sustainability.

Social networking sites and the internet are making the world much more connected. Seeing and reporting on ethics violations and bad business practices is easier than ever before

Consumers can send the message that ethical behavior is important to them by making informed decisions when choosing which brands to support by purchasing their products.

The opposite is also true, and socially conscious consumers can now easily use the internet to find ethical brands. Customers are using their purchasing power to send the message that ethical sourcing and manufacturing are important to them. As a result, more businesses will change their practices as they acknowledge it makes good financial sense. This should see a rise in brands competing with each other to build ethical reputations to entice new customers. As a result, ethical sourcing and manufacturing practices will become much more commonplace around the world.

The post 4 companies who succeed by focusing on ethical sourcing and manufacturing appeared first on Trade Ready.

• New product that opens an entirely new market for the company and meets a new consumer need
• Product modification that improves the product, engages new consumers and re-engages existing consumers in the market
• Product that replaces an existing company product
• Product that significantly broadens the market for an existing company product
• Existing/old company product introduced in a new market
• Existing/old company product packaged in a different way
• Existing/old company product marketed in a different manner

Product development and adaptation is a continuous process. It requires full liaison between the manufacturer and the agent or end user to ensure the product meets market requirements and profitability is maintained.

In seeking to satisfy new markets, companies have several options available, including:

• Selling standardized products as is, i.e. the same product and promotional message
• Modifying products for specific safety and functional requirements, e.g. for some countries or regions, product power requirements may need to change from 110 volts to 220 volts
• Designing entirely new products for foreign markets
• Incorporating locally induced differences into product offerings, known as glocalization

Different types of products can serve different purposes. For example:

• Innovative products are a means for companies to enter an existing market.
• Additions to existing product lines supplement and expand options for consumers.
• Improvements or revisions to an existing product line can improve market share and re‑engage past consumers.
• Repositioning products allows companies to target new markets.
• Product development and adaptation can be used to reduce production costs and sometimes reduce prices for consumers when a similar product can meet the same needs at a lower cost.

With these goals and strategies in mind, here’s 4 of the many examples of how adapting products or developing new ones has paid off in spectacular fashion for companies worldwide.

1. The evolution of the razor

The cartridge safety razor was first introduced in the 1960s. These razors were a popular and cheaper alternative to the electric razor introduced in the 1930s. Made from moldable plastics, the cartridge razor contained a disposable, replaceable cartridge head. Each cartridge generally held two blades and would slide on and off a straight plastic handle. This version is the basis for today’s disposable razor.

The cartridge of a modern safety razor generally has three to five blades, with lubrication strips on either side of the blades. The handle is contoured to fit the hand; some vibrate, while others have a ball in the handle and a flexible cartridge to better glide over facial contours.

These product adaptations have taken the simple safety cartridge razor to a higher-end product without losing the usefulness of the first simple model.

2. So much more than just “a coffee”

Consider the American coffee company Starbucks. The service provided by baristas making and customizing Starbucks beverages for the desires of individual customers is an integral part of customers purchasing the company’s products. In 2015, service generated USD 19.2 billion in revenue for Starbucks.

Starbucks entered the market offering a coffee shop experience. The company sells its signature fair trade coffee perfectly ground, brewed and served in their coffee shops all over the world. In 2016, Starbucks had baristas serving coffee in fifty countries. In terms of continued growth, it expects to have more than 37,000 stores by 2021.

Starbucks continues to innovate both in terms of its products and its brand experience.

Starbucks offers coffee-based drinks, such as lattes, as well as teas and smoothies. It also sells coffee paraphernalia, such as mugs, coffee beans and coffee makers. Customers can also buy food products. Starbucks uses these associated products to enhance its coffee service and offer more to customers with a “one-stop-shopping” strategy. Customers can go in for coffee and also have a snack or lunch. Starbucks has also expanded its home brewing by selling beverage pods for consumers using single cup brewing systems.

3. Going “glocal”: It’s the same, but different

In business, the term “glocal” describes activities that take into consideration both local and global concerns. There are many examples of brands that enter into emerging markets by adapting their products to local tastes, attitudes and values.

For example, McDonalds, a brand built on providing high quality beef products, has adjusted its menu in India, where the cow is considered a holy animal. Its localized menu items include McAloo tikki burgers (mashed potato patty) and Chicken Maharaja Mac with Indian spices.

4. Wait, you can do that? The future of manufacturing

A Dutch design company called MX3D is collaborating with a variety of partners, including Autodesk and the Amsterdam City Council, to 3D print a metal bridge over one of the city’s canals.

Designer Joris Laarman says the project will free the world to think about craft in new ways.

“I strongly believe in the future of digital production and local production, in the new craft,” says Laarman.

This bridge will show how 3D printing finally enters the world of large scale, functional objects and sustainable materials while allowing unprecedented freedom of form.

This is not the only project of its kind. In 2016, Michigan Technical University built an open-source 3D metal printer for under USD 1,000; and in the 2015 “Launch Tennessee Master Accelerator Program”, a startup called Branch Technology took inspiration from nature to develop 3D-printed walls for homes and buildings using a “cellular fabrication” process.

The post Learn to adapt your products from these 4 success stories appeared first on Trade Ready.

Here is a look at some lessons learned from famous market entry successes. These companies did it right, and others who wish to expand into new territories can learn from their strategies.

1. Starbucks in China

Lesson: Challenging the status quo can create a whole new market.

For thousands of years, the Chinese have produced and drank tea. The beverage has been so closely associated with the country for so long that the phrase “not for all the tea in China” has been a part of popular culture since the late 19th century, as a way of expressing unwillingness to do something for any price.

In the Chinese market, coffee had always been a distant second behind this beverage. Despite this fact, Starbucks believed that it was still possible to get the Chinese to embrace coffee.

They believed this because they thought that the concept of the “third place,” a place that is not work or home, but where one can still spend time and feel comfortable, would catch on in China.

Starbucks believed that an interest in coffee would grow with the interest in the “third place” that their stores provide.

Many other coffee companies may have balked at the immense challenge of breaking such a clear cultural preference. In 1999, however, Starbucks entered the Chinese market and opened its first store.

Over the next thirteen years, they opened 570 stores in 48 cities. These numbers clearly reflect how enormously successful they were.

It turned out that the Chinese were ready for such a big change in their beverage choices. They just needed a company to come in and provide a consistent, quality product in a friendly, clean environment, conducive to social interaction outside of home and work.

By taking the risk to break the mold of cultural traditions, Starbucks actually created a whole new market for its product. That market is alive and well, and demand continues to be strong. In fact, Starbucks plans to have 1500 stores in operation in China by the end of 2015.

2. McDonald’s in France

Lesson: Adaptation to a customer base is crucial.

Despite the fact that McDonald’s has enjoyed tremendous success in America for generations, it doesn’t always fare so well in every new market it enters.

For example, McDonald’s entered France in 1979. While it did okay at first, it was far from dominating the market. It was not until it changed some of its tactics in 1995 to adapt to the French clientele that McDonald’s really started to take off in France.

As of 2012, McDonald’s has 1258 stores in the country, more than double the 542 it had just fifteen years before in 1997.

In order to better appeal to its French customers, McDonald’s took a good look at French culture. The company realized that local cheeses, local beef, and baguettes might better appeal to the French palette.

In France, over 70 percent of sandwiches are made on baguettes. So, adding baguette sandwiches to appeal to the tastes of local customers helped the restaurants take off in the region.

Also, knowing that the French were fond of small coffee shops, McDonald’s started opening “McCafe’s,” where people could order a coffee, hang out, read newspapers, and relax. This was yet another hit with the French market.

In a final tactical move, McDonald’s starting having servers go around to tables and take orders for coffees, desserts, and second courses. They did this because their research showed that the French snack less during the day than their American markets, and instead eat meals that often include several courses.

This helped McDonald’s raise the average amount spent per patron to $15, an amount that is approximately four times higher than it is in America.

3. IKEA in China

Lesson: Bridging cultural gaps helps consumers understand the value of the product.

The middle class in China has expanded dramatically in the last twenty years. In fact, by 2017, 60 percent of the Chinese urban population is expected to be middle class. This amounts to 340 million households.

Due to this increase in wealth, and thus consumerism, a number of foreign companies have tried to expand into the Chinese market.

While results vary wildly from one business to another, IKEA is an example of a company that has had great success there. To see why, it helps to compare their strategy to Home Depot’s, a company who did not do well in China.

Home Depot is a home improvement company that relies on customers knowing what they are doing in terms of adding to or repairing their homes. The problem is that in China, the large middle class is very new, and many consumers do not know all of the nuances of home repair.

IKEA recognized this, and included many models and resources to guide them in how a home should be furnished and otherwise improved in their stores. This helped Chinese consumers understand exactly how IKEA products worked and could add value to their homes.

In other words, IKEA basically taught its customers in China how to furnish and decorate their homes.

This education attracted customers, many of whom were brand new to home ownership.

The result was a home run for IKEA. In fact according to Michael Ohlssen, the CEO at the time, sales in China were growing at a faster rate than sales in the rest of the company’s markets in 2011.

4. Red Bull in America

Lesson: Event marketing can be extremely powerful.

Red Bull’s entry into the American market was so seamless and successful that many Americans don’t even realize that it is actually a foreign company. The Austrian company was able to achieve this feat largely by its genius marketing techniques.

Many people in the U.S. are familiar with Red Bull soap box derbies, Red Bull extreme sports competitions, or the Major League Soccer team the New York Red Bulls.

However, what many people don’t realize, is that Red Bull’s event-based marketing strategy helps to generate a powerful buzz about the company and helps ingrain its brand image into American culture.

For example, in 2012 Red Bull created Stratos, a project designed to generate the highest ever free fall, launched from space. This project, which saw daredevil Felix Baumgartner jump off of an ascending balloon from space, generated almost 7 million YouTube views.

The Red Bull Air Race and the Red Bull Rampage are other events that generate large amounts of attention. From a marketing perspective, Red Bull is able to attract interest in their company in a way that many companies do not. This has enabled Red Bull to become the top selling energy drink in America.

Red Bull simply creates events that are so incredible or sensational that they are difficult to ignore.

People bond over experiencing the event, and soon the concept of Red Bull is fully familiar to them.

Red Bull has developed a winning strategy, and the company shows no signs of slowing in the American market. It seems event marketing really has given the company wings.

Which of these lessons could you most easily apply to your business’s expansion into new international markets?

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