American Tourister: one foundation, three markets.

The challenge

A global travel brand entering several regional markets faces a choice that decides the economics: build each storefront bespoke, or build once and localise. Bespoke gives perfect fit and a cost that makes smaller markets unviable. Build-once risks a storefront that reads as foreign in every market it lands in.

The markets genuinely differ. Egypt runs heavily on cash on delivery with courier serviceability that thins outside the main cities. Saudi Arabia needs Mada alongside cards and is Arabic-first for the majority of shoppers. Bahrain is compact enough that it has to be viable at a much smaller order volume. What they share is a catalogue, a brand and the way luggage is actually chosen.

What we did

• One regional foundationA shared storefront pattern, catalogue model and component library, so catalogue and design work happens once rather than three times.
• Localised where it countsPayment methods, courier rules, pricing, tax and delivery expectations set per market, because those are the parts a customer feels immediately.
• Arabic-first, not translatedFull RTL storefronts with Arabic product content workflows rather than a translation layer over an English design.
• Payment behaviour per marketCards plus cash on delivery in Egypt, Mada and cards in Saudi Arabia, each with verification logic to protect margin on COD orders.
• Honest courier coverageServiceability checks and delivery promises based on where couriers actually reach, rather than a national promise that fails outside the cities.
• Luggage-specific merchandisingFilters and product data built around cabin compliance, capacity, weight, wheels and warranty, the attributes buyers genuinely compare.

Outcome

Three market storefronts running on one shared foundation, each with its own payment mix, courier rules and Arabic-first browsing, while catalogue and brand presentation stay consistent. The pattern is what made a compact market like Bahrain commercially viable at all.