Phase 1
Foundation with Laos
Relying heavily on wholesalers and distributors meant Carlsberg Group had limited visibility into sales data and little direct trust with buyers. To validate the concept, the business launched a proof of concept in Laos — a pilot with 100 outlets where orders were handled entirely through WhatsApp, with no email infrastructure in the workflow.
Phase 2 / part 1
Research in the field
Following the successful launch in Laos, Russia was the next market and the real test for the platform. Given its size and complexity, we knew research in the field was essential to understand local operations and buying culture.
We also visited Denmark and Norway to learn from Carlsberg's more established e-commerce markets. What we found across St. Petersburg, Copenhagen and Oslo changed the product.
Phase 2 / part 2
Scaling to Russia
Russia was a different reality: larger market, more complex operations, and unlike Laos, customers were ordering from desks with computers. What we found across St. Petersburg, Copenhagen and Oslo shaped the product in two critical ways.
Phase 3
Going Global
With Laos and Russia live and stable, my design approach became more systematic. The goal was to always design from a global template, so that new markets could adapt their branding locally and roll out faster.
In 2022, we added Malaysia and Lithuania, bringing CS+ to 4 markets.
Impact in numbers
4
markets successfully launched with CS+, with more planned ahead
Learnings
01
Field research elevated the product.
Visiting customers in St. Petersburg, Copenhagen and Oslo gave us insights that no desk research could. It directly shaped the ordering flow and catalogue design.
03
The global approach proved itself
Malaysia and Lithuania launched faster because the base was solid. UX patterns stayed consistent across markets, freeing up design focus for more strategic features, like the loyalty program and smarter ordering.