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48 I Eastern Europe bne July 2021
Buying a new stereo or washing machine is a lot more involved, as there are many factors that go into the decision: price, functions, service contract, reliability, reputation and the opinion of the rest of the family.
M.Video-Eldorado only holds part of
its stock in the store, and a customer visiting the store is encouraged to download a mobile app where they can explore and compare all the options and functions associated with each product.
There are also sales staff who also have a “consultant” version of the same app that not only allows them to showcase the product variants but also feeds them data such as what the customer has searched for and their previous purchase history. Artificial intelligence predictive technology then gives the sales assistant a good idea of what the customer is looking for.
“Two thirds of the customers start
the journey online where they check out the options and at the same time, over 80% of our customers use stores, so they switch from online to offline spontaneously and it can take around two weeks to complete the transaction,” said Izosimov. To win the market and keep customers throughout their ‘shopping journey’ you have to provide a seamless customer experience, which is why our focus is on what we call OneRetail, our mobile-centric platform
www.bne.eu
that lets us provide a more personal experience no matter where the customer is shopping, even in stores.”
“The touch and feel experience is an important part of the sales process, and the sales assistant can help the customer find the product that suits them best,” said Izosimov. “The purely online companies can’t offer this service. And it makes a big difference, especially when selling the premium end of the product range.”
Izosimov said that even this in-store service can be considered online sales,
as while the customer can look at a real fridge, the version they actually buy is via the app and can be very different, with a lot more bells and whistles. Moreover, the completion of the deal
is when they press the “buy” button and that can happen anywhere, in the store at your mother-in-law’s.
The vendors and producers of the goods also value M.Video-Eldorado’s added service and sales as the premium products are also the most profitable. Selling via online marketplaces
boosts volumes, but the goods most suited to this anonymous approach
are commoditised electronic goods such as toothbrushes or headphones. Moreover, while the marketplaces have large volumes of sales, the share of the producer in the overall sale is small. With M.Video-Eldorado their share is large and producers value the extra attention to sales details that this more intimate relationship brings, said Izosimov.
So far, so good
The plan is working so far. M.Video- Eldorado posted 14% year-on-year growth in GMV to RUB138bn ($1.8bn) in 1Q21. Notably, online sales of jumped by 63% y/y, accounting for 67% of the total top line in the reporting quarter.
In the same period the average monthly number of active users of the customer