Edem has
wholesale and retail divisions, doing business under different
brand names. Edem is the largest retailer in Rostov-on-Don with
estimated monthly volume of 60 million rubles. That makes them
the leader in the region.
In the furniture
business, Edem is one of the main players in the wholesale
market. In the past 10 years mainly importing furniture from
Asia. They have an impressive network of dealers, and their
product can be found in any Russian city.
Edem started
wholesale as well as retail business in 1999. In the beginning
they really did not promote its retail division. In 2006
the leadership made a decision to reorganize its retail
business. Profits in the wholesale side were falling, but
consumer business was growing. New stores and store chains were
opening up. And consumers started to understand what quality
service is.
Reorganization of
Edem’s retail business begun by forming a relationship with an
American consulting agency. Which had been working with
companies for over 30 years specializing in furniture industry.
The difficult task was put in front of the Americans: Take
existing and diverse showrooms and to create best furniture
stores in the south.
It was a global
change. The company had to completely revamp the structure of
their retail side of the business – product assortment, pricing,
service, and marketing strategies. The process lasted a year.
Special attention was paid to sales training – personal
customer consultations in showrooms. Selling process was
developed to the very details – salesperson greeting the
customer, giving full tour of the store. Salesperson must
develop trust with customer and be able to layout the interior
for the customer. Salesperson must have adequate product
knowledge.
The displays
were set up according to American principles of merchandising.
American and European approaches to display and merchandising
are different. Europeans leave as much space as possible for
customer navigation. Americans fill the usable showroom area
almost up to 90%. If Europeans display 5-6 groups at the most
in the area of 500 sq meters, Americans want to go for 8-10
groups in the same sq area. At first it may seem that there is
just too much merchandise displayed, but Americans feel
completely comfortable doing this.
Edem believes
that their consumer is a lot more like an American type than
European. Stores display not only furniture items, they also
show wide variety of accessory and décor items. The newly
formatted “Anna Potapova” store sales skyrocketed. During 2008,
the store showed 30% month to month growth. After a month, the
company made a decision to change over all the retail showrooms
to the “Anna Potapova” standards.
Currently the
stores display selection of furniture from over 500
manufacturers. Most of it is classic furniture from China and
Indonesia. Approximately 40% percent of the furniture offered is
Russian made. Stores make you feel good. Not boring. The
product selection is huge.
American approach
to merchandising definitely helped Edem to become a leader in
the region. Having said that, in the middle of 2010, Austrian
bred store “Kika” is planning to open a store just a few hundred
meters from Edem’s flagship location. So, the completion,
between the Americans and Europeans principles of display and
delivery of merchandise, is inevitable. Everyone will have an
opportunity to see which one will end up being more effective.
