Pandora CEO On Why The Company Is Choosing Not To Sell On Amazon, Farfetch
Jewelry maker Pandora is choosing to invest in its physical footprint and its online platform instead of embracing larger marketplaces such as Amazon and Farfetch, the company’s CEO Alexander Lacik said.
“If you’re a small and unknown brand, marketplaces offer a great opportunity because they provide you with an audience. I already have an audience,” Lacik said.
Over the last two years, the Copenhagen-based company has been focusing on streamlining its footprint and improving its online business.
While it sells its products on China’s T-mall, it has refrained from using larger global marketplaces. This has allowed the company to form direct relationships with its customers.
“Eight out of ten women globally are aware of our brand, so I don’t need to make you aware of me. What I need to do is to show you what I’ve got, and I can to this much better if I have a direct relationship with my customer,” he told Reuters.
“Marketplaces always have to make a compromise for all the clients they are serving. I don’t have to compromise,” he added.
Today, the $12.3 billion company operates more than 2,600 physical stores, which reportedly accounted for 62% of its global sales between July and September of this year.
Last month, the company saw its shares dip by 4.8% after reporting weak sales growth at its physical stores in Q3.
The company noted that sales at its physical store locations improved by just 5 percent in Q3, while market analysts had expected a growth of 14 percent.
The company, however, remains bullish on its growth prospects, especially in the U.S. market, where government stimulus and improving vaccination rates against COVID-19 are driving consumer spend on various goods and services.
Originally published at https://retailbum.com on December 3, 2021.
