Polini Kids in a real grown-up business
Topol Group of Companies enters foreign markets through e-commerce sites.
06/11/2017
Online sales of the products under the brand Polini Kids are growing in Europe with amazing dynamics. For a year and a half of the presence on the German market, Polini Kids furniture and goods for children have been purchased by more than 40 thousand German families.
“The latest estimates show that we have already occupied about 14 percent of the German e-commerce market in the category of changing cabinets,” says Nikita Semenov, vice president of Topol Group of Companies. “And in the segment of beds and other products for newborns, our share reaches 3-5 percent, Today, Polini Kids products are sold through all major marketplays, including Amazon, eBay and Rakuten. I’ll say more: we have become premium partners with Rakuten in the category of products for children.”
Germany remains an export alma mater for the Topol Group of Companies. Opened in 2016 near Düsseldorf, the company's branch continues to expand the warehouse program. 90% of all products presented in the European 270-page catalog of the brand are now available for shipment from the warehouse and can be delivered to a German buyer within 24 hours – as it is required, for example, by Amazon.
After strengthening its positions in the online segment, Polini Kids intends to go offline. It is also planned to get acquainted with the teenagers furniture sector. After completing the final product introduction scheme, the company intends to move with expansion to other European countries.
The development of relations with b2b-clients is facilitated by the readiness of Topol to communicate at any level, the lack of a language barrier (there are employees who speak fluent English and German), activity in the public field of the industry and competent marketing.
In autumn of 2016, Topol Group of Companies took part in the main European exhibition of goods for children Kind+ Jugend for the second time. At the stand of 55 square meters, Polini Kids brand was represented by a new flagship product line for newborns (transformer beds, changing cabinets, wardrobes, textile accessories) and a collection of furniture for teens. In Cologne, the company managed to establish contacts with the representatives of the Italian and French specialized networks.
Topol is seriously working towards the entrance to the Chinese market – they have already started trading on one of the largest Chinese online markets JD.com (an assertive competitor of AliExpress).
“Demographers say that the birth rate in the coming years in China will be at the level of 20 million children per year. Are any other arguments still needed? Against the background of Russian realities, our plans for China absolutely make sense.”
Topol has no doubt that kid’s furniture from the Russian company will be in demand among Chinese buyers: “Imported goods are considered to be more prestigious, and that attracts Chinese customers,” explains Ksenia Kosobokova, Deputy Director General for Marketing in Topol Group of Companies. “Furniture under the European trademark is of a special interest: it meets the international quality and environmental safety standards, and its appearance and features differ from the standard models of Chinese origin. The combination of several factors: price accessibility, quality and environmental friendliness of materials, European online sales experience – all that opens for us a unique niche and opportunities for promotion on the Chinese market.”
Another export direction, at which Topol looks very attentively, is the USA market. Despite the unofficial American bans on working with Russian suppliers, Topol believes that it is possible to overcome everything, and in 2018 Polini Kids will undoubtedly appear in the United States.
As for the expansion of the product line in the longer term, Topol plans to organize the production of cabinet furniture under the umbrella brand Polini Home. “These will be economy-segment kitchens,” said Ms. Kosobokova. “The sales on the Russian market have already begun, and we see a growing interest in our products. At the same time we are working on new sets of kitchen furniture, which we plan to present in Europe. We will start selling them online in all the countries where we work.”
