This is a management lesson that I will not forgetFind the articles of the series of summer onCréaplast achieved last year a turnover of 580A commando operation in full summer torporLast Thursday Xiao Yu commissioned his seventh credit cardSince then he was caught by urbanizationThe problem is that they are exempt from seizureThe aspirations of each and the other joinA haute couture of first lady but not onlyThe European highspeed network will triple by 2020"Mail order in Russia." It was only the beginning of the story! "The crisis now ripped the Russian economy has not started so the optimism of Pascal Clément, French entrepreneur based in Moscow since 1993 and head for ten years of a company to VPC. He sold his catalogues of products of the House and equipment health (some 80 million euros of turnover) to Otto, is to create a joint venture specializing in clothing distribution, DirectGroup with the German giant and world leader in this sector. Leader of the Russia sector (15,000 orders per day), the company found its audience and, at the end of two years, has a turnover of EUR 115 million. "In Europe, the VPC is already a difficult and very mature market." In Russia, the potential is still huge over the next twenty years. "Of all the more so there is almost no competition", enthuses Pascal Clément. The company is also specialized in astrology catalogues and books (sales EUR 30 million) and is preparing to launch others in various niches: DVD, shoes, distance course. Distribution catalogues (70 of sales) is lined with an offer on the Internet in full expansion, with therefore already for about a third of the activity. "In Russia, consumers are still novices and candid." "They are not tired to receive catalogues in Europe", explains Pascal Clément, who comes to take an interest in Kupivip. ru (club of purchases on the Internet). With a figure as evidence of this good reactivity: on average, when it receives a catalogue, the Russian client places an order in 10 to 15 of cases (and 25 for sales of books), against 2 usually in France. Sold to Otto activity represents, for example, 60 million catalogs per year and 6 million parcels (with typically two to three products in each package). Logistics difficulties. "The VPC can be a response to the challenge posed by the Russia distributors: the size of its territory." "Many Russians are already well accustomed themselves to make purchases on the Internet", provides Elena Mills, analyst at Alfa Bank distribution market.
Catalogues anti-crisis
"With the crisis, it must now be careful." "We have started to offer catalogs crisis with a selection of less expensive products and, especially, objects less gadgets and useful", temper Pascal Clément. Since January, it has not registered decrease of activity while consumption sector in General has suffered a slowdown in net. "Because of the devaluation of the ruble, it has lost sales." But the response rate to our catalogues remain very good. It is difficult and expensive in Russia to open a chain of stores and manage stocks. The distribution will be a major victim of the crisis. "The VPC should less be", provides Pascal Clément, who does not minimize to the Russian market-specific logistics challenges: problems at the crossing at customs for imported products; the slow pace of distribution by mail, large post-Soviet administration with 42,000 offices covering all the territory, the ordered goods arrive in two or three weeks, against 48 hours in France.
