
SEO Pandora in Ukraine Denis Ovdienko and head of the Association of Retailers of Ukraine Andrei Zhuk in a href=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PN7tdbfVBl4&t=942s”>the next issue of the program “Beyond Frames Retail” discussed the state of the market of jewelry retail in Ukraine, the strategy of competitive fighting, the cadre crisis and many other things. RAU picked core.
About the history of the brand Pandora and the development of the network in Ukraine
– Why the brand Pandora has grown to the size of a global company, which operates in more than 100 countries in the world?
– The history of the Pandora brand began in 1982 in the local jeweler, who lived near Copenhagen, started the business with his wife. Gradually the company developed and grew, but the real boom occurred in the 2000s, when the brand became mega-popular thanks to the bracelets with beads. I am sure that now the case of the company is studied in many universities as an example of successful business, successful storytelling.
The main factors that led the brand to success are the emotional DNA of the company and very successful storytelling, Bracelets with beads that can be collected, this was a very successful marketing move. It is thanks to this that was the peak of the development of the company. Over this time Pandora opened about 7000 stores in 100 countries around the world and is now one of the leading bands of jewelry – In Ukraine the Pandora brand is in the MTI group, which is professionally engaged in retail. – – So our group of companies is developing few directions in retail – the technology and electronics, fashion-retail, Samsung representation in Ukraine, some jewelry brands. In together the MTI group has sufficient experience in developing trading networks. If she speak about Pandora, the history of brand in Ukraine began in 2010 year. It is in this year was opened first store in TRC Aladdin. About the assortment and positioning in Ukraine – What does the brand’s activities and assortment in the world and in Ukraine? Are there any unique elements in Ukraine or is it always the standard system across the world? – – As a matter of fact, the assortment across the world is slightly different, because each market has its own trends. But at the global Pandora 2024 conference, where the company discussed the year’s results, we see, that in accordance with the assortment matrix our sales are correlated with what is occurring in other markets. There is a slight difference in sales of rings. For example, We have rings in the assortment of 20%, while in other countries – 21%, but this is very significant difference. Of course, there are some defined special markets that are allowed to diverge from the global strategy. This is, in particular, the Chinese market. There are determined special materials, other models of decoration. They have they have their bestsellers, which is explained by another mentality. In Ukraine we in whole we transmit the main strategy.brand, which also operates and in other countries in Europe. – Do Have you the right to insist on our own orders for assortments that may differ from the standard? – – Yes, if we see a trend for a particular category, we can initiate additional supplies of these embellishments. We in general we are actively cooperating with the head office: they see our sales, our output, what is going with us in the market. We can initiate determined innovations, but, of course, they don’t always agree with them. Then there is a defined dialogue, the agreement which depends on the residuals in the distribution warehouse, sales in other markets and things like. – Tell us about your marketing. How do you manage to promote jewelry when the country is undergoing very complicated (including and emotionally) times? How do you work to not offend consumers? – Yes, there are huge challenges of the Ukrainian market, to which we are adapting every time. We make local decisions depending on the context and what is happening in the country. Although as representatives of the international brand we also have to adhere to defined rules, transmit defined stories, which the global office of Pandora. But within this we work with local influencers, with the local We understand that now it is very complicated emotionally, but there is our advantage. It is now that the Ukrainians have began to begin more openly and express their states, their emotions. And this is clearly reflected in our sales. – We have a defined split of marketing, which is divided into different categories, from from digital marketing and from PR activities, events, working with bloggers and things like. The key place now is digital-marketing, so we work with the best digital-agencies in Ukraine in this sphere we work with the best digital-agencies in Ukraine. We started developing digital marketing as early as the dokovidny period, when we understood that it would be the main channel for our sales growth. Since those since the Marketing plan we have not changed, only that we have revised budgets because of the first full-scale invasion. – A What has changed in the advertising campaigns after 24 February 2022 year? – – Besides the fact that at the beginning of the Big War were revised all budgets, as I already noted, the marketing split didn’t change substantially. If we compare the price of click now and at that time, then we had some preferences, because in that period few who dared to do that. We were taking advantage of this opportunity and we were in a very good position. At the level of shareholders it was agreed that we will continue to work and invest in the Ukrainian market.It worked, and helped us stand strong. Now we have began to work more with media advertising and companies in TRCs. We also realized that our stores are part of marketing. That’s why we began to update our stores, so that they work more as a display, so that people can touch and feel the energy of the brand, try on the decorations and become a partof the story. – You began opening ultramodern formats stores. Tell us in general, what formats of stores do you now have and what are they different? – In August this year we launched a brand new new format Evoke Evoke 2.0, which translates customer-centricity as part of the global brand strategy. It is a format about the personalized customer experience. In this format of the store customers feel more comfortable, uninhibited. We can see that the new stores have increased sales, increased visitation, also increased close rate and NPS. All in Ukraine now there are three main formats: these are stores, corners, and large stores with a separate entrance, which are represented in different trade centers. And we also have separate some small stores, which also can be found in TRCs. In large TRCs, where there is sufficient high crowding of international brands, there are part of stores, there are part of corners and part of trading islands. For the requirement of the head office, the store should have a square from 50 square m. In the future we will also open stores in small cities – it is newA global strategy for brand development. – What is different in the format Evoke 2.0, besides new repair and design? – The key role of the format of the store. In previous stores we didn’t have an island part with windows. Also we didn’t have personalized zones. In new stores we work a lot with visual merchandising. Separately there is an area with engraving, where the client can personalize their decoration, order individual inscription, which will be executed right at the place. This seems to be a unique history for Ukraine. – How does Pandora follow trends but stays relevant for this long time? – – Really, the trend with beads has raised Pandora to the top – this continued from the 2000s years to 2016 year. Then there was a huge boom for bracelets with beads. After that the company slightly declined in sales, and it was decided to enter the market with something new. So, Pandora moved to the concept of a complete jewelry home, focusing on the redistribution of categories. It worked and gave a new pulse for development. Trends that are now in the market and can affect our brand: – Please tell us about your commodity categories: what percentages are in the assortment line? What is your average check, and average check online and offline? And, perhaps, you can name other interesting numbers that could be useful to the audience, for the professional audience, and to understand this sector of business. – – More than 80% of us are from silver. The key dollar in the assortment are beads. In the total split of commodity categories is about 30-40%. The two categories that have grown over the last two years significantly are rings and earrings. If to talk about prices, the most cheapest decoration at us is 999 grn – this bead. A A most expensive price have gold bracelets, which cost about 100 000 grn. – What role will online sales play in your company? – -Electronic commerce for us is our strategic direction of development. We began to develop online sales as early as in the dokovidny period, when we realized that in the world they occupy a significantly larger area, than in Ukraine. This bid has worked well. – What percentage of online sales now is the company? What is the length of the check in online and offline? – – In the total share of sales online takes 20%. If we are talking about multichannel sales (when the first contact was online, but people buy in the store), it is already more than 30%. Online the average check is slightly lower, because there is the opportunity to select thoroughly, and the customer sees all the items that are on the promo. To ensure online sales continually grow, we have developed fast delivery of items. Now the average delivery time of purchase is one day. – Now is a challenging time for any business. What are the biggest challenges facing your brand? – – After 24 February the biggest challenge was that we are importers, and for about six months we were not able to import goods, because we were not in the category of first need. Another big challenge is the complete change of the system logistics. For example, we had to discontinue transportation of goods by air. Now we have reconfigured these processes, and we deliver goods to Ukraine within 7-10 days. Main production is in Thailand, but all goods are delivered to the distribution center in Europe, and from there are shipped to each country. Of course, the main call is war. It influences consumer attitudes, trends and the willingness to buy something new. Everything that is going in the country affects our business. Another challenge is government regulation. We are a transparent business, so increasing taxation is a serious test for us. A challenge also is the shadow business, which continues to sell decorations unofficially. Unfortunately, about 70% of the jewelry business is still in the shadow. Also we have to constantly fight fakes. And like all other businesses, we suffer from the staffing crisis. Since the second half of 2024 year we have seen an increased fluidity of crews as people continue to migrate over the border, change where they work or migrate intra country. So, we are actively working on a resolution to this problem we have a staffing reserve, also we have our own academy, where we quickly train new workers. – Tell us about your corporate culture, because it is that helps to retain professionals in the company. What values have the company? – – As representatives of an international brand, we try to transmit values in Ukraine, which are established by the main office is global, proven experience, which works well across the world. Pandora has the following concepts: “we dream, “we care, “we achieve.” These areThe statements that we are broadcasting at all levels, and we are trying to live up to them. If we talk about the corporate culture in the Ukrainian network, then our primary values are transparency and responsibility. In the last three years we have realized very many projects, and we try to give our employees opportunities to realize their ideas. – Please tell us about your plans for the future. – – Now it is quite difficult to plan for five years in advance, as we have done before, so we are limited to planning for three years and years. We exactly understand that we will continue to develop the business in Ukraine, we will invest in renovation of new stores and opening new trading points. We already agreed to plan to open new stores and renovate existing stores for 2025 year. Now this is still in the stage of agreement and budgeting with the shareholders of the company, but the preliminary plan is in place. – What major trends will define the development of the jewelry business in the next years? – First of all, the trend of personalization and fighting for the customer will increase. The importance of workingwillwiththeanalysisofbigdata.Technology,electroniccommerceandomnichannelizationwillbeimportant.Peoplewillbecomemoredigital.IntheUSisalreadynowdigitalchannelsoccupy40%.Butit isimportanttokeeptheopportunitytomoveseamlesslyfromonlinetooffline. -How doyouassessthe situationinthejewelrymarketofUkraine?Nowwe haveamanydifferentbrands.Willconsolidationoccur? –Watchingthesituationofthelastyears,itis possibletosaythatsmallerUkrainianbrandswiththeownproductionaregrowing. Yes,intheUkrainianmarketmanyjewelrybrands,butwedo notconsiderthemdirectcompetitors,becausewearemorecompetitivewithcompaniesinthegiftscategoriesthatarep perfumes,underwear,technology,fashion-accessoriesandsofurther.Accordingly,weevaluatethecompetitorshere,anddependingonthatwebuildouradvertisingcampaigns. -Tell usaboutyoursocialinitiatives,whichareextremelyimportantnow. -WewereoneofthefirstwhowrotetotheglobalofficePandoraafter24February,GlobalofficerespondedquicklyandwithinamonthtoclosethebusinessinRussiaandBelarus.AlsoPandoraalongwithUNICEFhas allocated$1$1milliontohelpUkrainianrefugees.It isveryimportantthatnotonlytheUkrainiannetwork,buttheglobalcompanyhasbeeninvolvedinhelpingUkraine. We, as aUkrainianbusiness,paysubsidiesandnowthisisverycooperativewiththeCharityFoundation”Come BackLive”,alsowecooperatedwiththeFoundationUNITED24.AAgroup ofcompaniesMTIrecentlybegancooperationwithVeteranHub.
About Marketing
– Which main channels for broadcasting advertising campaigns do you use? Do you use advertising campaigns inside the TRC, on television and radio?
About new formats stores
About trends in the jewelry business
About online sales
About calls and corporate culture
About plans for the future and social responsibility