Belgian foam rubber manufacturer Recticel is looking into plans to sell its own mattresses online to consumers. The web shop “can be operational in six months’ time”, even if the official decision has not yet been taken.
Competing with their own customers
CEO Olivier Chapelle announced the plan in the margins of the company’s half-year results, which were excellent – except for the bedding department. This segment, which produces mattresses, box springs and slatted bed bases for third parties as well as for own brands such as Lattoflex, Beka, Bultex and Swissflex, saw its turnover drop by 10 % and its profits by 40 %. “This is mainly due to lower traffic in the shops“, says Chapelle in Belgian business newspaper De Tijd. “Most notably in Germany, which accounts for about a third of sales. This observation is valid for the whole of Western Europe, where the CEO notices a 10 to 15 % decrease of visitors in the stores.
Whether this decline is a temporary or structural problem will become apparent in the second half of the year. Chapelle, however, has no intention of just standing by to watch: Recticel products are already available online via web shops of sleep chains that are customers of the group, and the CEO now wants to set up a Recticel web shop selling its own brands to consumers: “With our own web shop we are able grow worldwide. There is no official decision yet. There are still hurdles to be overcome,” it sounds.
It remains to be seen how current customers will react when Recticel presents itself as a competitor. At the same time, the company does not have any operational experience with online sales, De Tijd notes. The CEO realises this; “I am aware that many e-commerce initiatives fail. It’s going to be a challenge.” Nevertheless, Chapelle firmly believes that “the online initiative can be operational in six months”.
