MadeiraMadeira begins to promote building materials, home equipment and ornament

E-commerce goes beyond furniture and starts to sell floors, windows and towels with the goal of being a one-stop shop for items for the home; new categories can be tested in physical stores

O furniture e-commerce woodWood is expanding its portfolio to include items ranging from construction material The decoration. The company has also invested to add services to the platform and expand its physical stores. Born on the internet, MadeiraMadeira already has 114 stores across the country and sees room for more. “The idea is to be a one stop shop of home items,” says CEO Daniel Scandian.

Among the categories available to the customer now are floors and coverings, doors and windows, appliances, bed, table and bath and decoration. The offer of the new categories works on the same model as the sale of furniture on the marketplace, called dropshipping. In it, MadeiraMadeira integrates the supplier’s stock into its own system.

Thus, when the customer places an order, the product leaves directly from the supplier’s stock. This allows the offer of a wider range of products, with the possibility of making available the entire portfolio of a supplier. At the same time, it guarantees a lighter and cheaper operation for MadeiraMadeira, which does not need to invest in its own stock.

In times of high inflation, having a lighter operation is an important asset for MadeiraMadeira to remain competitive. The downside is that delivery times tend to be a little longer than when inventory is managed by the marketplace itself.

In another expansion front, MadeiraMadeira is investing in the addition of services offered to the consumer. In April, it announced the purchase of IguanaFix, a home services technology platform, focused on furniture assembly. Other acquisitions are on the radar, especially in the services segment.

Altogether, the expansion of categories of products and services offered led to the hiring of around 50 people in the company.

physical stores

MadeiraMadeira is also studying expanding its presence in physical retail. The company accelerated the opening of stores last year – there were 100 stores in 2021 alone – and today it has 114 units. The option was to open small stores, between 100 and 150 square meters, whose investment is around 500 thousand reais. “As we are opting for smaller stores, we are more able to test ideas,” says Scandian. The benchmark is India’s Pepperfry, India’s largest furniture retailer, with around 200 stores in the country.

The rapid expansion in physical retail was designed to create a mass of data that would allow you to more accurately measure what works and what doesn’t work in this operation. After the necessary adjustments, the idea is to expand again, possibly even in 2022. One of the tests to be carried out in the units already open will be to sell the categories recently included in the website’s portfolio, such as construction material and decoration items.

own brand

The presence in physical retail has also boosted the sale of furniture from MadeiraMadeira’s own brand, CabeCasa. “Today, 40% of what is sold in physical units are private label items”, says Ana Gabardo, director of marketplace and stores at MadeiraMadeira.

The bet on physical stores is part of the company’s strategy to gain market share while remaining a niche player. According to Scandian, although online shopping is advancing, 90% of the furniture market is still offline. “The migration to online will still take a long time. Until then, to increase my market I have to go where the customer is”, he says.

Unicorn

At the beginning of last year, MadeiraMadeira received a contribution of 190 million dollars, and joined the select group of unicorns, as companies valued at more than 1 billion dollars are called.

The company has focused on becoming an ecosystem of home and decor solutions. In 2019, he created BulkyLog, focused on logistics. Last year, it launched a home product development center and its own brand.

layoffs

Despite the expansion plans, MadeiraMadeira was not immune to the wave of layoffs in startups. This Tuesday (9), the company announced the dismissal of about 3% of its employees. In a note, he stated that “the decision is part of a move by the company to review the structures with a focus on efficiency gains and project reprioritization, continuing its strategy of growth and scale gain”.

Source: Exam