Volkan Peker, Colin’s: Sincere emotions are much more effective than discounts

The sales Colin’s Ukraine director said on the work results and plans for the brand development in Ukraine, the range expansion and the premium line entry, as well as the staff development role in the company success.

The international brand Colin’s Ukrainian division operates one of the country’s largest denim clothing stores chains. The brand operates in the mass-market segment, focused mainly on the youth audience, increasing the loyal customer’s number year after year. Last year Colin’s stores in Ukraine were visited by about 11 million people. And by the end 2017 the company plans to increase the visitor’s number by almost a third, including — by entry the Colin’s Premium collection to the Ukrainian market.

Colin’s sales director Ukraine Volkan Peker were told about the reasons for the range expansion and the premium clothing line entry, further plans for the brand development, as well as the staff development role in the company success in an interview to the rau.ua.

Expanding Your Audience

— Volkan, tell us about the current affairs state in Colin’s Ukraine. How has the company developed in recent years and what are the plans to expand the chain?

— Now the Ukrainian chain Colin’s consists of 65 shops with a 22,000 sq.m. total trading square. Most of the shops operate in large cities: Kiev, Dnipro, Kharkov, Lviv and Odesa. But in general, we are represented in all country regions. Of course, we will develop further — we plan to open our stores in all high-quality shopping centers, which will be opened.

On the other hand, our development is not just about opening new stores. In 2014, we started a program to update retail outlets — we are introducing the so-called “white” concept — we expand the square, we make stores more spacious, so that all our collections are well-seen. Updated stores have already opened in the SEC Sky Mall, Dream Town, Ocean Plaza, Cosmopolit and others. The new “white” concept development was carried out by the well-known design agency from England. Also we constantly work on the products assortment. For example, the Colin’s Premium collection was brought to the Ukrainian market at the March end. This is a premium quality jeans brand-new limited collection.

— Why did you decide to supplement own assortment with premium products, because Colin’s works in the mass-market segment?

— A new audience is going to attract by expanding the Colin’s premium line range. This will be more exclusive products — Colin’s Premium is presented only in 11 stores out of 65. This is a product line that is closer to the luxury segment in the tailoring quality and used materials. The price-quality ratio is now for the Ukrainian consumer one of the important factors in the goods choice. We understand this, and we try to meet the customer’s expectations. In turn, the consumer repays us with his loyalty. In 2016, 11 million people visited our stores. This year we plan to increase attendance by another 20% — to 13 million.

— In addition to the premium collection, should you expect the range expansion in Colin’s stores and new products appearance?

— Undoubtedly, new products will appear constantly. The head office employees often comes to Ukraine, they are planning new collections. They analyze the Ukrainian market and create collections specifically for our market, because each country has its own characteristics, and what sells well in Turkey may not go to Ukraine. A separate work on the assortment is being conducted in the Ukrainian office.

Our employees constantly monitor trends, analyze daily, what people walk about, what they are interested in, what they buy, what new trends appear, etc.

We are constantly discussing with the office in Turkey what goods kind needs the Ukrainian consumer and what exactly it is necessary to present in Ukrainian stores — what style, color, at what price. For example, when the fashion for narrowed jeans went in Ukraine — we strengthened these products assortment.

— Many retailers note that because of the crisis, Ukrainians are increasingly paying attention to prices when they choosing a product or store for purchase. How do you correct your work in accordance with this trend?

— We constantly are monitoring what our buyer wants, conduct the research, finding out what customers are happy with, and what not. So according to our data, the price for the consumer is only the third factor in the store choice. The goods quality is in the first place, the service level is in the second place.

— How actively are you implementing the new concept in stores and when are you going to finish this project?

— Now there are already 12 Colin’s stores in the new concept. Only for the first five months 2017, we have already changed the concept into a new one in four stores. We want to update at least four more by this year end. The updating stores process requires investments — about $700 per square meter. With ​​our stores average 400-500 sq. m. square, the investment is significant in the new format. On the other hand, the update is necessary so that the buyer is pleasant and comfortable in our stores. I think that we will update all the stores in Ukraine within two or three years, except for eight trade point in the outlet-format — there we have a separate design.

The stable growth

— How did the chain’s turnover increase in 2016 and how much do you plan to increase sales in 2017?

— We completed our sales plan in 2016. Unfortunately, the hryvnia devaluation hit hard on the business marginality. Considering that we import all our products, devaluation had a significant impact on business efficiency. But I believe Colin’s managed to minimize losses due to the strong and close-knit team.

As for the plans for 2017 — we intend to increase the turnover in the hryvnia by about 7%. Of course, much depends not on us, but on external factors, such as the national currency stability and the Ukrainian economy as a whole. Even the weather can significantly affect the sales level.

— Considering the fact that you do not plan to actively open new stores, how does the company intend to increase the sales?

— Now we are working very hard to increase sales per square meter, introducing various innovative projects. For example, we are testing a new system that the customer’s movement will allow tracking within the stores. This system will show all the clients movements in the store: where he goes, what he is interested in, where he is detained, what he is attracted to and what does not, etc. All this information will be analyzed in detail and will help improve the shops efficiency.

In addition, this year we are planned a large-scale advertising campaigns number. The marketing budget significant part will be aimed at promoting a new premium collection, as well as our annual Jeans Fest, which takes place in August-September. This is a traditional event, which is expected by many company customers.

— More and more retailers are launching their online stores. Will Colin’s develop online-sales in Ukraine?

— In Turkey, we have already launched an online-store. In Ukraine, we actively cooperate with popular shopping-clubs and marketplace in the Internet sales direction. But now the sales volumes in online are extremely small — only 1-2% of our turnover in Ukraine. On average, the world standard for online sales through offline retailers is 7-8%. Opening your own online-store is our development zone for the near future. In Turkey, the online-store has been running for almost a year. When there will be experience, we can use it in Ukraine.

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