BayBG supports toy retailer

The past few years have been difficult for many companies, with the coronavirus pandemic causing severe losses in many areas. VEDES was able to maintain its consolidated turnover at a high level of €150 million. What factors were decisive in this?  

Märtz: Working from home, homeschooling and social distancing restrictions have contributed to toys and leisure items being particularly popular during the coronavirus pandemic. But what is and remains much more important is that children are the last to be affected by cutbacks. That is why our VEDES brand partners have come through the crisis relatively unscathed, despite all the problems. The VEDES Group was able to compensate for the coronavirus-related losses in brick-and-mortar toy shops because we also supply other distribution channels in the wholesale sector that were not affected by the lockdown.

Online retail has received a considerable boost from the pandemic. Can you say the same for your VEDES brand partners, and what does this digital awakening look like in concrete terms?

Graeber: The coronavirus pandemic has proven to be a real driving force for digitalisation in specialist retail. Our VEDES retailers are very well positioned in this regard, as they have worked with us to establish a digital presence in addition to their brick-and-mortar stores. With the VEDES digital shopping solution, our members are active across all channels, enabling them to offer a comprehensive service to both existing and new customers. The range of services includes a customised website, detailed product presentations including availability and tools such as click & collect, as well as the option to present themselves individually and in a customer-oriented manner via their own online shop.

The VEDES world is large and colourful, and its product range is enormous: there are 300,000 items to choose from, 15,000 of which are kept in stock at your second location in Lotte near Osnabrück. How do you keep track of everything?

Weniger: Our team of purchasing experts relies on consistent and careful market analysis – the Group's own retail panel does an excellent job here, evaluating data from the point of sale on a daily basis. In addition, Category Management is in constant communication with industry partners. On this basis, our purchasing department can explore the global market, identify trends, evaluate licences, create new product ranges and innovative shop concepts, and work with marketing to implement efficient omnichannel strategies for the future.

Which topic are you particularly focussed on at the moment?

Graeber: We have made it our mission to shape the future of the toy trade. Sustainability is a major topic in this context. That is why we have firmly anchored sustainability in our corporate strategy. Our business activities are characterised by energy-saving, environmentally friendly and resource-efficient thinking and are continuously adapted to new tasks, challenges and strategies.

VEDES is a brand that is well known among families. Will you continue to promote this with appropriate measures?

Weniger: Of course, because a strong brand is essential in the highly competitive environment in which we undoubtedly find ourselves in! Through our marketing activities in the digital and print sectors, we reach more than 600 million contacts per year. And we will continue to invest heavily in this area in the future to ensure that our strong VEDES brand is present across all channels and thus firmly anchored in the minds of consumers.

You are planning a further digitalisation offensive and by using growth capital from BayBG for this.

Märtz: With BayBG, we have a strong financing partner on board that has extensive expertise in the medium-sized company sector. BayBG's investment strengthens our economic foundation and improves our credit rating. VEDES' strategy is to combine the advantages of brick-and-mortar specialist retail with the opportunities offered by online retail. Against this backdrop, we will use the funds raised to further digitalise brick-and-mortar specialist retail.