[vc_row css_animation=”” row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”full_width” angled_section=”no” text_align=”left” background_image_as_pattern=”without_pattern”][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”4551″ img_size=”full” qode_css_animation=””][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css_animation=”” row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”full_width” angled_section=”no” text_align=”left” background_image_as_pattern=”without_pattern” css=”.vc_custom_1565248075853{padding-top: 50px !important;}”][vc_column][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1570179452407{padding-bottom: 20px !important;}”]Damien Poelhekke, managing director van Noord-Europa bij Made.com, is de eerste spreker van het CrossBorder Event 2020. Op het evenement zal hij inzicht geven in de crossborder strategie van een van de grootste interior design lifestyle merken van de wereld die internationaal wist te groeien van 30 naar 300 miljoen euro omzet.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Made.com, dat in 2010 werd opgericht door Ning Li, Jullien Callede en Chloé Macintosh ontstond eigenlijk uit een frustratie. Ning Li was het convenient segment van Ikea ontgroeid, maar had niet het geld om over te stappen naar premium merken van duizenden euro’s. Hij zag een gat en besloot daar met Made.com in te springen. Het concept van Made.com is anders dan normaal. Made.com verkoopt digital to consumer merken die, nadat ze gemaakt zijn, direct aan de klant worden geleverd, zonder te zijn opgeslagen.
Damien Poelhekke is managing director of Northern Europe and joined Made.com six years ago. Before that, he had set up international marketing for Zalando. During that time he received a master class in online marketing and e-commerce and when Zalando went public he felt it was time to sink his teeth into a new project again. He would set up Benelux first and then expand to other countries. When he started at Made.com, the company had only dozens of employees with a small office. Now they have grown to 500 employees, operate in 11 countries and went from 30 million pounds of revenu to 300 million. Switching to a smaller company was a conscious decision for Damien. "I really wanted to make it big. Zalando is obviously a platform where you have to deal with different brands. Now I thought it was really cool to be at the beginning of a journey where you really have to build a brand and start experiencing growth. Everything we sell now on Made.com is our own intellectual property. It belongs to us. We only sell our own brand and our own products, we manage the intellectual property so they are all MADE products, no other digital to consumer brands so. That gives a different way of building relationships with customers and stakeholders because you are the brand itself. Closer to the heart."
Made.com's strength lies in its flexibility, says Damien Poelhekke. "Because we have no stocks, we can produce and launch new collections throughout the year." On average, that's two new collections a week, where it's normally only twice a year. "We have a much faster turnaround time," Damien informs. When we order collections it won't be mega large quantities, but a minimum order quantity. If it's popular we can scale up quickly and if it doesn't run we can also switch quickly." Because taste is subjective and changeable and Made.com knows that all too well.
Damien Poelhekke is one of the speakers at the CrossBorder Event 2020, which will take place Oct. 1. At the event, he will elaborate on Made.com's crossborder strategy. Why natives for all countries are so indispensable, how influencers are used to spread Made.com's brand identity and why they deliberately don't work with marketplaces. Curious to hear his whole story? Buy your ticket now and get inspired by the frontrunners in crossborder e-commerce.
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