Garant is an international service and marketing company that brings together international buying group know-how and market knowledge. The ambitious goal: to provide services to its clients and to develop successful business concepts all over the world. InteriorDaily spoke with the CEO Torsten Goldbecker about the current situation at Garant Europe, the differences between various countries affiliated with them, and what he expects for the upcoming year.
CEO Torsten Goldbecker.
‘Garant as a buying group concentrates on trading partners and the relevant furniture industry. The goal is to mitigate between trade and industry to achieve the best conditions for a successful business. Furthermore, offering their own trade and collection brands drives the competitive position of their partners. The partners are spread across the following countries: Benelux, Spain, Austria, Germany and Switzerland.’
More than 2500 owner-managed small and medium-sized businesses in Europe and worldwide rely on their successful trade and collection brands, business concepts, attractive purchasing conditions and service offers.
Specialist for specialists
Torsten referred to Garant Group as a specialist for specialists. 'Garant Group enhances the business profile of specialisation for their trade partners in the respective regional settings. They achieve this by offering intelligent, targeted marketing concepts and forward-thinking product mix strategies across all business sectors.’
Trade partners benefit from expertise in furniture, bedding, kitchen, and sanitary segments through tailor-made services, such as in marketing, finance, and training.
'Like all other buying groups, we are confronted with an increasing number of manufacturer closures/bankruptcies and retail partner closures, at least in Germany. Despite this, we are still actively looking for new retailers and suppliers. We have been doing this for more than 60 years. We are currently active in six countries.'
Differences
'Is there a difference in trade among the retailers in the countries affiliated with you?' asked InteriorDaily Torsten. 'Yes, of course,' he answered. 'For example, the Benelux countries are more commercial than Germany and Switzerland. These two last countries, also work very close together in order to design, price level of the products and a similar customer target group.'
'The retailers are also different with what they offer. In the Benelux you see that you have separate kitchen and furniture/ home textile retailers, while Germany has the full range of retailers that offer everything: kitchen, furniture, and beds in 1. You also see this difference in Switzerland.'
‘At Garant, we want to offer the full range concept, because in my experience the purchase of a house always starts with a kitchen. And when the customer is positive about the kitchen, he automatically buys the furniture.'
Services
'Specifically for us, we don't function solely as a marketing company; we offer various services to our members. This includes robust marketing efforts where we aim to provide recommendation management, content services, and websites for our more than 350 members. We engage in social media promotion and campaigns, extending additional services to our suppliers. We can execute service campaigns and also provide various services ourselves, such as entertainment, not only in Germany but also in Spain, Switzerland, and the Netherlands.'
‘We are involved in financing and insurance and operate our own academy to train our members. We've established a network for the young generations within their own age demographic. Furthermore, we have numerous groups that facilitate communication on topics like financial figures, with comparisons made 2 times a year. Managing a diverse group with various leading figures is a complex task, and they require support, particularly for the younger members. Our services are aimed at small and medium-sized enterprises. As our partners evolve, their need for services grows every year..'
The market is currently experiencing a downturn; how does Garant handle this situation?
`What we have seen in the last three years is a reduction in marketing activities. Retailers no longer needed to do extensive marketing because customers were buying furniture and kitchens during COVID without additional marketing services. Due to the subsequent drop in retail customer footfall, we introduced various services, including our lead generator, to demonstrably increase lead quality and thus customer footfall for our members. Given the impact of inflation on certain products, it is crucial to re-evaluate price limits of products for target groups, as consumers may refuse to buy if prices are too high. We have therefore undertaken specific price repositioning to adjust price points accordingly. This strategy aims to sell retail products effectively.'
What do you expect for the furniture market next year?
'We don't expect an increase in the market; instead, we anticipate a slight downturn, perhaps 3 to 5 percent. The turnover in new houses is decreasing, notably in Austria and Germany, which will likely impact the kitchen business. Statistics show that every new house or apartment purchase typically involves acquiring 3 new kitchen. Consequently, we expect a small decline, and the furniture market has currently reached its bottom this year. Most colleagues anticipate a 5% decline.'
‘I must note that the last three years have been exceptionally good and are not easily comparable. No one expected such a success. Now, the tide has turned and people are more focused on their own finances due to inflation and rising gas prices. Predicting what to expect next year is challenging. The local market is also crucial. It depends on government initiatives and if they stimulate consumer activity.’
It's noteworthy that there is a shift in the entire sector, be it furniture or kitchen, with some companies returning to a pre-COVID state, both retailers and suppliers alike. 'We are optimistic about the upcoming year and are committed to assisting our partners with marketing initiatives and competitive training. We believe that being proactive in the market is the key to success. Actively engaging with customers, listening to their needs, and responding effectively will be crucial. We have decided to aggressively offer all of our promotional marketing services to our members from November to reinforce our commitment to supporting our partners and encourage a more optimistic and resilient approach. We firmly believe that an active and customer-focused strategy will lead to success in the market and they will win!', concludes Torsten Goldbecker.
More information:
Garant Group
t.goldbecker@garant-gruppe.de
www.garant-group.lu