Yeppon, the all-Italian marketplace looks abroad for growth
There is an all-Italian online marketplace specializing in household appliances, IT and brico. The Yeppon adventure began in 2011 thanks to the commitment of 3 partners (Danilo Longo, Andrea Bonetti e Christian Sacchini) with a long international experience in online sales. A path made up of small steps that from a small office led to a warehouse in Paderno Dugnano of 3300 square meters, 50 employees and 70 million in turnover”.
“The beginnings weren’t easy – explains Danilo Longoma – but now we aim to reach 100 million in turnover within 3-5 years. Yeppon is profitable but margins on appliances are very low at around 10%. And so to grow we need to increase turnover.
What is your strategy?
“European expansion into other countries such as France and Germany. But even in Italy there is ample room for growth. We aim to offer an excellent delivery and installation service of the appliances to make us choose by customers. We have also invested in the site and in a new platform”.
Do you sell directly from your site but also through Amazon?
“ On Amazon, through their market place, we sell some types of products. After all, Amazon does not install the appliances. Customers are willing to pay the commission that Amazon requires to use their market place ranging from 7 to 15%”.
Who are your main competitors?
“We have to face big players like Mediaworld and Unieuro. And then there’s Prezzo Forte, which is based in Campania. We are well rooted in the north but also in Lazio especially in Rome. We have chosen to have an internal call center to offer customers maximum pre- and post-sales assistance. We focus on quality and also on the fact that many come to pick up the products directly in our warehouse which is very close to the center of Milan. And then there’s e-Price which is now trying, with its new partners, to get out of the crisis and reposition itself. But its failure is a story that didn’t do us any good”.
For what reason?
“Meeting possible investors, for now we have not yet found the right one, everyone was asking us how we were different from e-Price”.
And what is your answer?
“We have never taken the longest step possible. We invest what we can even if growth is slower”.
But you don’t sell smartphones, why?
“We are unable to be competitive on smartphones because there is a large amount of VAT evasion that only small vendors can do, which then disappear from the market, through the marketplaces. Of course it is a problem because 40% of consumer electronics sold online is represented by smartphones. However, growth is constant despite the difficulties and rising interest rates. After all, the new generations will hardly go to a store to buy household appliances. They will prefer to receive them at home”.