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Notino, the European e-shop in the beauty and health sector, closed the last fiscal year (May 2022-April 2023) with a 32% increase in turnover, exceeding one billion euros, of which 8% from Italy, a an important market for the company which this year opened a new distribution center there: a 13 thousand m² warehouse which will also serve customers in Spain and Portugal. During the Christmas period, deliveries are also expected to be made to other countries, such as Croatia and France. On its first day after opening, the center handled a total of 1,229 orders and secured 107,861 deliveries since it began operations on May 3.
Since 2020, Notino has also been distributing orders from Romania. After Rajhrad, it handles orders from Bucharest not only for Romania, but also for Greece and Bulgaria. «With the opening of the distribution center in Romania, we have significantly accelerated deliveries to the countries of South-Eastern Europe. Our ambition is similar for the center in Italy. The Peninsula is one of our key markets and will allow us to be closer to customers not only in Italy, but also in Spain and Portugal» explains Zbyněk Kocián, CEO of Notino. However, the speed of customs clearance at the distribution centers is not the only aspect Notino wants to focus on. In fact, the Italian distribution center will be the second where the company also plans to introduce an automated packaging line, already in operation in Rajhrad, in order to ensure more environmentally friendly packaging of orders. Currently, more than 40% of orders are packaged in this way in the center with a reduction in plastic consumption of more than 90% thanks to the automated line.
The e-shop born in the Czech Republic in 2004 is present in 27 countries with a team of 2,500 people and an overall base of over 20 million customers. It has shipped more than 20 million parcels, an average of over 56,000 a day, for a total of over 109 million products. December 19th was a record day, with over 205,000 shipments; the largest number of orders was placed during Black Friday, with 194,000 orders in a single day. It was also ranked among the top ten online retailers this year according to the TOP 500, the annual ranking of European cross-border shops, compiled for the fifth time by the Belgian platform Cross-Border Commerce Europe, ranking 9th.
“Our successes show that e-commerce in the Czech Republic is at the highest level in all of Europe. Our standards and the level of service that Czech customers expect motivate us to develop further, and if we manage to maintain the same quality throughout Europe, we are convinced that we can still achieve a lot – adds Kocián -. We were the first in the personal care sector to take advantage of the European Union’s common market and created a single centralized model of cooperation, with partners such as LVMH, L’Oréal Group, Estée Lauder Companies, Coty and Shiseido. This allows us to bring together the biggest brands in the cosmetics sector at our headquarters in Brno to jointly create new services for customers across Europe. We also have a very high net promoter score, reflecting satisfaction with our products and services. Over 80% of customers would recommend our services, which far exceeds the ratings of other European e-shops».
Next year, the entire space in the newly built Building E at the Brno Business Park in Londýnské náměstí will become the company’s new headquarters. The building has the Leed Gold international environmental certification. The choice of the new headquarters confirms that sustainability is one of the values on which Notino will continue to focus.