«Undoubtedly 2020 has generated a lot of changes in all markets, including that of barbershops. The periods of closure changed the habits of the men who reduced visits to the barber and changed their treatment priorities. On the other hand, the more relaxed situation generated by the spread of vaccines has rekindled enthusiasm, increased the opportunities for socializing and therefore saw many men return to take care of their appearance with regular visits to the barbershop ». Romano Brida, CEO and founder of Bullfrog, is optimistic. “During periods of isolation, men discovered the effectiveness of skincare products – he adds – and today they ask us to try facial treatments, manicures and pedicures, not just haircuts or beard adjustments”.
Also for this reason the brand inaugurated the Bullfrog Grooming Lounge in the flagship barbershop in Piazza Alvar Aalto in Milan in September, where it also offers these services. “2020 was a difficult year and the prolonged closure of many of our activities and those of our customers inevitably caused our turnover to decline (-23% compared to 2019), albeit the increase (+ 61% ) of e-commerce has partially mitigated the loss – says the CEO -. We are confident in the restart: we have already closed the initial delay on the year and since August we have returned to growth. A good sign for the next few months ».
There are new openings abroad in the pipeline, from the second store in Cyprus to the entry into Oman. “We are growing in distribution especially outside Italy – more than 65% of the product we sell to the B2B channel is exported – to give an example, in Eastern Europe it almost doubled in 2021. We will concentrate our efforts on this channel in the coming months by working to a progressive digitalization to be more reactive and efficient towards customers ».