There is a time to be cautious, to proudly choose theunderstatement, and there is a time, numbers in hand, to claim, with equal determination, the goodness of the choices and investments made. “In recent months there has been a recovery in Europe and the United States and of course in Asia, but we cannot and must not forget what we are leaving behind”, explains Massimo Carraro, president of Morellato Group, the most important Italian company in jewelery and watchmaking, which has its own and licensed brands in its portfolio and the Bluespirit chain of stores. “The pandemic has led to average decreases in turnover in our sector and in the extended double-digit fashion system – he specifies – we closed the fiscal year on February 28 at 208.4 million, 7.5% less than in 2019. and, perhaps more importantly, the profitability held. The EBITDA fell by just 0.6% to 53.8 million but the incidence on revenues rose from 24% to 25.8% ».
It would be wrong to say that the group restarts from these data, which in reality are the consequence of the strategies set long before Covid and also confirmed during the health and then economic emergency that we have all known since the end of February 2020. ” Omnichannel is not built in a few months and the same goes for choices related to sustainability, which I prefer to call corporate social responsibility – adds Carraro -. We have known for years that e-commerce would become increasingly important: we decided to internalize it even when it seemed easier and more convenient to entrust online sales to external, more or less specialized platforms ».
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Offering news and content to consumers even during the months of lockdowns was the group’s other firm choice, which launched the Live Diamond brand, eco-friendly diamond jewelry, and accelerated the development of Oui & Me, watches made with recycled and recyclable materials. «This year we have obtained the Igi certification, the International Gemological Institute, for the stones we use for Live Diamond and we are ready to launch the jewels with ecological rubies, emeralds and sapphires on the market – announces the president of Morellato -. Everyone says that the pandemic will lead to a revolution in physical retail: it is true, but it will certainly not be replaced by the digital channel, but by omnichannel and for this reason by the end of the year we will open another 40 stores in Italy and France, our two main markets, reaching around 400 globally. Overall, we will invest 100% more than in 2020 and it will be the highest figure in the last five years “.