The business strategies of the brands Textura, in home textiles and decoration, Antoni Pons, a footwear manufacturer with espadrilles as its star product, and Quadis, a network of automotive dealerships and workshops, were presented at the XIX Retail Conference, organized by Comertia, to highlight how retail brands are adapting their commercial and distribution strategies.
The top representatives of the three brands explained their response to new consumption habits without giving up any sales channel and trying to make new technologies and digitalization an opportunity for growth. Jordi Codony, general director of Textura; Jordi Pons, manager of Antoni Pons, and Lluís Soler, CEO of Quadis, agreed that the online channel serves to boost brand generation and that there are successful formulas to improve in-store shopping experiences and, above all, that all channels are complementary and not exclusive.
Before an audience composed of managers of major retail brands, the general director of Textura explained that the firm took a turn in 2017, with the entry of new shareholders, focused on demonstrating to the customer the added value of its brand, which has opted for new, more sustainable materials, for example, and has enriched its shopping experience ---both in-store and online--- by offering advice on home well-being.
Its latest venture, as explained by Jordi Codony, is the collaboration they have closed with the Tendam group for Textura products to be sold in Women'secret's online store, one of the brands on this multi-brand platform that manages the e-commerce of 60 fashion brands.
For his part, Jordi Pons has valued the decision his father made in the 90s of the last century to maintain local production, always artisanal and high-quality, of his espadrilles and subsequently internationalize. He also explained that, since 2012, a step forward was taken with the creation of the concept of collections, with the deseasonalization of the product, as espadrilles were designed for autumn and winter, and with the impulse of internationalization. "Bringing the business closer to the consumer, B2C, has been fundamental for Antoni Pons, where we continue to combine the multi-brand channel, our own stores, and online sales," because the brand has "specialized in a product and in seeking not only the local consumer but also the tourist, because our product can be a souvenir," said Jordi Pons.
In the case of the automotive sector, currently immersed in a great transformation due to "electrification and the irruption of artificial intelligence and digitalization," the Quadis network "has opted for the promotion of digitalization," but also "for diversification with the purchase of several bicycle manufacturers and distributors." The CEO of the company, Lluís Soler, stated that Quadis has strived to increase efficiency, get closer to the customer, and improve their shopping experience. From his point of view, "retail in its transformation towards digitalization should not only focus on the customer but also ensure the needs of the people executing this transition so that they feel part of the brand and its values and objectives."
The presentations by the executives of the three firms served to open a debate within the XIX Retail Conference, which was inaugurated by the Minister of Business and Labor, Roger Torrent, and the Mayor of Barcelona, Ada Colau. During the opening of the meeting, the president of the organizing association Comertia, David Sánchez, recalled that, despite the return to normality after the pandemic, there are still many challenges ahead and many uncertainties. "Companies are weak and to get here they have had to go into debt," he stated and called for dialogue with the administrations.
The Comertia association groups 4,000 establishments from 61 retail chains, with more than a hundred brands created by family businesses. Its establishments, spread throughout Catalonia and Spain, but also with an international presence, employ 35,000 people and jointly invoice some 4,000 million euros annually.
The president of Comertia has also insisted that it is necessary to favor the sector from the administrations with measures that they have been demanding for a long time, such as "tax harmonization" with the rest of the territories of the Spanish State to "avoid the imbalances" that currently exist between companies from different territories.
David Sánchez has specified that for family businesses "having an equitable and coherent regulation of inheritance tax would be key to guaranteeing the continuity of businesses and we have also been demanding tax exemption on undistributed profits."
He has also mentioned the future challenges for which great consensuses would have to be reached and which, in the case of the city of Barcelona, involve tourism, security and mobility. David Sánchez has asked that cultural aspects and local industry be valued. Without forgetting the opportunity that the resources from the Next Generation funds will provide, which, he has demanded, "must reach SMEs directly and easily."