evolved RETAIL
8. IL LUSSO, JOHANNESBURG PACO PAKDOUST, DIRECTOR Our relationship with our customers has remained consistent. One of our core business values is customer experience and our team has maintained personal contact with our clients, and to add to that our clients have direct access to our directors. We are also using communication channels such as social media to share content of our new show showroom, products, images of our brand boutiques, and the latest news from our partnering brands. Communication with our partnering brands continue through email channels and regular video conference calls on platforms like Zoom. In the digital space, clients will soon be able to experience a 360-degree virtual walkthrough of all four floors of our showroom. Our aim is to always represent the best. Illusso stands at 5000 square meters, making the showroom larger than most in Europe and the largest one on the African continent offering full design services, which include kitchens, lighting, built-in cabinets and furnishings. 9. SILVERA, PARIS BRIGITTE SILVERA, GENERAL MANAGER France has gone through both the yellow vest protest and covid-19: the yellow vest protest and strikes were a big issue in Paris, but as the economy was better and there were more projects, we were able to react and face this. The pandemic is something else because independent of our willing, we were obliged to close the stores and we had to follow up the deals already made or in progress but we were unable to act except with some requests on the e-shop. Now that we have just opened, we can see that people that are coming are really interested and focused. We also have a very big activity in contract and this one is more uncertain as several big projects seems to be cancelled or postponed. During these 2 months, we have done several newsletters informing our clients about our situation, processes, news, using also Instagram, Newletters and updating the e-shop. In fact, our main issues were to be careful with the deliveries, inform our clients about the lead times and new delays we have to face, than follow up our previous projects, some are still maintained, few are cancelled, several came up. The stores are busy right now. But the contract area is weakened. We hope anyway to manage with the help, held by the French government.
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10. BREDAQUARANTA, MILAN DAVIDE D’AVICO, OWNER In these weeks of lockdown we have had the need to stay in touch with our clients, especially to reassure them and to keep their trust in our country’s system. We have ensured continuity, using smart working where possible, concentrating on open projects; we have organized customer relations with video conferencing, to present and discuss design proposals, also with videos that narrate projects down to the smallest details. The Salone has been canceled, but the main brands will present their new developments in the fall, in virtual formats and with innovative methods. In any case, the collections will be so appealing that there is no limit to the creation of excellent proposals. In the stores, we are getting organized to guarantee distancing, between our personnel and with respect to visitors. Nevertheless, we do not think traditional moments of socializing are yet feasible, so we will create special virtual appointments.
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IFDM 102 June 2020