MANGO CEO at Matins Esade: “In 2020, e-commerce accounted for 42% of the company’s turnover”
“In 2020, e-commerce accounted for 42% of the company’s turnover, and this year we aim to hit the €1bn mark using this channel”, explained Toni Ruiz Tubau, MANGO CEO, at the latest Matins Esade.
During his talk, the CEO provided an overview of his company’s history since its inception in 1984 with the opening of its first store on Passeig de Gràcia in Barcelona, to the present day. During his overview, he focussed particularly on the 2014-21 period: sales in the doldrums and falling profits in 2014; repositioning in 2016; and the upturn in the outlook from 2018 onwards, with strategic plans for each business, a streamlined network of stores and the sustainable growth of franchises, plus the growth of online sales. “The phase from 2018 onwards is crucial”, said Ruiz Tubau in this respect. “Companies tend to think that improvements mean doing new things, but what really matters is improving really basic things that we are already doing. We must, for example, get to grips with e-commerce, but we mustn’t sideline retail. The combination of the two channels is a massive opportunity”. He also pointed out that “in 2019, MANGO’s results began to be positive again, with significant improvements in most economic indicators such as net sales, borrowing and EBIDTA”.
Future and opportunities
“Future challenges depend on both the economic landscape and changes in the sector and the company”, MANGO explained. The company’s main challenges include the identification and development of opportunities for products and new categories, the evolution of the role of the high-street store, and the transformation of the business model. “We ended 2020 with a decline of just 23% despite the massive impact on our stores as a whole. We made the most of this scenario to reinvent ourselves”, said Ruiz Tubau. “We accelerated the phygital world (a blend of physical and digital channels) so important to us”. “High-street stores have my full support and we will continue to grow them because they are a wonderful point of contact with our brand for millions of customers”, he explained. The MANGO CEO almost revealed that their “future challenges also include sustainability, social justice and the activation of the vast amount of data we hold”.
The CEO emphasised that “the company’s priorities in 2021 are to achieve positive results, take the lead of the online fashion industry by focusing first on organic growth via mango.com whilst adapting and transforming high-street stores in order to keep them as excellent, profitable points of contact with our customers”.
Some of the other future challenges highlighted by the company include transforming the value chain using a data-driven platform. “We want customers to have a positive experience of our digital channels so we aim to use A.I. to give them a more personal touch, finalised the MANGO CEO at Matins Esade.
Matins Esade are a platform for thinking about business held by Esade Alumni at Esade, an opportunity for executives from foremost companies to share their vision of their industries and the companies they run.
