How do you become the Coolblue of baby products? De Gele Flamingo combines a comprehensive range with a unique emotional story and is also crossing borders. “Entrepreneurs are often too modest”, says founder Sophie Claes.
25 million by 2025
Baby, children and lifestyle retailer De Gele Flamingo ended 2021 with a turnover of 6.5 million euros, an increase of no less than 30 per cent compared to 2020. It is a strong trend, but they are aiming even higher: by 2025, e-commerce expert Sophie Claes strives for 25 million euros. She will tell us more about how she plans to achieve this goal at the RetailDetail Omnichannel & E-Commerce Congress on 24 March. In an interview with RetailDetail, she already revealed a few details.
“It is a mixture of different aspects”, she believes. “We respond strongly to the latest trends: we are often the first to include a new brand or product exclusively. We continue to innovate continuously in order to stand out.” De Gele Flamingo wants to be a one-stop shop, offering practical baby items and beautiful, sustainable lifestyle and decorative products. “We offer the entire package, supplemented with products for adults because we saw that, for example, a nice lamp for a children’s room would sometimes end up in the living room.”
Behind the scenes
There is also an element of sentiment involved: purchasing baby items is an emotional occasion. “We notice that customers often tag us on social media when they have bought something from us. We succeed in evoking a feeling of proximity, and people have the impression that they know us, even if they have never met us. That is quite unusual for a webshop.”
De Gele Flamingo uses a playful tone in its communication and shares videos and stories about what goes on behind the scenes at the company. “We are a close-knit team with a high level of commitment. We work very hard, but we also share a lot of laughs. We are able to convey that ‘fun’ in a good way. That makes the experience with us very different from that of most webshops.”
No master plan
You often read that retailers have difficulty finding good team members, especially for demanding jobs such as order pickers in the warehouse. But we get a lot of applications. The people who come here for a job interview say they have the feeling they already know the team, that they know what is going on and how things are done.”
However, there is no big master plan behind it, says Claes: “You can’t force it, that would look fake. It evolved naturally: we were just ourselves and showed what we were doing. Because of the feedback we received from customers, we did become more aware of it, but we don’t orchestrate it.”
Engaging Influencers
Meanwhile, De Gele Flamingo is taking its first international steps: in November, the company opened a webshop in English to serve the increasing number of foreign customers. “We noticed that most orders come from Germany. We are now working with German-based influencers to increase our brand awareness. The nice thing is that we already have a lot of followers, so they want to work with us.”
Entrepreneurs are often too modest, Claes believes. “I have always been very ambitious. Every year I set high targets, but we achieve them.” Now that the warehouse is fully automated, the retailer can scale up. Marketing is being prioritised. The entrepreneur still sees a lot of potential for the birth list service, for example. “The average value is rising because people are putting more expensive items on there, such as furniture for the nursery.”
Selling through bol.com
Recently, De Gele Flamingo started selling on the bol.com platform. “Many of our brands do not want to be present there. We welcome that, as it allows us to retain the unique character of a specialist store. On the other hand, there is an audience that only buys on bol.com, and when there are brands that do allow it, I want those sales as well. From the first month, sales exceeded our expectations, not only in the busy end-of-year period but also in January and February. However, you have to monitor your pricing and your margins.”
Occasionally Sophie Claes herself organises a webinar to help start-ups on their journey. On 24 March, she will speak at the RetailDetail Omnichannel & E-Commerce Congress, which will take place in Antwerp. The line-up also includes fashion retailer C&A, healthy restaurant chain EXKi and Ochama, the robotised omnichannel concept by Chinese internet giant JD.com. More names will be announced shortly. You can find all the information and order your tickets through this link. Don’t wait too long: spaces are limited.
