The retailer launched the first distribution project

The Inventive Retail Group (IRG), which manages the re:Store, Samsung, LEGO, Nike and other networks, has launched a distribution line. The retailer has become the exclusive supplier in Russia of the Spanish jewelry brand UNOde50, stores under whose brand the company is now developing as a franchise. The jewelry market is experiencing a sharp drop in turnover, its participants remind: by the end of the year it could reach 30%.

IRG signed an agreement with the Spanish jewelry brand UNOde50 for the exclusive distribution of its products in Russia from June 1, IRG General Director Tikhon Smykov told Kommersant. Last year, the group already began to develop mono-brand stores under this brand. “After concluding the contract, we became the only distributor who purchases products from the vendor and imports them into Russia, and here distributes them among partners. This is the first distribution project for us,” explained Mr. Smykov. The agreement will bring additional profit to the company and increase traffic to UNOde50 brand stores by popularizing the brand, he expects. Mr. Smykov did not disclose the financial details of the agreement, citing commercial secrets.

IRG currently operates four UNOde50 boutiques and plans to open two of its own stores this year and three to five next year. As of July 1, the retailer had a total of 297 stores, including 83 re:Store, 82 Lego, 74 Samsung. IRG sales in the first half of 2015 increased by 16%, to RUB 11.5 billion.

To ensure the implementation of the promised volume of products, IRG will create a network of official UNOde50 agents in Russia. “Agents, individual entrepreneurs and large jewelry chains receive the right to sell products in multi-brand stores and islands (retail facilities in the gallery of a shopping center with an area of usually from 2 to 10 sq. m. - “Kommersant” ), as well as in mono-brand islands and corners, with In this case, they will be obliged to comply with the pricing policy and the basic rules for display and presentation of goods,” explains Mr. Smykov. The company is already working with multi-brand sellers from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Samara and Chelyabinsk, he added.

Retail trade turnover fell by 8% in the first half of the year, and by 9.4% in June, recalls IFC Markets analyst Dmitry Lukashov. The jewelry market, according to expert estimates, is declining by 20-25%, confirms Adamas operating director Dmitry Baranov. According to QB Finance Business Development Director Margarita Gorsheneva, at the end of 2015, against the backdrop of a sharp drop in demand from the population, the Russian jewelry market will fall by at least 30% and amount to about 200 billion rubles.

The “distribution plus retail” format is beneficial from the point of view of business diversification and allows you to compensate for lost costs in the event that some sales channels turn out to be unprofitable, Ms. Gorsheneva notes. Such a model can be justified when one’s own retail network consists of a small number of stores, says Dmitry Baranov. “If your network is widely represented, it will inevitably overlap in interests with the retail wholesale channel,” says the expert.

Anastasia Dulenkova

Inventive Retail Group will buy in bulk