TIME OF NEW RECORDS

VESNA KUKIĆ LONČARIĆ, Country Manager at JYSK for Slovenia, Croatia, BiH and Serbia Time Of New Records

Alongside the opening of new stores and the rearranging of existing ones, in accordance with a new, more inspiring Scandinavian concept, JYSK is also continuing to develop its digital platforms in an effort to set new records for online sales

The pandemic brought the entire world a series of unexpected challenges that have changed the way we live today fundamentally. We have a different perspective, with a deeper appreciation for the role that the home plays in our daily lives, which has partly contributed to JYSK’s turnover growing.

You’ve just ended another great year with record-breaking results. How much of a contribution to that was provided by the pandemic, which ensured that we travelled less and turned more towards home, partly in order to work from there?

With the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, many people started working, exercising and socialising from home, which made it more important than ever to properly furnish, arrange and adapt our living spaces. It is a fact that many of our customers invested in arranging their homes and gardens, given that our opportunities to travel have been restricted.

And behind us is indeed a wonderful year with record-breaking results. But the situation with the pandemic is only one side of the coin. The other, much shinier side is represented by our employees - who are continuously developing and educating themselves and advancing - the development of the range to include more sustainable components, and the great emphasis on expansion and the refurbishing of existing stores. All of this in combination creates a great formula for success that has seen us achieve on Serbian market turnover growth of 22.3%.

To what extent is JYSK’s success based on its balance between online shopping and inspirational stores?

In the 2020/21 financial year, the company once again succeeded in utilising the synergy of physical stores and strong digital platforms in order to set new records. The share of online sales has been growing over the years, and that trend only accelerated with the outbreak of the pandemic. Our JYSK.rs webshop had 16.6 million visits last year alone. However, a new format was presented to the Serbian market this year with the opening of our XL store in Novi Sad, representing a concept that differs from the regular format in terms of a larger surface area, which provides customers more inspiration and wider range of products. And as the premises spread over a greater sale area, alongside a larger space for presentation of articles, this format also provides customers with an opportunity, for the first time, to see and buy items that JYSK ordinarily sells exclusively through its webshop.

Although webshop sales are an ever growing trend, customers require expert advice prior to making some purchasing decisions, as well as to try out the products, and our competent staff are there to provide that service.

What are all the steps that JYSK has taken with the aim of achieving greater sustainability of operations?

We’ve already defined our Sustainability Strategy and implemented a lot of excellent projects. In our own operations we place a great focus on improving energy efficiency and reducing waste. We are in the process of transforming packaging to a more sustainable design. We have gradually eliminated PVC packaging and replaced it with recyclable alternatives. We’ve already spent many years working with the world’s

We recently celebrated the opening of our 3,000th store at the global level, and immediately set ourselves the new goal of opening 5,000

most credible eco-labels in an effort to ensure that the materials used to make our products are sourced responsibly.

Does your conclusion that the Serbian market has great potential mean that you are still focused on expansion nationwide?

We recently celebrated the opening of our 3,000th store at the global level, and immediately set ourselves the new goal of opening 5,000. And every country should provide its own contribution to that, including Serbia. Our aim is to ensure an equal experience for all our customers and completely rearrange all of our stores in accordance with the new concept by 1st September 2024, and that also applies to Serbia, where we will continue our strong expansion.