Digital Efficiency. The Premium Group and Joor are

PREMIUM X JOOR DIGITAL EFFICIENCY

Thanks to a strategic partnership with US wholesale network Joor, the Premium now also boasts a digital B2B platform in its portfolio. In an interview with Despina Malakov of Joor and Jörg Arntz of Premium/Seek, style in progress was eager to find out how an ecosystem featuring a trade fair and a B2B platform can be optimised and what advantages it brings for wholesalers and retailers. Interview: Kay Alexander Plonka. Photos: Joor, Premium Group

Jörg Arntz, the Managing Director of Premium Group, and Despina Malakov, Account Executive DACH at Joor, are working together to create a global network – both online and offline.

Where will wholesale business be

conducted in the future – on online platforms or at trade fairs?

Despina Malakov: Buyers will continue to use trade fairs and brick-and-mortar showrooms for initiating business. Joor’s mission is to facilitate the interaction of online and offline, for efficient and intelligent wholesale. Relationships are cultivated at trade fairs and during personal appointments. The actual business transaction is conducted later. We provide the necessary tools to complete order entries and finalisations swiftly and efficiently. The priority is centralisation. This means seamless, real-time data exchange that both retailers and brands can access from anywhere at any time in an uncomplicated, clear, and system-compatible manner. Jörg Arntz: Trade fairs will retain their status as important inspiration, ordering, communication, and marketing platforms – not only for customer care or the market launch of new product categories, but especially for smaller labels or brands without local sales structures in the respective markets. One can order directly at the event itself. Trade fairs still serve to cultivate customer relationships and establish new contacts. Personal exchange has never been more important!

In what way do digital platforms affect the importance of distribution and sales agencies?

Despina Malakov: Over the past ten years, we have developed a worldwide standard that covers every aspect of the sales business: from line sheet creation, via order entry and finalisation, to reporting. This provides the management with a live insight into their sales, which can be incorporated into their operational decisions. Every phase of the wholesale business, from pre-market to post-market, is covered by this solution which benefits brands, agencies, and retailers alike. Brands and distributors, as well as agencies, can create individual profiles at Joor and subsequently support each other’s expansion efforts via existing networks. Many agencies prefer working with a central system. This facilitates everyday work and the training of new employees. With Joor, we set the benchmark for all necessary operational processes. Jörg Arntz: Generally speaking, agencies remain important players. They are often the ears and eyes within a market. Apart from the big brands that do everything in-house, the agencies are the ones who know the customers and which collections are sought-after. In addition to the classic order business, modern agencies provide additional services such as positioning brands in the market and advanced consulting. This means they enjoy a completely different status than in the past.

How do brands benefit from direct B2B exchange with retailers?

Jörg Arntz: Process optimisation is certainly one of the most important aspects in this context. Many suppliers are looking for platform-based solutions. Joor is a software provider and technology partner with plenty of experience and know-how in the fashion business. Since its foundation ten years ago, Joor has managed a gross order volume of 30 billion US Dollars. In the digital age, self-made Excel spreadsheets and notepads with carbon paper no longer correspond to the required efficiency of processes to gather, transfer, and centrally store data. Targeted data analysis benefits all involved parties. Order processing based on SaaS systems such as Joor standardises processes and creates more time for the truly important things one should do at a trade fair. Despina Malakov: With Joor, brands digitise and centralise their processes. They introduce their agencies and retail partners to the platform. This creates a winwin situation for everyone involved. Especially small brands and newcomers can establish a global presence via Joor. Large brands benefit when all retailers work with the same system and don’t need to be introduced to different systems over and over again. We relieve brands of the burden of developing expensive software, meaning they can concentrate on the tasks that are more important to them. A study from July 2018 shows that brands increase their respective order volumes by an average of 21% year-on-year by means of Joor.

www.joor.com, www.premiumexhibitions.com