Furniture firm Matt Blatt was struggling in 2000. Today, the brand has become a symbol of Australia. But at the turn of the century, it was a completely different version of the story.
Operators Adam (Adam) and Deborah. Drexler (Deborah Drexler) made parts at the time and failed to compete with its Chinese counterparts in the market.
They are heavily indebted, so they move from manufacturing to import, but sales are still stagnant, and they are on the verge of bankruptcy.
It was so bad that Adam was even thinking about plan B. if his business failed, he was ready to drive a taxi.
He has been thinking about the online business, but after a meeting with his accountants, he was advised that the idea might throw him away.
Adam said, "I was in my accountant's office, and I saw him as an accountant and a financial consultant, so I told him I needed advice, and I was trying to change my business model and sell my products directly to customers online." He didn't think it was a good idea; it wouldn't work. At that time in 2000, no one was selling things online, and even Amazon, one of the biggest companies at the time, booed for losing money online. My accountant says I'm wasting my time. I'm going bankrupt. "
Despite ominous warnings from his accountants that shoppers would never want to buy furniture online because they could not touch and feel the products, the Drexler couple decided to "take a risk." A radical decision was made at the time.
But despite fears of credit card fraud and online purchases, Matt Blatt 2.0 took off almost immediately.
Over the next five years, the company earned 22 million yuan from online sales alone.
"it was a great decision for us," Adam said. "it saved our business."
Adam said it was a terrible experience.
"We had a lot of sleepless nights. It was a stressful period, but the overdraft was falling. One Monday, I saw a sum of 18000 yuan. It was black instead of red. It was really exciting! This is a huge milestone. "
, Matt Blatt's furniture industry is now an undisputed leader, with online revenues up 80 percent so far this year and social media revenues up 2.7 percent year-on-year, while sofa sales remain the company's largest business.
But Adam said Australia's broader retail industry is going through a tough time and the housing downturn has also affected furniture sales.
Since 2000, with the emergence of global companies such as IKEA, the Kmart home product line has become more and more popular, and new technologies such as AfterPay are being introduced, and the industry is undergoing dramatic changes.
But he said, Matt Blatt was focused on unique and unusual works, so it was able to stand out in the market and have a unique niche.