euro business interview

DEBRA NET HAPPY WITH 2012 RESULTS“Our range is our one of our big strong points.”
The Hungarian wholesaler Debra Net starts into the new year with a lot of energy and enthusiasm.
EXCLUSIVE
In 2012, managing director Zoltan Body and his team achieved significant growth, and they feel up to all thechallenges the future may hold. This confidence is well-founded; after all, Debra Net has a highly-motivatedteam and a new inventory management system, not to mention the company’s great flexibility and the steadily
growing product range that is continuously adapted to stay abreast of the trends on the market. With such arock-solid foundation, Zoltan hopes to achieve growth between 25 and 30 per cent once again, just like he didin the past five years. EAN talked with Debra Net’s managing director about this streak, but also about his company,
the wholesale business, and the Eastern European market.
What were the highlights of 2012,
and where there any moments you’d
best like to forget?
Zoltan: Both, highlights and lowlights,
have to do our new system (ERP). One ofthe outstanding highlights was when one
day we got such a huge order that oursystem crashed and froze up. I like suchkind of problems! The worst experiences
are also connected to this system, when
we realized serious faults. But we haveeliminated pretty much all faults now; it
all starts to work out well, but a few issues
still need to be fixed.

Can look back at a very successful year
2012: Zoltan Body, managing director of
Debra Net

Zoltan, would I be wrong to say that2012 was a successful year full ofgrowth for your company Debra Net?
Zoltan Body: I don’t know what makes
you think so, but apparently, there’s been
a fly on the wall of our office … You’ reright, we had significant growth indeed.
We’ve never had such a year before, witheach month bringing record turnovers.
What, would you say, are the pillars ofyour success?
Zoltan: This is very difficult to explain. For
me, my most important pillar is my wife,
Erika, who is able to produce incredible
results and never falters in her commitment.
She is worth her weight in gold, not only
as a wife, but also as colleague. I can reallycall myself a lucky man. Of course, all of
our colleagues also do everything to
make this company successful. And last
but not least, we have a great andeffective team. With people like that, it iseasy to be successful.

Looking back, which products were inparticularly high demand in 2012?
What are your top-sellers?
Zoltan: Everyone is asking me thisquestion, but I don’t think there is aclear answer to it. We certainly have aTOP-list on our website, but we sold ourproducts in 26 countries last year, to allkinds of clients, and the demands differ
greatly from consumer to consumer. So I
see a mixed picture here. It is quite
telling that we sold 11.600 different
kinds of products.
This is really a lot. Not everybody hassuch a broad range?
Zoltan: You are right. As far as I’m aware,
we have the widest assortment in Europe.
But our complete range is even bigger
than that. We have 22-23.000 different
types of products in our assortment.
20-30% of that is being changed up eachyear, while we keep the most successful
5000-6000 products in stock at all times,
and we always have great quantities to beable to supply all our clients. The rest of theproducts are only purchased based onorders, and in most cases, our clients don’t
have to wait for their products for long.

How is it possible to handle andrefresh so much information?
Zoltan: In the last couple of years, wehave invested a lot of money in developing
our informatics and logistics system. Now,
it is beginning to pay off. Our database isupdated every minute, and we getshipments from many manufacturers eachweek. So everybody can get what theywant as quickly and as easily as possible.
At the same time, very good filters facilitate
searches on the website. At first glance,
it might seem complicated, but you get afeeling for it in no time, and then you
can find anything you want very quickly.
We are currently still working on theimprovements in our estimated delivery
information (ETA) system.
What is your stance on the breaking
up of the traditional supply chain of
producer-wholesaler-retailer? In youropinion, what are the advantages of aclassic distributor/wholesale – retailer
supply chain?
Zoltan: Of course, there have been manychanges in the market, but I am sure thatthe efforts of the manufacturers to supply
retailers directly will prove unviable. Someof them have already realised that it is nogood, others apparently need a little
longer to see it. Nowadays, new manufacturers pop up on the scene almost
every day, and in all parts of the world.
Even wholesalers can have a hard timealways keeping their eyes open andstaying on the lookout, maintainingcontacts with hundreds of partners,
organising transport, providing service totheir clients in so many countries and inso many languages etc. Maybe the bigger
retailers or shop-chains manage to pullthat off somehow, but given theworkload that represents, they won’t havecontinued on page 42

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No. 01 / January 2013

euro business interview

The Debra Net building fromthe bird’s eye view

The Debra Net sales department: Csera,
who is in charge of domestic sales

The Debra Net sales department: Enci & Enikö,
who are in charge of international salesenergy left to management their stores
effectively. Not to mention the fact thata wholesaler can definitely compete withthe manufacturer. We offer the sameconditions, bigger quantities, better
prices, and lower shipping costs.
The other thing is that manufacturing,
wholesale, and retail are each separate
segments of the market. If someone
wants to offer professional service outside of his own field of expertise, I recommend an old Hungarian proverb „Asuszter maradjon a kaptafánál” (“Cobbler,stick to your last!” – meaning that everyone should do what they are best at).

the last 5 years, we have managed tomain a yearly growth of 25-30%, andwe do not want to change this in thefuture.

What can you tell us about theconsumer climate in these markets?
Zoltan: We haven’t escaped the crisis
here; there is a storm brewing. Thatsaid, you can always find customers
who have the demand and the money
for these products. Finding them andreaching out to them is mostly the taskof the retailers. There are a few retailers,
who have decided to take the bull by
the horns, and they have been very
clever, finding these customers, butthere are a few, who step on the breaks
and remain stuck in their old ways andcry. Of course, that does not do them
any good. That’s why we try to help ourpartners by sharing our experiences.
There are many who listen to us, butthere are also some who do not.

Has the business structure of Debra
Net changed a lot over the course of
the past few years?
Zoltan: It did not really change, but it
adapts to the growing and changing
demand of the consumers. We definitely maintain the family business character of the company. Now, there are
25 people working in this company,
and only recently, we added a young
and helpful lady to our the sales department.
Being a wholesaler, what is youropinion on the current situation in
the erotic market?
Zoltan: It is not ideal, but it never was,and it never will be easy. Luckily, wecan adapt to the changing circumstances quickly.
What do you have on your agenda
for 2013? Will Debra Net continue
to strive for growth and expansion?
Zoltan: We definitely do not want tolimit our growth, but it is also importantto keep it on a healthy level. Each of42

Are there plans for significant
changes in the overall strategy or
the business philosophy of Debra
Net?
Zoltan: As long as it works well, there
would be no point in changing it.
When the demand on the market
changes, we will think about it, but notright now.
Are you going to continue to focus
on a broad, well-balanced productrange with lots of well-known
brands in 2013?
Zoltan: Of course. Our range is one ofour big strong points.
Which new products and productlines can the market be looking forward to in the new year?
Zoltan: It is always hard to tell thesethings in advance. Of course, we are
currently negotiating with several companies,
but the manufacturers we are currently
working with are all going to launch
new products onto the market. In
general, we can say that each year, weexpand our assortment by at least 3000
new products. We always try topurchase the latest products on themarket as soon as possible.

Many companies have set theirsights on the Eastern European
market because it is still relatively“fresh” and not as saturated as othermarkets. But how much potential dothese countries really hold?
Zoltan: In the long run, it is a huge
potential, but in many aspects, it isspecial. Many times it is even hard for
us to understand, but those who do
not live here, who are not involved init, will find it very difficult to grasp. Lotof people tried it already, but with very
little success. Yet, that door swings bothways, and we have a hard time understanding the way of thinking of othercountries sometimes.

You know the erotic market inEastern Europe extremely well.
Currently, many European countries
are smitten with a major crisis. Whatis the situation in Eastern Europe?

In your opinion, what are thebiggest challenges the Eastern
European market has yet to resolve
before it can realise its full potential?
Zoltan: Let’s keep that a secret.

No. 01 / January 2013