Bernard Paco (Totana, Murcia) is the CEO and founder of powerplanetonline, a veteran of Spanish eCommerce that has a hyperdiverse catalog, ranging from smartphones and webcams to automatic paw cleaners for pets. With a turnover (2020) of €28M and a workforce of 40 workers, this online store located in Totana seems determined to continue waging war in a market led by giants like Amazon. To find out a little more about his history and what his business model consists of, we talked to Bernardo.
17 years ago you created Powerplanetonline. Why did you make that decision? How was the start-up process?
I was 21 years old and had gone through several jobs that were not for me. At that time I was satisfied with being financially independent, not having a boss and being able to work in something that I liked, and that’s how I started.
At first it was a neighborhood computer store, it didn’t have the money to have stock, so other computer stores in the region They left me empty boxes to put something on the shelves. Little by little it began to work and I expanded the range of products and within a few months, I was importing those brands that either did not exist here, or were at a prohibitive price.
Later I opened a second physical store, in Lorca, but in May 2011, due to the earthquake, I had to close. I believe that day Powerplanetonline.com was born.
What was your first sale?
A USB Wi-Fi antenna for 25 euros sold at noon on a Sunday almost a month after opening the website…
At some point during that first stage did you think about throwing in the towel? What were the main challenges you had to face?
No, I have never considered it, there are always many things to do. The truth is that with competitors as established as there are, and as there were, it was hard enough to differentiate and offer something to customers so that they would choose us, but that is the market.
Since then, the eCommerce sector has changed radically: popularization of eCommerce, new sales formats, the omnipresence of mobile phones, new social networks…
Yes, it has been evolving, both technically and socially. Some of these changes have benefited us and we have been able to take advantage of the tailwind, while others are still an opportunity. We maintain an independence that is not very common, such as that of do not sell on marketplaces, we could sell much more, but it would be less of us.
What are Powerplanetonline customers like? What kind of products are the best sellers?
Our typical customer is usually a well-informed customer, one of those who understand the characteristics of a type of product before buying, and they know by heart the specifications of the product they want, and the finalists. Our goal is to offer that wowthat brand that has just hit the market, that new product that is differentiating, in addition to offering what is established and what we already know works.
What weight does seasonality have in your business? How is it managed at the level of stock, shipping logistics…?
It is clear that Q4 is the quarter with the most sales of the year, but a peculiarity that we have in Powerplanetonline, is that we are seeing how as we expand the catalog and add more types of products, we may have sales peaks at different times of the year. Dumbbells, or a laser epilator, has its peak before summer. A treadmill and a bike computer have completely opposite seasonality, like a fan and a heater.
In just over six weeks, Black Friday, Christmas and Epiphany come together: what is the real big day for you? Has it changed in recent years?
Yes, these Christmas and Christmas purchases have been coming forward more and more. The competition means that little by little it has gone from Friday, one day, to a week and almost a month. The best day in sales has always been the black fridaybut it is getting flatter.
And so, in confidence 😉 What do you think will be your best selling item this end of the year?
Here’s what makes us special, chances are the best-selling item of the year hasn’t hit the market yet.
Let’s take a trip back in time. What headline about Powerplanetonline would you like to read in Marketing4eCommerce in a year?
Powerplanetonline expands facilities and opens karting track and ball pool for employees
Imagine that you could travel in time: What advice would you give to your 2011 Self?
Buy bitcoins, fool!
How do you imagine eCommerce in 2025?
Not so much how I imagine it, but how I would like it. A much more diversified panorama, without a large multinational dominating almost everything. With a totally level playing field for all, more open and fair, and let the market do the rest.
quick quiz
- What is the first social network you open in the morning? Well… I’m not in any… I only have LinkedIn, but I practically don’t use it.
- iOS or Android? Android
- App or website? Web
- In which eCommerce and how long ago did you make your last online purchase? the nintendo shop
- And it was? A game for the Switch
- Last book read? Reinventing organizations
- Recommend us a fictional series Death Note
- What website have you come across lately that has surprised you for the better?
- What is your favorite thing to do that has nothing to do with digital? drawing with my daughter
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