Jaime Rubio (Madrid, 1979) is the CEO of , a furniture store with almost twenty years of experience in eCommerce that emerged as a way to take advantage of the potential of the online channel from a company that had a chain of physical stores. With all this experience behind him, it is a good time to talk to Jaime and take stock of his career.
You run Latiendahome.com since its launch as an online store in 2003. How do you remember the online sector when you launched eCommerce? What was your job like?
Online sales were a world to discover and, even more so, within our sector. Selling mattresses and, later, sofas on the Internet seemed to everyone to be Mission Impossible. In the beginings he did everything from keeping AdWords accounts to picking up the phone to going down to the warehouse. But above all there was a mental part: I had to accept that I could fail, but I never got discouraged. On the business side, devise the way to reach the client and transmit confidence.
Now there are new media, new channels, new formats… What have been the main changes since then?
The present has nothing to do with the time when La Tienda Home began. We have had to reinvent ourselves every year. Basically in 2003 it was Google Search and Explorer. The changes have really been progressive and we have been adapting to them. If I had to single out one, the shift from PC to mobile has arguably been the most significant.
Selling furniture online does not seem easy, a priori. What are the main keys to successfully compete in the online furniture sales sector?
There is no magic key that opens doors for you, neither in this nor in any other channel. It is a sum of different factors. Be faithful to your ideas and adapt them day by day to the needs of the consumer. Bet on seriousness, assume you don’t always make money but, even losing, have the peace of mind that you will always win the customer loyalty and, above all, your confidence.
In addition to this, it is a plus to have a call center that provides service with great telephone warmth and to be able to give a satisfaction guarantee to be able to return many of our products after trying them
How are your customers? What products are the best sellers?
It is difficult to mark a profile of our clients. They are urban mostly, because in big cities, because they have less time, online shopping is used more. There are also many consumers in rural areas far from large shopping centers, who see in this channel an opportunity to access any product they want to purchase.
Years ago, the most demanded products were rest items. Every day, the upholstery, go up to dispute the leadership at rest.
Are they loyal customers? Do they usually repeat purchases?
Fortunately, our commitment to convey confidence to buyers has given the good result of your loyalty. We have a large number of recurring customers, who have bought from us and have repeated over and over again, added to word of mouth. When someone is satisfied new clients are always added or repeat existing ones.
What kind of campaigns work best for you with them? Is there any channel/format that works better?
Thanks to the shopping experience that we give our customers, they themselves often repeat for having been very satisfied. If I had to single out one medium, the It is the best way to keep them remembering us.
The end of the year is approaching and with it the time of greatest sales in the online sector: What challenge does it entail at the level of campaign preparation, launch, etc.?
The end of each year is marked by sales, due to the impact of the . The La Tienda Home team, and all our suppliers, make a great effort to search for the best products and prices for our customers.
Fortunately, the accumulated experience, after more than two million mailings since we began our journey, means that we face these campaigns with guarantees of being able to provide an excellent service to our customers, in addition to the best prices.
What is your forecast for the next black friday? What weight does it usually have in your annual billing?
We have high expectations for this Black Friday, however it is still one more campaign of the many that, from La Tienda Home, we offer throughout the year to our customers, although due to its media impact, It represents an increase in sales, compared to other months of the year.
Let’s take a trip back in time. What headline about The Home Store would you like to read in Marketing4eCommerce in a year?
” The Home Store continues to grow, thanks to the trust it has managed to transmit to its customers “
Imagine that you could travel in time: What advice would you give to your 2011 Self?
Despite adversity never give up, after complex times always come the best successes.
How do you think eCommerce will evolve between now and 2025?
I believe that omnichannel is going to be very present and not only will it be necessary to be on the internet and by telephone, but it will also be necessary to be on television or in physical stores. We hope for that year to be able to fulfill all those requirements.
quick quiz
- What is the first social network you open in the morning? Instagram
- iOS or Android? Android. Since Jobs died the magic is not the same
- App or website? Depends
- In which eCommerce and how long ago did you make your last online purchase?
- And it was? A laptop
- Last book read? The entrepreneur who anticipates the future
- Recommend us a fiction series. I watch very little TV, I’m more into YouTube or Instagram, but the last one I saw was “Small Coincidences”, and I laughed a lot.
- 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? Listen to music.
- Let’s spin a magic chain: Which acquaintance of yours do you think we should interview? Why? CEO of PC Components
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