Ewithin the microcontroller is accountable for the truth that many purchasers have to attend between ten and eleven weeks for their Thermomix. The orders for the kitchen equipment, which prices greater than 1,300 euros, additionally elevated considerably within the first 4 months of the yr in comparison with the sturdy prior-year interval. “The lack of chips is a big challenge for us,” mentioned Thomas Rodemann, who has been accountable for the operational enterprise of the Wuppertal-based household firm Vorwerk because the starting of the yr, on Tuesday on the digitally held press convention to current the annual figures for the previous monetary yr.
The procurement markets are nonetheless very tight, each by way of availability and costs. Nevertheless, the power to ship could possibly be maintained because of the nice relationships with the suppliers – as well as, the event groups generally even got here up with different elements to maintain the provision chains intact. The lack of chips can be at the moment an element for the vacuum cleaner enterprise associated to the Kobold model, though the lockdowns in China have a larger impression on the supply of products.
The “goblin” surprises
After 5 years of declining gross sales, Vorwerk turned the nook within the vacuum cleaner enterprise final yr. With a gross sales improve of 16.5 % to 819 million euros, the division not solely grew comparatively, but additionally in absolute phrases in the complete group. In 2020, the division suffered much more from the lockdowns, particularly in Italy, by far the biggest gross sales market for vacuum cleaners. The family home equipment that Vorwerk has been promoting for greater than 90 years have additionally benefited from the truth that the household enterprise has been capable of considerably improve the variety of its gross sales representatives. As with the Thermomix, direct gross sales account for nearly all of gross sales.
The kitchen equipment is by far a very powerful product within the group, with gross sales of 1.7 billion euros it now accounts for half of Vorwerk’s complete gross sales. Solely China is worrying Vorwerk, the place gross sales fell by 40 % final yr. Not like within the different markets, Vorwerk doesn’t promote the system there by means of direct gross sales and at events within the clients’ properties, however primarily in purchasing facilities. The inflexible corona coverage has led to a major reluctance to purchase. “Our palms are at the moment tied,” mentioned CEO Thomas Stoffmehl. “However China is a crucial market for us and can stay so.”
The consultants drive the gross sales
Nevertheless, the opposite nations had been capable of greater than compensate for the weak spot. Though gross sales had already risen considerably in the identical interval of the earlier yr as a result of there have been many purchasers who wished to spend extra money on their kitchen gear attributable to an absence of trip and going out alternatives, Vorwerk was capable of improve gross sales of the Thermomix once more by 7.1 % in 2021. That is primarily attributable to the truth that the variety of consultants has elevated by virtually 1 / 4. In accordance with the annual report, Vorwerk additionally expects gross sales of the Thermomix to be on the earlier yr’s degree for 2022. “One factor I do know for certain, so long as we have now steady progress in consultants, we may even have progress in gross sales,” mentioned Thomas Stoffmehl, spokesman for the board. “Even in instances of disaster, the logic of our enterprise mannequin works.”
For instance, the primary quarter of the present yr was among the best within the firm’s historical past, with a restricted model of a black Thermomix system doing notably nicely, of which 350,000 items had been offered in a brief house of time. Vorwerk delivers round 1.5 million kitchen home equipment yearly. The subscription enterprise makes a not insignificant contribution to gross sales: Prospects purchase a prescription platform with an annual subscription, in the meantime greater than 3 million clients spend 49 euros on it a yr.
In the long run, nevertheless, Vorwerk is trying for a 3rd pillar alongside the Kobold and the Thermomix. As a result of after a failed artisan product, Vorwerk can be phasing out the tea machine Teemial in the midst of the yr, which has been offered since 2018. “Now we have failed twice, however we’re not giving up,” mentioned Rodemann. There are nonetheless just a few firms that would spherical off the vary of home items. The medium-sized financier AKF additionally belongs to the Vorwerk Group. Vorwerk not too long ago offered the cosmetics firm Jafra and the constructing cleaner Hectas.
