11/11/2021
Challenge: reaching 250 million people
The executives of Riba Mundo Tecnología are not slowing down, and this is reflected in their figures and future projects, which are many. The most relevant include the IPO, the imminent move to the new headquarters in January, the launch of cash & carry stores in Barcelona and Madrid, internationalisation, the creation of a private label, and the incorporation of small household appliances. No small matter.
The origins of Riba Mundo
How did Riba Mundo begin?
Francesco Passamonti (F.P.): The seed of this project was planted in Italy, where ten years ago I started a toy and video game shop with my wife. During that period, I met Marco Dezi and Vincenzo Poeta, my current partners, who have always been involved in the technology sector. At that point, I decided to distribute these products at regional and national level to resellers and shops, and I expanded the product portfolio and categories.
Then, in 2016, I decided to move to Spain with my family, specifically to Riba-roja de Túria. However, while working as a sales agent and before moving to the peninsula, I carried out a market study through which I identified a business opportunity, which led to the creation of Riba Mundo Tecnología in 2018.
In short, Riba Mundo is an ambitious project by four partners — Marco Dezi, Vincenzo Poeta, Mirco Sorbo and myself — with the same dream: to create an internationally established company that is sustainable over time, with the ability to create value for all stakeholders with whom we interact — suppliers, customers, partners, employees, financial providers and more — because we believe this is the only way to change the world of distribution in the electronics sector.
What is the company’s shareholding structure?
F.P.: The shares are distributed as follows: Marco Dezi holds 45%; the company Gioya, which belongs to partners Mirco Sorbo and Vincenzo Poeta, holds 36%; and I hold the remaining 19%.
A portfolio of over one thousand customers
In May 2021, after only three years of activity, you had already managed to enter 13 European countries and build a portfolio of over 1,000 active customers. How did you achieve this result?
F.P.: By offering our customers a quality service focused on three pillars: price, availability and product delivery. As regards price, our control system allows us to update it up to four times a day, offering the most competitive price on the market at any given time.
On the other hand, availability, understood as the broad warehouse capacity that we make available to our customers, allows us to meet any need that may arise.
Finally, we are able to deliver within 24 hours the orders received by 5:00 p.m. the previous day. These three pillars distinguish us from the competition and are qualities that our customers appreciate. In fact, at Riba Mundo we place the customer at the centre of our strategy, offering them what they are looking for and need, satisfying their interests and understanding that each market and each consumer has different needs and that our offering must be adapted to each of them.
In addition, we currently have more than 1,000 active customers throughout Europe, the United States, China, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom.
What measures have you taken to achieve these figures?
F.P.: Being present on the most important European platforms for technology products in the sector, such as IPT, IGT, ICB, Z Empire, Handelot and GSM B2B, where we find distributors, resellers and others, and where the end customer cannot access. In addition, Mirco Sorbo joined the company as Sales Director and Vincenzo Poeta as Purchasing Director. Both have extensive experience in the sector, which is difficult to match today, and this has allowed us to increase our customer portfolio exponentially.
Riba Mundo’s logistics
You said that product delivery is an essential pillar for your company. How is logistics organised?
F.P.: We work with the main logistics companies in Europe that offer express air services. In Europe, in fact, we commit to delivering goods within 24 hours because we do not have to go through customs. At national level, if the order is closed before 6:00 p.m., we deliver it the following morning. Outside Europe, we depend on customs, the country, the goods and other factors. In these cases, we are always in contact with our reference logistics companies. In 24 hours we are in any country; then we need to see how long the goods are held at customs and what bureaucracy we have to deal with.
In any case, we prioritise immediacy, so that the customer receives the product as soon as possible, over logistics costs. For this reason, we have a logistics department and a customer service and incidents department that manage all deliveries made.
Exponential growth
You closed 2020 with revenue of €59 million. How did the first months of the year go?
Vincenzo Poeta (V.P.): As of 31 September 2021, we had already reached €123 million, exceeding by €3 million what was established in our industrial plan, and we expect to close the year with revenue of between €150 and €160 million.
In the business plan that we prepared together with Deloitte, we expect to reach €250 million in four years. This is a moderate target. However, we believe that in two or three years we could exceed this figure and reach €300 million.
These figures show that revenue is growing at triple-digit rates. Will this be sustainable over time?
V.P.: Francesco has already said that customers are at the centre of our strategy. This mission allows us to accompany the exponential increase in sales with an increase in margins, which is fundamental for the management and partners of Riba Mundo.
On the other hand, it will be difficult to grow at the pace of 2020 and the first half of 2021, but we believe we can continue like this for another three or four years and then stabilise.
Our commitment to internationalisation will allow us to access some markets where we are not currently present.
Growth vision
In addition to internationalisation, what other growth paths have you set for yourselves?
V.P.: By 2022, we plan to open several cash & carry or self-service stores for wholesalers in Madrid and Barcelona, ranging from 200 to 300 m². The first of these will be located at our new headquarters and should be available between March and April 2022. The objective is to become a point of reference for resellers and wholesalers; a space where the product can be physically shown to customers and where they can have the immediacy of having the product in stock.
Another fundamental way in which we believe we can continue to grow is by gradually increasing our product categories, improving the service we offer our customers and becoming their reference supplier. In this regard, we are open to inorganic growth through acquisitions.
Do you intend to diversify your business?
Mirco Sorbo (M.S.): We will always follow this business line. We intend to include small and large household appliances, and for this reason we have purchased larger premises.
In addition to all this, we are already working on the creation of our own brand, which we could define as a private label.
Sales channels
What are your current sales channels?
M.S.: Our sales channels are the B2B website and the Mailing List service, a platform where we have thousands of contacts and where we launch our product portfolio every day. Customers are renewed every day. To this end, we have started creating a call centre dedicated exclusively to contacting current and future customers.
We continuously open new communication channels using sector platforms and adapting to all the communication methods customers prefer, making them as comfortable as possible through tools such as WhatsApp, LinkedIn, Skype and others.
What is your customer profile?
M.S.: All those in the B2B segment. Specifically, specialised shops, resellers and wholesalers. At national level, we work for the telephone shops of large-scale distribution, whether or not they belong to a group, operate as franchises or are their own stores.
Selling to large supermarkets is complex because they work with the manufacturer…
M.S.: Indeed, and that is why we are working on creating our own brand; it is the only channel where we are not currently present.
Riba Mundo’s new e-commerce
On 15 September, your new e-commerce platform began its journey. What are its distinctive features and how does it work?
M.S.: We are very excited about our e-commerce platform focused on the B2B segment, where customers can manage all their purchases from anywhere in the world through a simple and fast process.
We are also confident that it will bring us positive results in the future. The objective is to increase turnover by 15%, hopefully in proportion to the increase in customers.
How much stock do you have and what is its value?
V.P.: We have an average warehouse stock of €4 to €5 million, with new products added every day and, considering turnover, between €700,000 and €1 million leaving the warehouse every day.
In addition, with the new headquarters and the expansion of the product portfolio, stock may reach a value of between €8 and €10 million thanks to the inclusion of small household appliances, and the number of references will increase from the current 600 to over 2,500.
How do you manage stock rotation?
V.P.: For us, it is not advisable to have products standing still for three or five days because of price fluctuations.
Investment in a new headquarters
Among your projects is the launch of a new headquarters. What investment have you made?
Marco Dezi (M.D.): In January, we would like to move into our new 5,000 m² headquarters, where we have invested around €2 million between the purchase of the land and its development.
Do you sell your products through platforms such as Amazon, eBay and others?
M.D.: We did so in the past, but experience led us to focus on sales to the B2B customer segment and not to the end customer. Currently, our return rate, considering the quantity of products we sell, is below 0.25%, whereas when we worked with Amazon it could range from 4% to 8%, depending on the time of year.
At the moment, since our products are official, in the event of returns we send them back to the brand.
The Marvin programme
You said that prices are updated daily. What criteria are followed?
M.D.: This is one of our trade secrets. I can tell you that behind this there is analytical work in which we use the latest technologies to compare our prices daily with those of all our competitors; we check stock requirements to serve our customers, comparing our selling prices with entry prices; and we also rely on the information provided to us by manufacturers.
Can you describe what the Marvin programme consists of and what its objective is?
M.D.: This is the heart of our company and one of our competitive advantages. This programme allows us to control in real time the stock we have, purchasing needs, to identify products that have not rotated for more than three days and to automatically report price updates, since fast rotation is fundamental in this sector.
We also manage all supplier and customer orders, payments, credits, and we can also see the company’s margin for each purchase and sale.
We are expanding and improving it according to the company’s growing needs.
Upcoming IPO
The most ambitious objective is undoubtedly the company’s stock market listing, a project they have already begun to analyse and study together with PwC and Deloitte in order to lay the foundations. The objective, as the partners state, is to add value to the company.
In any case, the main priority now is to have the new headquarters ready by January 2022. The facility will offer more space to accommodate future growth and will host the first cash & carry planned for March 2022.
They also want to continue their international expansion. To this end, it will be essential to be present at all international trade fairs in the sector with their own stand. In fact, they were the main sponsor of the first post-Covid trade fair, Reconnect by Z Empire Global.
Other objectives include expanding the workforce to 50 employees, increasing the product category to include 20 brands in five new categories, and the prospect of launching their own brand on the market.