[MUSIC] Hello, we have the pleasure today of interviewing Eduardo Zamacola, that you may remember him from module three. Today he's here as the CEO of Neck & Neck. [MUSIC] Eduardo, could you describe us what is Neck & Neck and your role in the company? >> Well, Neck & Neck I would say that it's a family-owned business, which is very important for us. And is, I would say, one of the leading Spanish brands for children's fashion. As you have said, we are have present in 17 countries and we have to run 200 shops. And our goal is to be number one, the leader of the whole fashion business. What would you say is the retail strategy of Neck & Neck, and the main competitive advantages? >> I would say that we have our clients are the mothers. We look very closely what the mothers are demanding, and we try to give them what they want. We dress children from zero to 12 years old. And our product, I would say it's a mixture of good price, a reasonable price, a very good quality and a very recognizable design. So, and by that I would say one of our competitive >> Advantage? >> Advantages that we have is the fidelity program, and I figured, is that how you say it? >> Loyalty program. >> Loyalty program that's it. Which gives us all the information about our clients and how we communicate with them and all the information so we can give them what they want. >> And you told me, in addition to that, you know, 80% of the clients belong to this- >> 80% of our sales, exactly are made by our Club Neck clients. >> That's fantastic. >> That's great because it gives us 80% of the information. We have everything about all those clients. >> How many different retail channels do you use? >> Okay. We started as franchisers. But the truth is that, we wanted to have more on shops than franchises. So, right now we have on shops. We have franchises. We have online store. We have corners in department stores. Shop in the shop, stuff like that. And we have the outlets where we sell the remaining stocks on the Internet >> And what type of entry strategies do you use depending on the country? Does the channels really differr? >> Okay, what we used to do is we used to open our own shop. So, we have to a have a company, how do you say, a company? >> A subsidiary. >> A subsidiary, exactly. We used to have a subsidiary in every country but we have learned that it is very tough to grow in a county that you do not know. They don't have precedents and there are a lot of things that goes away and you don't know about that. So we have done now is every country we go we look for a proper partner and we try to establish with them a relation as a master franchisee. So, with those master franchisees what you can do is open anywhere in the world. Because what you have to find is the right person in every country. >> Having this partner, that you call them that way and what's the key in having in a group relationship or avoiding conflict? >> Well, for sure, we have to manage the knowledge that we have of our brand. And the knowledge that our partner has in the country. There are a lot of things that maybe the price, the partner says we have to lower, probably much higher than in Spain. And we try to negotiate with him because we know that our price range has to go from, it can not be three times the price that we pay in Spain. So those kind of negotiations, but it's not very tough. Normally when a, when a, when, we've had a partner, it's because the partner knows our brand, and he likes that brand. So, and all the attribute that the brand has, it's mixed up all with the leads that the country have. >> And just to finalize. What are religion challenges? What challenges are you facing, as a retailer? >> Yes, well I would say that the main challenges is wanting the digitization of the companies. As I've said, this world is moving very fast and ten years ago, we didn't know anything about, we couldn't even imagine that we were going to sell children's clothes on the internet. Right now, is 8% of our turnover is the online store, so it's very important. So, we have to keep on searching about all these new technologies and everything that is going on on that movement. The second thing I would say about Fast Fashion, we have only two collections a year. It's very difficult for us to produce garments and we produce maybe 60 every six months. So customer when it comes to the shop, the only thing, they will see the same collection for six months. Right now, the change we are doing, is we have a collection every two months. Two months there's a new collection coming, a new arrival, and the last collection will go out. So we do not have to wait until it sells for buying those garments, you can buy before that because we're going to take them out of the shops. So I would say that's a second- >> Challenge. >> Challenge that we have. And the third challenge I would say is keep on knowing what the client wants. And how to rationate and how to communicate with them. >> We have learned a lot and also how important it is to know the client as you mentioned, going into this era of digitalization is a must for all of us. I'm not sure I like very much how you mention, your relationship in other countries. You call them partners rather than clients. And I think this is also a key success factor to have a very good job and response in other countries. >> Sure, mm-hm. >> So I hope to see you soon. Eduardo, thank you very much again. >> Thank you very much for everything. [MUSIC]
