How is it possible to turn over 30 million euros in one year selling phone cases?
La Casa de las Carcasas, is a network of stores that has been quietly taking spaces in the center of many large cities and major shopping centers. Its founder, Ismael Villalobos, 29 years old, found the formula for success in a company that, after only 6 years, already has 700 employees, more than 108 physical stores throughout Spain and an annual turnover of 30 million euros. How did he do it?
Villalobos started with the online sale of mobile accessories, in 2012 he professionalized the project and later, in 2013, he opened his first physical store in a shopping mall, in the midst of the Amazon era.
Like any startup, it had its ups and downs, "There was a confusion between what the online customer demanded and what the in-person customer demanded. In the store we put the same things that worked well for us online, such as chargers, batteries, battery cases, etc. A little bit technological accessories. People didn't even look at them in the store. People in the store were just looking for cases, that's all. When we understood that, we started to grow," said Ismael.
How did they manage to beat the Amazon monster and the rest of the cell phone case stores?
Well, they joined them. From day one they started working together and today they sell their licenses on the site. When they managed to get their market niche and specialized in it, their sales started to skyrocket. Going from generating €6 million a year in 2016, to earning €30 million in 2018, and for 2019 the figure is expected to continue to rise.
In 2017 they generated €15,453,511 in sales, obtaining position 12,546 in the National Ranking of Companies according to sales, rising 10,659 positions with respect to 2016. In the Ranking of Cáceres, according to sales, in 2017 they were positioned at number 28, improving 36 positions with respect to 2016. And in the Ranking of Companies in the Sector Wholesale trade of electronic and telecommunications equipment, and its components in 2017 they ranked 84th according to sales, improving 104 positions with respect to 2016.
Below we show the evolution of positions between 2016 and 2017 of La Casa de las Carcasas by each of the rankings according to their sales:
Ismael also commented that most of the casings are brought from China, they come with the design ready, but in the era of fast fashion deadlines are vital, sometimes it can mean the difference between selling a good amount of stock or being late for a fashion. "If we wait for it to come to us from outside, we miss out on the fashion. So we manufacture it here."
And so it was that they decided to start manufacturing their own casings, thus achieving greater variety and increasing their profits by more than 30%.
Villalobos plans to continue growing without major modifications to the current formula. "At the moment we are very entertained with the current activity, we do not close doors, but we have no new plans. Where there are plans is with the Xiaomi Mi Stores that have opened in Valencia, A Coruña, Zaragoza, Murcia... La Casa de las Carcasas has a 20% shareholding in them.
The secret of their success has been specialization and becoming manufacturers of their products, finding their market niche and working on the basis of this niche.
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