Multi-brand and multi-channel strategy

Nobia reaches its customers with a variety of brands through various sales channels, thereby attaining broad market coverage. Sales are made through kitchen specialists, furniture stores, builders’ merchants and DIY chains, as well as directly to construction companies and other retailers. The Internet is playing an increasingly important role when it comes to customers’ purchasing decisions.

By using many different distribution channels, Nobia selectively exposes its brands to a larger segment of the market. One of the most important channels to end customers is kitchen studios. Nobia has 694 specialised kitchen stores that are either operated by the Group or franchise holders. This is followed by sales directly to project customers and DIY chains as Nobia’s most important channels to end customers.

Strong brands and sales channels

The Group’s brand portfolio represents a variety of customer offerings in different price segments. Nobia has both national and regional kitchen brands as well as a global brand. Poggenpohl has worldwide market presence, while HTH is a regional brand, primarily in the Nordic countries. Magnet, Marbodal and Hygena are examples of well-known national kitchen brands.

Most of Nobia’s brands are either market leaders or among the largest in their individual markets. These positions are the result of consistent, long-term efforts in which the brands have been developed together with their sales channels. In recent years, Nobia has also invested in developing its sales channels since customers often choose a sales channel before selecting a certain kitchen brand.

Influencing offering to end customers

Sales depend on end customers being offered an attractive line of products. By influencing the various sales channels, Nobia is able to influence its offering to the end customer, for example, in terms of content, design and exposure of the kitchen concept. Exercising such influence also generates coordination advantages further down the value chain.

Owning stores facilitates the creation of a brand profile and shortens the time to launch for new concepts. The business units that focus their activities on larger chains of builders’ merchants use the “category management” method, meaning that the chain transfers responsibility for the store concept to Nobia.

Nobia meets demand from most customer categories by offering complete kitchen solutions that include home delivery, assembly, appliances and installation. It is also possible for DIY customers to pick up their kitchen in flat packs and install it themselves.

New sales concept

Nobia makes efforts to increase differentiation and strengthen the profiling of its various brands to further broaden its market coverage. During 2008, HTH supplemented its customer offering in the Norwegian market with a range of flat-pack kitchens that can be purchased at a lower price as part of the company’s basic product line. Magnet in the UK also added kitchens in the lower price segments to its end customer offering during the year. Accordingly, Nobia is increasing its presence in the economy segment with high-quality kitchens at attractive prices.

Poggenpohl continued to open new stores with a standardised concept in cities with strong purchasing power in Europe and the US. Hygena opened three stores outside France during the year. Since the Internet plays an increasingly central role in customers’ decisions to purchase kitchens, Nobia improved the possibilities for customers to find kitchen solutions online. An example is HTH in Norway where customers are given more opportunities to design and customise their future kitchens from their homes by using an easy-to-navigate 3D design program.