Having landed in New Zealand over 18 months ago, online furniture retailer Andoo talks about how their brand expanded further across the country and advice for other businesses planning to do the same.
In just 18 months, Andoo has been able to successfully first launch in Auckland, before expanding further into Hamilton, Tauranga and the Far North.
With plans to further expand across New Zealand, the online furniture retailer seems to have unlocked the door to the right path for expansion.
Troy Tindill, Andoo New Zealand Country Manager, says that the past year and a half has been super successful after trying out the business model and now the business is seeing a lot of repeat customers.
As an Australian brand, Andoo has been able to test their business model before taking it into New Zealand, but heading into the country is like starting anew for the company.
“We’re in that infancy stage here, but it’s great to see that the model is transferable for the Kiwi market,” Tindill adds.
By testing out their model for the Auckland demographic, Tindill says Andoo saw the company grow bigger across communities thanks to word of mouth.
“[This is] really cementing the fact of our level service makes us more confident to keep going forward with the same business model,” he says.
From the first launch in Auckland, it was a no-brainer for Andoo to move into the next market, Hamilton.
Read more: How Andoo is taking the entire home ecosystem online
“It’s all about proving your model works and then expand as the customer demand meets the requirement,” says Tindill.
One of the most vital steps during expansion is ensuring you understand the community, he says.
When expanding into a new community, Tindill says they make sure they have enough frequency and products to be in the area, removing anything that could determine them as a company that provides “subpar” levels of service.
For many businesses, it is their goal to go nationwide, but in order to do so, Tindill says businesses need to be at the right rate of growth to ensure it does not compromise the levels of customer service.
Remaining consistent with customer service across the board is key, both for new and loyal customers whether they’re in the big city of Auckland or the rural sides of the Far North.
The customer experience has always been Andoo’s key to success when it comes to expanding.
“It’s all about that customer journey, and as an online business, we put a lot of focus on that last mile level of service, and making sure that you have a really great last mile offering,” says Tindill.
“A customer is always first.”
With goals to further expand across the country, Andoo is always putting the customer journey as the first priority, which is why at the moment they are focusing on their business model that values sustainability.
Andoo have always been committed to sustainability which currently includes options such as; recycling old appliance products and packaging and as of recently, expanded to the service to include mattress recycling, a country first.
This is something the company is heavily focused on and continues to ever-evolve that will help them support their journey of expanding further within the country.
