Fiskars Group, a Finnish lifestyle product giant, continues to see huge long-term potential in the Chinese consumer market and actively carries out localization strategies to boost its brands in the country, according to Nathalie Ahlstrom, the company's president and CEO.
Her comments came just after China and Finland vowed to expand practical cooperation this week.
Accompanied by a high-profile delegation of ministers and business leaders, Finnish President Alexander Stubb arrived in Beijing on Monday for a four-day state visit to China at the invitation of President Xi Jinping. At the talks Tuesday, Xi pledged his willingness to work together with Stubb for closer strategic cooperation between their two countries.
Ahlstrom said the Fiskars Group, founded in 1649, has made considerable inroads in the Chinese market with its and many renowned homeware brands.
"The Fiskars Group, we have been quite a while in China. I think our local team has made a success here. Us in Fiskas Group, we are mainly presenting through three brands, the biggest is Wedgwood, coming from England. Secondly, Royal Copenhagen from Denmark, and then Georg Jensen from Denmark. Those are really big, big brands in China. Plus, e-commerce, some big part of business here. It's all in our own hands and we are close to the consumers. So the opportunity is big. We have, in the last year, tripled our net sales here. You asked about the challenges, I didn't see so many challenges in China. The biggest one is, maybe just these at this moment, a bit of slowdown of the consumer sentiment, but I look for the long term and I see huge potential here," she said.
The business group has also invested massively into studying China's sales promotion periods to cater to Chinese consumers and build brand loyalty and visibility, said the CEO.
"We have two strategic key markets, one is the U.S. and the other one is China. China is such an important growth market, we need to have products this side, we need to craft unique products for the Chinese market that suits the Chinese needs and also the habits in China. You have a lot of gifting, so what kind of gift occasions, different occasions and you also have the Chinese New Year, the 'Double Eleven', that are coming. It's important for us that we make localization. It is very important that we position our sales with our brands, for example, Wedgwood, positioned ourselves really at the luxury, and we keep ourselves there. And the loyalty, it comes through active one-on-one discussions with the customers. Also, expanding the portfolio so that we have become more a lifestyle brand," she said.
Finnish lifestyle product giant bullish on Chinese consumer market as sales boom
