“A showroom generates some €25,000 per square meter in the first year of operation, while classic trade brings in between €2,500 and €4,000 annually for each square meter, so I believe the retail model we are applying is efficient. In showrooms, we reach a total of 40,000 visitors on a monthly basis,” Radu Apostolescu, Marketing Manager of eMag, said.
With the opening of its fourth showroom in Cluj, the company expanded its presentation area by 120 square meters. eMag already had almost 400 square meters in Bucharest, 150 square meters in Ploiesti, and 200 square meters in Iasi.
Thus, eMag clients who opt to pick their product right from the showroom can generate an annual business volume of some €22 mln for the four centres, the equivalent of one third of the €66 mln business estimated for 2009.
“We no longer have short-term expansion plans. We are going to stop, because the November-January period is a sales peak. A good showroom, efficient in the current market conditions, costs some €50,000,” said Iulian Stanciu, General Manager of Asesoft Distribution, the company which took over 51 percent of eMag’s shares in April.
