While much of the debate within Swedish e-commerce revolves around squeezed margins and tough competition on the domestic front, gym and training actor Gymkompaniet is delivering robust growth figures in neighboring countries.
According to the company's CEO, Joel Löwenberg, the international expansion is now the part of the business that is growing fastest in percentage terms. And a clear shining star in the portfolio is Denmark, where the company has been operating for a couple of years:
Denmark is growing by around 40 percent and may turn over 10 million Swedish krona this year. It has continued for two to three years now, so it is a very pleasant market, says Joel Löwenberg to Ehandel.se.
Acquisition in Finland and soft launch in Norway
Things are also happening to the east. About a year ago, Gymkompaniet acquired a Finnish company to gain a faster foothold in the market.
We have been live in Finland for about a year and have sold around 3 million Swedish krona in the last 12 months. It's not a gigantic turnover considering the outcome, but it's quite decent for a first year in e-commerce, he says.
Now another Nordic market is up next, but in Norway, Gymkompaniet is choosing a completely different and more cautious strategy. Instead of launching its own store from scratch, the company is leveraging one of the industry's largest platforms.
We haven't rolled out our own market, but have entered into a collaboration where we sell through Gymgrossisten in Norway. We went live a few weeks ago, so we've only had a few orders so far. But it's a way for us to test the waters, concludes Joel Löwenberg.