par VENTE UNIQUE.COM (EPA:ALVU)
Iconic brands never die: Vente-unique.com leads Habitat's revival
Press release - April 2024
Vente-unique.com, the expert in online sales of furniture in France and Europe, is pleased and proud to announce that it will be orchestrating the revival of the iconic Habitat brand.
This announcement is part of a brand licensing agreement granted to Vente-unique.com by the CAFOM Group, owner of the Habitat brand. As a responsible and committed company, Vente-unique.com's priority will be to satisfy Habitat customers, starting with the 9,000 Habitat customers in France affected by the liquidation of the brand's previous operator, Habitat Design International (hereinafter "HDI"), and its main subsidiary Habitat France SAS (hereinafter "HFS").
To give this iconic brand a new and lasting future and restore its place in the hearts of the French, Vente-unique.com will be applying all its expertise in the profitable and sustainable development of e-commerce activities in the service of Habitat.
An absolute priority: restoring the Habitat brand in the hearts of its customers
Driven by the desire to launch this recovery on a sound footing, Vente-unique.com, which in 2024 won the "Customer Service of the Year" award in the Furniture and Decoration category in France, Spain and Germany*, is announcing a major commitment to Habitat customers in France affected by the liquidation of the former operator of the Habitat brand, HDI and its subsidiary HFS. A form is now available online at www.habitat.fr so that affected customers can report their concerns.
Vente-unique.com undertakes to examine each case and get back to customers within 3 to 5 weeks. In this context, the possibility of offering free vouchers that customers can use to purchase Habitat products marketed on the Habitat.fr site will be studied, in accordance with the conditions freely agreed.
*BVA - Viséo CI study - More information on escda.fr
Through this unprecedented commercial effort, CAFOM and Vente-unique.com are aiming to re-launch the Habitat brand with customers over the long term.
Vente-unique.com and CAFOM stress that they are in no way liable or responsible for the past failings of HDI and its subsidiary HFS with regard to Habitat France's customers.
Vente-unique.com's expertise at the service of a French design icon
Profiting every year since its creation in 2006 and listed on the stock market since 2018, Vente-unique.com has delivered to more than 2.5 million customers in 11 European countries since its launch. In the 2022-2023 financial year, Vente-unique.com achieved record total annual sales of over €200m, up +18.2% year-on-year.
In order to relaunch the Habitat brand on a long-term basis, Vente-unique.com is going to capitalise on the many strengths that have made it a success and ensured the trust of its customers for almost 20 years. The pure-player specialising in online furniture sales relies on a totally unintermediated model, controlling all the essential links in the value chain, from the manufacturer to the customer, with particular expertise in logistics in order to give priority to customer satisfaction. To manage all this, an IT platform (ERP) has been developed in-house and is regularly updated with the latest technological advances (marketplace, artificial intelligence, etc.).
Vente-unique.com is committed to putting its recognised culture of performance and profitability at the service of the Habitat brand, to ensure lasting customer satisfaction.
A new future for the Habitat brand that respects its identity and iconic products
Since its creation in 1964 by Sir Terence Conran, Habitat has offered a range of timeless objects and furnishings accessible to all, made up of functional, high-quality pieces that meet contemporary needs. A leading light in pop, joyful and daring design, the Habitat brand remains a reference in the world of design today.
By taking over the licence for the Habitat brand, Vente-unique.com aims to preserve this institution of design history by ensuring the continuity of its timeless identity. "Vente-unique.com will be committed to respecting the strong identity of the Habitat brand, a precursor of accessible luxury, as it was imagined 60 years ago by its founder Sir Terence Conran. The iconic products that have made the Habitat brand so successful and famous will soon be available to customers thanks to Vente-unique.com", says Sacha Vigna, CEO and co-founder of Vente-unique.com.
All the brand's fundamentals will be retained, and a new team is already working on the next collection. Before summer 2024, thanks to Vente-unique.com, Habitat's e-commerce website will be reactivated, offering a selection of the brand's must-have items.
A brief history...
Endorsed by its founder Sir Terence Conran in 2011, Hervé Giaoui, head of the CAFOM Group, has worked for almost 10 years to develop the Habitat brand.
In 2020, CAFOM sold the Habitat brand to HDI, in order to refocus on e-commerce with Vente-unique.com and on its overseas shops.
And for the rest…
Following the court-ordered liquidation of HDI and its subsidiary HFS, CAFOM announced that it was seeking a suitable solution for the customers affected in order to preserve the value of the Habitat brand. As part of this process, the Group has decided to license the Habitat brand to Vente-unique.com, thereby ensuring a long-term revival of the Habitat brand.
About Vente-unique.com
Created in 2006, Vente-unique.com (Euronext Growth - ALVU), a subsidiary of the CAFOM Group (Euronext - CAFO), is an expert in online sales of furniture and home furnishings in Europe. The company covers 11 countries (France, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal and Switzerland) and has supplied over 2.5 million customers since its launch. In 2023, Vente-unique.com generated total sales of €202 million, an increase of 18%.
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