Hugo Hirsch: What do you think are the most significant dates in the history of Hifi International over the last 50 years?

Jean-Philippe Allain: The first founding date, of course, was 1975, the year Hifi International was founded. I recently had the opportunity to talk to its founder, Jacques Niedercorn, who told me with passion about the beginnings of the company: the first negotiations with customers and, above all, this desire to make new technologies accessible, at the time very focused on hi-fi.

There have been other milestones in the company’s history, including its acquisition by Photo Hall in 1998, its integration into the Krëfel group in 2012 and the acquisition of Darty in Luxembourg in 2013. Finally, in 2019, the takeover by Boulanger ensured the brand’s long-term future.

It is this mix of cultures that means that Hifi--50 years on--is a solid company that has evolved alongside its customers and its products. Because despite the changes, the brand has remained the same, deeply rooted in Luxembourg, with both native and adopted residents.

You talk about being deeply rooted in Luxembourg. In concrete terms, what does your client base look like today?

To put it simply, our client base is split equally between Luxembourg residents and international clients. However, this proportion varies according to our nine shops. For example, Foetz--in the south--attracts more French customers because of its proximity to the border. At the Cloche d’Or, the profile is clearly more international, while our shops in Pommerloch or Massen--close to the Belgian border--have a higher proportion of customers from Belgium.

Since you already attract a cross-border clientele, could opening a shop on the other side of the border be part of your plans?

It’s not on the agenda. In France, Boulanger represents our brand; in Belgium, Krëfel. The German market is more competitive, with well-established players such as Mediamarkt, which remains one of the European leaders. That said, digitalisation has already enabled us to cross borders: a significant proportion of our online business comes from French, Belgian and German customers.

Physical retail is not disappearing, it is evolving. It is refocussing on what makes it truly valuable: proximity, customer relations and the product experience.

Jean-Philippe Allain, managing director, Hifi international

With the rise of digitalisation, is physical retail losing ground, or have you been able to adapt your offering to preserve the appeal of your shops?

Physical retail is not disappearing, it is evolving. It is refocussing on its true value: proximity, customer relations and the product experience. Digitalisation is a practical tool--for comparing, finding a price, ordering easily--and we have fully integrated it, in particular with solutions such as home delivery.

But it does not replace the in-store experience. On the spot, customers expect advice, a human interaction--a real person, not a chatbot. They want to see the product, handle it and be reassured. This is particularly true for certain categories such as large electrical appliances, which represent a major investment. You don’t buy a washing machine every year and these aren’t products that you always have control over, unlike a smartphone, for example.

Do you ever offer differentiated pricing policies, with specific online or in-store promotions, to capture certain customer profiles?

Our approach is based above all on omnichannel. The aim is for the experience to be consistent, whatever the point of entry. What customers see online, they must be able to find in shop. Applying different pricing policies to different channels would be tantamount to treating them as separate audiences. But today’s consumers naturally move from one to the other. What counts is satisfying the customer: if they want a digital experience, we support them digitally; if they prefer to come into the shop, we offer them the best possible in-store experience. Both worlds must offer the best.

You mentioned earlier that every resident of Luxembourg is less than 20 minutes from one of your shops. Does this mean that you have already covered the country perfectly, or are there still areas to be covered?

With our nine shops spread across the whole country, we can indeed say that a Luxembourg resident is always less than 20 minutes from a sales outlet. That said, there are still areas where our presence could be strengthened. For example, we don’t have much of a presence in Kirchberg or Luxembourg City’s centre, where some of our competitors are already well established. But these are economic tradeoffs: the model has to be viable to justify an opening. Overall, our network is solid, even if it could be refined in certain places. Today, our priority is above all to strengthen our digital presence, particularly for smaller products that customers want to be able to order quickly online. This is where our main investments are currently focussed.

What are the main areas of investment?

The most important thing in a digital journey is to eliminate all forms of friction. As soon as a user encounters an obstacle--a page that’s too slow to load, a poorly placed button--they risk abandoning their purchase or turning to a competitor. That’s why our investments are focused first and foremost on the ergonomics of the platform and optimising the user experience.

We have also launched a vast project to digitise the entire company and its processes. With the support of the economy ministry, we have released resources to change our business management software, which is over 15 years old. With the support of a Luxembourg company [Captivea, editor’s note], we are going to set up a new information system that will enable us to work in real time at all levels. For example, as soon as a stock arrives at the warehouse, it will be immediately visible on the internet. When a customer buys a product in shop, they will receive their invoice immediately and will be able to rate their experience or the product without delay.

We always have plans. We’re constantly on the lookout for opportunities and attentive to where our customers want us to be. So yes, there could be some surprises in the coming months.

Jean-Philippe Allain, managing director, Hifi International

So if I understand correctly, no new shops are planned in the coming years?

I didn’t say that! We always have plans. We’re constantly on the lookout for opportunities and attentive to where our customers want us to be. So yes, there could be some surprises in the months ahead.

Products evolve, as do consumer expectations. We probably didn’t buy the same things 50 years ago as we do today. How are you adapting to these changes?

We’re lucky to be operating in an extremely dynamic market. Today, nothing is more essential in a household than a fridge, a washing machine or a smartphone. Our mission is precisely to support these uses. As soon as a new technology emerges, our role is to list it, to offer it both online and in shop, and, above all, to train our teams so that they can guide customers in its discovery and adoption. Take artificial intelligence, which is now being integrated into many products, or airfryers, which have become very popular recently. During the pandemic, food processors were particularly in demand. Before that, there were 4K televisions, the arrival of the iPhone... All these products were available from us as soon as they were launched.

Are there any products that you don’t yet sell, but that you plan to incorporate into your offering in the coming years?

A fast-growing segment at the moment is robot mowers. We don’t offer them yet, but it’s a product that interests us. They require a certain amount of training, and sometimes a specific installation. So we’re thinking about our legitimacy in this type of offering, especially in a context where other chains, specialising in outdoor landscaping, already offer them.

Same thinking on the mobility side. Vehicles are increasingly connected, almost like iPhones on wheels. Could we eventually offer certain types of vehicle or new forms of mobility? It’s a possibility. We've already started to integrate products like electric scooters.

Are you testing some of these products or services in a single shop to assess their potential before rolling them out across the board?

Yes, absolutely. In particular, we have our Bertrange shop, which is a little bigger than the others, with three floors. It’s an outlet where we're experimenting more. For example, we’ve developed a very advanced offering in gaming and custom PC assembly. An expert is on hand to assemble machines tailored to the needs of each customer. In our eight other shops, we of course offer gaming PCs, but not at the same level of customisation.

If you had to name three flagship products from your current best-sellers, which ones would you choose?

There are indeed flagship products, but you also have to take account of seasonal effects. As summer approaches, customers are looking to stay cool at home, whereas in winter, heating solutions dominate. That said, there are products that drive the market all year round. Smartphones, and iPhones in particular, remain constant bestsellers. Recent years have also seen a real craze for airfryers, which have changed cooking habits at home. And of course, televisions are still one of our flagship products. In fact, we are the leader in Luxembourg in this segment.

What are your main initiatives in terms of the environment today?

The Big Collect is one of our most important initiatives. It’s based on a simple principle: to recover the products that we have once put on the market. Every year, we sell thousands of washing machines, televisions, etc. The challenge is to ensure that these products don’t end up on the street or in landfill without being recycled. Better still, some of them can have a second life. Last summer, we launched a closed reconditioning loop. This means that some of the appliances we recover are reconditioned and then put back on sale in some of our shops. This does not account for the majority of our sales--far from it--but it does enable us to meet the expectations of customers who are concerned about their environmental impact. A reconditioned washing machine has up to half the carbon impact, as we avoid producing a new one.

As part of your commitment to the environment, have you also decided to electrify your delivery fleet?

Our fleet [nine delivery trucks, editor’s note] is not yet electrified. Today, they are not yet electric vehicles, mainly because they cover long distances and the investment is still substantial. That said, these are recent vehicles and the electrification of the fleet is naturally part of our thinking.

When you arrived, you spoke of a “premium offer” at Hifi. What exactly did you mean by this?

The term premium is often associated with expensive products, but that's not what I mean at all. For me, a premium offer is first and foremost a premium experience. It doesn’t matter whether the customer buys a fridge for €500 or €2,000: the most important thing is that they leave with a product that is adapted to their needs, that they know how to use and that they have a clear contact person in the event of a problem. The service doesn’t end with the sale. Our installers can intervene again if necessary, our customer service is available and our sales staff are trained to provide each customer with personalised support.

How do you go about recruiting talent?

We place particular emphasis on training and identifying talent. For example, we work with a number of vocational colleges in Luxembourg and France to take on young people on work-linked training schemes or looking for work. Today, the average length of service in the company is around ten years. This average masks great diversity: we regularly take on young people, sometimes with no experience, to strengthen our teams. Alongside them, we also have employees with 20, 25 and sometimes even 30 years of seniority. They are the ones who pass on the company culture. But the reverse is also true: the younger employees sometimes train the older ones, particularly in new technologies.

What have you put in place at Hifi to retain employees who work on Saturdays or Sundays?

In retail, it’s a reality: Saturdays are one of the most important days--if not the most important--for our shops. Some of our outlets are also open on Sundays, with a specific organisation. This is particularly the case at Pommerloch and the Cloche d’Or. As far as working conditions are concerned, we have included provisions in our collective agreement. Working on Sundays gives you the right to compensatory rest during the week, which is often appreciated.

But above all, working on Sundays represents a real boost to purchasing power. The pay is almost 180% of the average hourly rate. In fact, some employees voluntarily choose to work in these shops open on Sundays precisely for this reason.

At our largest outlets, such as Pommerloch, Sundays can account for up to 20% of the week’s sales.

Jean-Philippe Allain, managing director, Hifi international

You mentioned the importance of Sundays in shops. In concrete terms, what weight does it represent in your weekly sales?

At our largest outlets, such as Pommerloch, Sundays can account for up to 20% of the week’s sales.

The issue of languages is particularly sensitive in Luxembourg. How do you address this issue in your shops?

Yes, it’s essential. If you don’t speak French in the south of the country, it’s complicated. If, in the north, you don’t speak German or Luxembourgish, it quickly becomes an obstacle. And at the Cloche d’Or, which has a very international clientele, fluency in English is essential. That’s why language skills are systematically included in our recruitment criteria.

But we’re going even further: we recently launched in-house language courses to enable every employee to acquire at least the basics of Luxembourgish. Because when you claim to be a local brand, speaking Luxembourgish becomes a real asset, especially compared with other brands that don’t necessarily incorporate it.

In each of our shops, we make sure that there is at least one employee who speaks Lëtzebuergesch, one who speaks German and one who speaks English. And sometimes more: in Ingeldorf, for example, all our staff speak Portuguese, to meet the needs of our customers.

To conclude, if you had to sum up the last 50 years of Hifi International in just one word, what word would you choose? And what word would you use for the next 50?

For the last 50 years, the word that most represents the company is local. Hifi International is a brand with deep roots in Luxembourg, known to all. It’s been around the corner for half a century and has won the trust of its customers, whether they’re new or old. This closeness, this loyalty, sums up our history perfectly.

And for the next 50 years... I could choose the same word. Because our ambition remains the same. But this local character must be enriched with technology. The challenge for the years to come is to make the link between proximity and innovation. To use digital tools to be even more accessible and efficient, and to continue to pass on our knowledge to our customers. In short: staying close, while going further.

This article was originally published in .