During the pandemic, Chilli Beans, a Brazilian eyewear brand, changed its sales focus and now is reaping the rewards of its new strategy. The chain leaded by Caito Maia is one of the members of Franchising Brasil — a sector project for the internationalization of Brazilian franchise brands carried out by means of a partnership between the Brazilian Association of Franchising (ABF) and the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex-Brasil) — and it has 917 units in Brazil plus over 30 units abroad.
Since customers are spending more time at home and including activities like reading into their daily routines, Chilli Beans decided to change its focus of attention. Instead of focusing on sunglasses, which are the main product of the brand, the company started concentrating its efforts on the sale of prescription eyeglasses, which have been more useful at this time.
Before the crisis, sunglasses accounted for 80% of Chilli Beans’ sales, while prescription eyeglasses and watches together accounted for the remaining 20%. In an interview to podcast Do Zero Ao Topo, of InfoMoney, Caito said such percentage changed to 50/50 in the past few months.
Chilli Beans on top
Caito also said that even his most optimistic expectations couldn’t be fulfilled because of the pandemic. Nevertheless, the company has been resuming the operations in its units and deciding what to do together with its franchisors.
Although the business situation is difficult at this time because of the small amount of people going to malls and stores, the drop in sales at Chilli Beans was only 5% during such period. One of the strategies used by the brand was selling via WhatsApp, and the company’s website now has an area dedicated to establish a connection between consumers and shop owners. According to Maia, the new sales channel will continue even after the end of the pandemic.
During the International Guidance – Portugal edition –, one of the actions supported by the Franchising Brasil project, Caito made a valuable suggestion that is applicable not only to the pandemic, but to the business as a whole. The businessman oriented entrepreneurs to reduce the office expenses and focus on stores and spend wisely the money for destined for expenses. With units in Europe and a strong presence in Portugal, the brand met the needs of local consumers and has been taking advantage of the economy reopening in the European continent.
About Franchising Brasil
Franchising Brazil is a joint project of the Brazilian Franchising Association (ABF) and the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex-Brasil), which aims to support the internationalization strategy of Brazilian franchise networks and their international commercial promotion. The initiative was designed to promote this recognized business model in the main international markets.