Wirtschaftsforum: Mr. Stopa, Happy People has transformed over time from a traditional importer to more of a product developer, meaning product development is at the forefront for you. Yet, many items in your portfolio still come from China, where the pandemic began earlier this year. How has this affected your business operations, and how have you managed through the crisis so far?

Thomas Stopa: The first problem arose with the supply chains. We had, also in view of the Chinese New Year, ordered many products already in December 2019 and felt the first effects of the pandemic in January when supply shortages occurred. However, we weathered this first phase quite well. The lockdown, when retail was shut down, posed significant restrictions for us. In the summer, there was then an enormous surge in demand, so that sales figures picked up sharply again. We actually had difficulties satisfying the high demand. All in all, 2020 was marked by strong sales fluctuations. Each month was different from the other, and new challenges kept arising for us.

Wirtschaftsforum: How did you face these challenges, and what observations have you made regarding the purchasing behavior of your customers?

Thomas Stopa: One of our main focuses has always been the water world, meaning products like air mattresses, water toys, and swimming pools. Due to Corona, sales in this sector have dropped because the leisure and also the travel behavior of buyers has changed. Beach vacations are hardly possible at the moment since travel activities are heavily restricted. Assuming that this will remain the case into next year and people will take vacations at home, we have responded and adapted our product range, for example with inflatable pools that can be used in the garden. We have generally shifted our focus more towards the home and garden segment. Another area where the changed buyer behavior is evident is our licensed products: Here, demand is heavily oriented towards currently popular TV series, which mainly target children. This means: children are watching significantly more TV right now.

Wirtschaftsforum: How have you adapted your sales strategy to the current situation?

Thomas Stopa: We find ourselves in a dilemma: Online commerce has increased tremendously due to the pandemic. However, we support retail stores because we believe that a true shopping experience is only possible if one can physically handle the items. Additionally, good advice is only possible in person, and this is crucial for sales. We have grown in the past thanks to retail stores, and we see further development opportunities there in the future – therefore, it is now up to us to give a little back by strengthening them.

Wirtschaftsforum: How do you plan to approach this? Are you following a particular strategy?

Thomas Stopa: We started with a small step in the right direction by paying our employees their Christmas bonuses in October. It was foreseeable that another lockdown would occur, and we wanted to enable our employees to spend it early in retail stores. We communicated this to them and that's how they perceived it.

Wirtschaftsforum: Speaking of online commerce and digital transformation: How can both perhaps also help retail stores?

Thomas Stopa: We ourselves will be offering our own online portal for our B2C customers starting in March of next year. And with this, we see ourselves as partners of retail stores, not competitors, as it allows us to price products appropriately – an option that would not otherwise be available to us, as price competition has increased significantly with online sales. We also use digitalization as a bridge to the end customer. Several of our products, such as tents or pools, have QR codes on them. The customer scans them and is directly linked to a video that provides instructions on how to set up the product.

Wirtschaftsforum: What do you expect for the coming year, do you already have a forecast?

Thomas Stopa: It is currently very difficult to plan for the medium and long term – who can know what else the pandemic will bring? Currently, the economy in China is recovering. Nevertheless, there have been substantial delays, which, along with strong demand, has led to a price increase. Still, we are fundamentally optimistic about the future: We have great, marketable products and continually have new developments in the pipeline.