ADZINE: Dear Sven, how did Thomann fare during the lockdown?
Sven Schoderböck: The pandemic was a big challenge for all of us and it also demanded a lot of discipline and optimism from everyone at Thomann. On a positive note, the two lockdowns gave us two free Christmas deals, as an incredible number of people decided to learn a musical instrument or start making music again during this time. On the other hand, the pandemic has hit live musicians and organizers hard and practically banned them from working. Regardless of all monetary factors, this was an unbelievable tragedy for many people.
We always tried to make the best of it and ride on sight. Luckily there was enough work at all times so that we could do without short-time work. Right from the start, we gave our freelancers and service providers an employment guarantee to give them security. In this way, they were able to bring back income that they had lost elsewhere, and we were able to implement projects that had been on our roadmap for many years.
All in all, I would say that Thomann is one of the beneficiaries of Corona, but none of us would have needed this pandemic.
ADZINE: So far you had your sights set on Europe, but now Thomann even delivers to the USA? How did that come about and how important are you in the States?
Schoderböck: That's right - up to now we've always concentrated on Europe because we can guarantee certain quality and service standards here and the logistics mostly run smoothly.
Due to the fact that Thomann is increasingly becoming a media company and we play out content on many different platforms, we can practically not "defend" ourselves against musicians all over the world seeing our content and equipment that we for example show in our YouTube videos, also want to buy. This has actually led to the fact that some of our own brands now have an "insider tip Made in Germany" status in the USA and many customers order from there.
ADZINE: Did the corks pop when the one billion sales were reached?
Schoderböck: We didn't really feel like celebrating last year, but it was an incredible feeling as a small, independent family business from the country - in a hobby niche market - to crack a billion. You pause and rewind the last 20 to 25 years, in which we went from a stationary shop to a mail order company, then to a logistics company, then to an e-commerce company, then to an IT company and now to a media company. That was an incredible ride!
ADZINE: What is your e-commerce/marketing secret?
Schoderböck: So it's not really a secret, but we've always tried to develop a "Thomann Way" for everything. We never had consultants, we don't use standard tools, our organization has proliferated rather than grown.
In short: We always try to anticipate what our customers want from us next and then we implement it in the way we think is right.
ADZINE: Just Music has given up its flagship store in Hamburg, there is only Berlin as a stationary sales area. What did your competitor(s) do wrong?
Schoderböck: Our competition didn't do anything wrong. Although our industry is the hottest in the world, it is not economically viable for the retail trade.
Only 8 percent of the population makes music, and that 8 percent is broken down across 3,000 different product and instrument categories. The margins are extremely low as there are many distributors and middlemen in the value chain and with these signs it is practically impossible to run profitable stores.
Even our shop in stairs village is subsidized - and we don't pay any rent.
ADZINE: Part of the marketing team is based in Hamburg, as is part of the editorial team. However, with more than 1,200 employees,treppendorf is not out of the world. At the beginning of October you invite to the open day; you offer many apprenticeships. How is this perceived and accepted in the region and beyond?
Schoderböck: We now have 14 external locations - including four locations for developers, three for our online magazines, various purchasing offices abroad and so on. Nevertheless, our main location is and will remain intreppe and we try to have as many colleagues as possible there.
It was already foreseeable a few years ago that our biggest competitors would no longer be music retailers, but employers from the region, for whom we compete for the best talent. That's how it happened now. We have almost 100 permanent vacancies, want to grow by 150 to 200 employees again this year and we have to make sure that we are attractive enough as an employer for future colleagues.
ADZINE: In a conversation a few years ago, you said that you not only have challenges in digital marketing, but that you also need a younger team that is closer to today's technological requirements. How is the status quo?
Schoderböck: It's actually the case that e-commerce at Thomann was always a sub-area of marketing. However, we now make 97 percent of our sales with e-commerce and the area of marketing includes almost everything that is digital in some way.
This means that the coming challenge for the company will be to bring the worlds together and bring more digital thinking, disruption and innovative strength to all areas.
ADZINE: On July 1st you celebrated your 25th anniversary at Thomann. You made the family business big together with boss Hans Thomann Junior. Are there any new challenges for you?
Schoderböck: First of all, I'm incredibly proud and grateful that I got the chance to build so much awesome shit in such an exciting time in such a great company that is used and liked by so many people out there . I could think of hundreds more challenges at Thomann, but I decided a few months ago that by the end of the year it would be over for me there.
I achieved everything there, saw everything and experienced everything. After 25 years with a company, I'm also interested in other industries, other business models and companies that don't need a "digital missionary", if you know what I mean...
ADZINE: Of course! What are you doing now?
Schoderböck: To be honest: I don't know yet. I've been working practically 24/7 for 25 years now and have always had my focus on Thomann... It feels weird at first, on December 31st. wipe my mouth and from 1.1. to serve a new master.
I can well imagine going into a kind of business angel role or founding something myself with my family to introduce my children to the topic a bit. But I can just as well imagine only developing big data projects in some cool startup. foam mark.
I set myself challenges every year and one of my challenges for 2021 was that I want to do ten internships in ten different companies. I've already done six internships - including at Babyone, Decathlon and Das Ist Web - and I've also been able to learn a lot about other industries and their struggles. I find that super exciting and I think I was able to contribute a little bit of my experience.
Maybe one of your Adzine readers has an internship for me. Otherwise, I'm currently concentrating on making a proper handover for my 47 teams. This will certainly last until the end of the year.
ADZINE: Dear Sven, we thank you very much for the interview and hope for further successful challenges.
