For the third consecutive year, Vestcasa has won the award for most admired brand by consumers in the Home Goods segment of the Ibevar Ranking 2024. The award, which will be officially presented in August, analyzes 120 national retail companies, representing nearly 30% of the country's goods consumption, excluding vehicles.
In addition to offering truly low prices, one of Vestcasa's secrets to success is its social and environmental responsibility. According to the 2024 Retail report by payment technology company Adyen, Brazil is the second country most concerned with retailers' social and environmental commitments, a response given by 46% of consumers. According to the study, most Brazilians (56%) would pay more for a product if the seller were transparent about the measures taken to reduce environmental impact.
In the case of Vestcasa, besides the company fulfilling its role for the sustainability of the planet, the consumer also pays less, showing that the award received again from the Ibevar Ranking is not a matter of chance. "We are very happy with this latest recognition," celebrates Ahmad Yassin, founder and CEO of Vestcasa. Our presence as the most admired company in the sector for the third consecutive year shows that we are on the right track.
Green retail (really)
Network focused on the bed, table, bath, decoration, household goods, food and beverage sectors,VestcasaIt seems to have found the ideal formula to meet all the requirements of green retail. At the same time that, through various initiatives, it reduces the disposal of plastics, fabrics, and other materials into the environment, it manages to generate wealth – revenue, jobs, etc. - providing people with lower purchasing power access to items that, sold under other circumstances, would be impossible to buy. A virtuous cycle of consumption.
With a business model inspired by the North American Costco, whose club members pay a fee to access a wide variety of items – from groceries and electronics to furniture and clothing – at promotional prices, Vestcasa has created its own shopping club through which it offers truly competitive prices. The priority is brands and top-tier items."It's not about selling the product at the lowest possible price," explains Yassin. "It's about selling the best possible product at the lowest possible price. Because the easiest way to lower the price is to reduce quality. And we don't like to do that."
Long before the government struggled to find ways to lower the price of meat, Vestcasa was already delighting barbecue enthusiasts. With headquarters in São Paulo and branches in Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, and Santa Catarina, the network offers a kilogram of picanha for R$ 29.90 and a can of beer for R$ 1 to members of its shopping club. To become a member of the club, which already has over 1 million members, the consumer pays an annual fee of R$ 70, gaining the right to purchase products at exclusive prices and discounts of up to 70% compared to market prices.
According to Yassin, one of the company's secrets is listening to the voice of its over 10 million followers, a number that, by the way, increases by more than 11,000 new fans per day on social media. "We monitor this very, very, very closely: what the consumer is saying, their satisfaction index, what they want," reveals the founder. "Today, all the company's decisions are guided by what the consumer directs to us. Today, we don't need to conduct extensive research. We just need to listen every day to what this customer is saying."
Products without packaging
Vestcasa, which was born green – the official color of the brand since its founding in 2008 – maintains a series of initiatives related to sustainability. In order to reduce the environmental impact of its operations, the network adopted as a business practice to sell products without plastic packaging or cardboard boxes. Per day, the network sells about 120,000 sheets, all without packaging. If the consumer wishes to take the products in plastic bags, the company sells the bags separately, discouraging consumers from choosing to use plastics. In total, by selling products without packaging, the company estimates to avoid the disposal of 120 tons of plastics into the environment each month. Per year, 1,400 tons of plastic are reduced.
The strategy aims to lower product prices and increase access for customers, as well as contribute to waste reduction. In some cases, the packaging cost can account for 70% of the item's value. "The packaging not only impacts the product's visual on the shelf. There is the cost of placing the item inside the packaging, the increase in volume cubage, which directly affects the rise in logistics and transportation costs, also leading to higher storage costs, without considering the packaging design cost, packaging components, and the packaging production process," explains Yassin. "Our focus is to generate less waste. And to increase consumer access."
According to him, the biggest challenge for adopting the package-free sales model is connecting with the customer who can understand the impact that packaging has throughout the entire supply chain. "A impact so great that you simply take the item home, remove it, and throw away the packaging," analyzes Yassin. "By rationalizing the purchase, the customer ends up shedding the veil of marketing and seeks the best product at the best price."
Sale of refurbished items
Aiming to reduce product disposal in the environment while offering more attractive prices to customers, Vestcasa invests in selling defective products. Some are retired. Others, with almost imperceptible flaws, are sold at significant discounts.
Clothing such as T-shirts, shorts, dresses, and pants with minor defects are refurbished by an external team and sold at lower prices – dresses that normally cost R$ 239, refurbished, are sold for R$ 39, and T-shirts costing R$ 150, refurbished, are sold for R$ 39.90. With a total of 14,000 pieces sold by November 2023, the strategy has already generated R$ 500,000 in revenue for Vestcasa, using products that, in theory, would be discarded.
On another sales front for defective items, products with minimal flaws that would initially be discarded after failing quality control are sold as they are, without repair or fixing, at prices significantly lower than normal. Until last November, more than 150,000 units of this model had already been sold, generating a revenue of R$ 6 million for Vestcasa.
Another strategy within the sale of defective products is that the company consolidates the defective items sold into kits. Exemplo: se, em um conjunto de seis taças, uma unidade está quebrada e, em outro jogo de taças, duas estão danificadas, as unidades intactas são reunidas em um novo kit, integralmente funcional e perfeito, evitando o descarte no ambiente de kits inteiros de produtos em razão dos defeitos em algumas de suas unidades. Another example: if a bed set has a torn sheet and, in another, the defective item is a pillowcase, the products in good condition are grouped into the same set, also preventing the disposal of entire kits into the environment due to issues with just one of their pieces.
Recycled raw materials
Several of the products sold by Vestcasa are made with recycled raw materials. The fibers used in the manufacture of pillows, duvets, and bedspreads are made from plastic derived from the recycling of PET bottles. Similarly, some models of chairs, tables, and storage boxes are made with recycled PET bottle plastic.
Marketing of used products
Recently, Vestcasa partnered with Salim Outlet, which has a space inside the mega store on Marginal Pinheiros in São Paulo, where they resell used cell phones, notebooks, and technology items with a warranty. For the retailer, in addition to meeting consumers' demand for cheaper products aligned with the idea of the circular economy, the initiative becomes a way to attract a broader audience to physical stores – whose role has been questioned in the face of the new global commercial landscape. For consumers, the phenomenon provides more advantageous purchasing opportunities with the idea of contributing to environmental sustainability. And for sellers of used items, the strategy means freeing up space at home, combined with generating extra income. In other words, as the sustainability manual dictates, everyone wins – including the planet.
