eCommerce and re-Commerce: The innovative ideas of JOOLZ, with Jurryt van Arend, Head of Global eCommerce
Explained: Why there is an ever-growing need for sustainable shopping. How JOOLZ succeed with an online only store, using distributors to sell in 50 countries worldwide and their plans for future growth.
Key Takeaway: Sustainability is top of many business priorities in 2022. Find out how JOOLZ is succeeding in gaining a competitive advantage by using sustainability as its principle philosophy.
In S02E05 Tim chats to Jurryt van Arend, Head of Global eCommerce. Based in the Netherlands, JOOLZ is an online-only store that specialises in manufacturing premium pushchairs and buggies. JOOLZ pushchairs are made from recycled PET bottles, melted into pellets, then spun into yarn to make premium 100% sustainable and traceable fabrics that are kinder to the environment. From their foundation, sustainability has “always been in their DNA”, even before it became trendy.
How is JOOLZ sustainable?
Talking about his product development team, Jurryt says that in order to keep the number of upgrades to a minimum, every JOOLZ accessory has been cleverly designed in-house to work with most of the strollers they have on offer - old or new.
They are continuously improving the quality, usability, durability and eco footprint of their products. They also work with sustainable and social initiatives like the Joolz Birth Forest, which means they plant a tree for every stroller sold, (over 281,000 so far), lifetime warranties, and even re-useable product packaging.
The brand’s other focus is re-commerce; they concentrate on innovative design to ensure accessories fit all product lines across the range, enabling a strong second-hand market to extend the lifetime of a pushchair and limit waste.
Future goals
Using innovative manufacturing and design, JOOLZ are committed to decreasing environmental footprint by at least 30% per unit by 2025.
Jurryt explains how they use reverse compatibility, meaning that all new accessories are designed to be used on older models of buggies where possible, to achieve their ambition to extend the lifetime of a buggy or pushchair to at least 10 years, enabling multiple generations to use it.
To hear more of Jurryt’s career story, listen to the full episode.
What challenges are JOOLZ facing?
Jurryt explains that JOOLZ has all the digital tech in place however there is a scarcity of good people to operate it. “We have some great people, but of course people come and go, and I feel it’s becoming increasingly difficult here in the Netherlands to find the right people.”
He goes on to say “Frontend, backend developers, UX designers and specialists in setting up Google campaigns are incredibly hard to find and retain in the business.” echoing many people that we have spoken to on The FOD.
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