Going Kolombo BELGIUM

 

Breaking the traditional supply chain

The retail landscape has witnessed rapid changes due to the advent of online shopping, which has also forced companies to be transparent about their supply chain.

In response to this development, shopkeepers have been more inclined than ever to directly purchase from manufacturers to increase their margins, thereby eliminating the intermediaries. This has put pressure on wholesalers’ traditional business model.

Automated wholesaling

Deeleencontainer (‘Share a container’), an initiative developed by Going Kolombo, is a platform that allows shopkeepers to jointly purchase a container directly from manufacturers anywhere in the world and at the lowest price. Shopkeepers can benefit from a reduction in purchase price of up to 50%.

The platform acts as a wholesaler, albeit a fully automated one, and provides wholesale margins to shopkeepers. Since Going Kolombo wants to be as transparent as possible, it openly states all purchase prices and its own margin.

Deeleencontainer was launched in Belgium as recently as the autumn of 2015. The platform started out with offering three products. The first containers were sold out within four days.

“It is evident that the market needs this wind of change,” says founder and CEO Jan Ceulemans. “The concept can be translated to numerous sectors. We are currently holding several talks to roll out our platform and operations in other sectors. It is an invitation we are more than happy to accept.”

Brand builders

Going Kolombo consists of a young team and is located in a trendy loft in Antwerp’s city centre. There are no indications
that these are the head offices of a company operating in a very traditional market: the production and wholesaling of accessories for pets. Going Kolombo prefers to present itself as a brand builder and has always focused on design and innovation since its inception ten years ago. This approach proved successful, as the company quickly became known as a trendsetter.

Jan Ceulemans: “We want to be a forerunner in the innovations that are taking place in our sector. Since our company is still young, our aim is to build long-term success. Deeleencontainer is a first example of this objective. We view 2015 as a year of transition in which we focused on our internal organisation. We have planned several launches for 2016 – Going Kolombo 2.0 if you will.”

Core business

Today, in addition to its Antwerp branch, the company also boasts its own plant
in Indonesia and a purchase office in Shanghai. All storage and order picking was outsourced several years ago to a large logistical party, which has allowed Going Kolombo to focus on its core business. Going Kolombo furthermore has own brands which are sold across Europe in over 3,000 shops.