“You have to reckon with us”

That's just how you imagine a pure player on the Internet: loft-style office building in a major city, a room for yoga, fitness and relaxation, and even a music room in the basement and the inevitable game of table soccer in the recreation room. And they've already got their first rebranding with a new logo (since September 2018) behind them, after just five years: the ManoMano start-up, with its head office in Paris, is becoming the online marketplace in Europe especially for home improvement and garden.
But there's one thing it doesn't want: "We don't want to be Amazon." That's what Nils Kernchen, head of business development Germany, says. He emphasises that they want to act with "friendliness and goodwill" and thus set themselves apart on the market: "We accompany the traders," says Kernchen - with an emphasis on "accompany".
That's why it's particularly interesting to talk to the German who is responsible for expansion, because ManoMano sales are currently growing most strongly in Germany. In all six countries in which the company is active - France, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Great Britain and, since the end of 2016, also Germany - the company made sales of around EUR 250 mio in 2017; it was launched with EUR 1 mio in 2013.
Both the accompaniment of traders who sell on ManoMano as well as the contact to the consumers in all countries are managed centrally by the head office in Paris, where there is now a second subsidiary. Smaller locations are also run by the company in Bordeaux and Barcelona.

Around 80 persons work on consumer support alone in teams of native speakers. The total number of employees will reach 400 this year.
The traders who sell on ManoMano are both pure players as well as stationary traders. They appreciate, says Kernchen, the personal advice ("you can call us") as well as, for example, the opportunity of selling abroad - from the traders' perspective.
Kernchen reports that also the consumers want uncomplicated contact. Many, he says, only initially go to the platform for one product and then discover everything else they need.
After expanding in the core European countries, no further market entries are planned for the time being. Especially since in Germany, and incidentally in Great Britain too, there…