Dimex Oy, a workwear manufacturer from Leppävirta, has started sale operations via Amazon FBA services, and is now offering their workwear for construction, civil engineering, industry, property maintenance, logistics, landscaping and HVAC workers’ needs. The export business has been at the core of Dimex in the past and now Amazon FBA services is used to further expand the availability of Dimex products in the international markets.
In which Amazon marketplaces are Dimex products sold?
We chose amazon.de as our home marketplace. We receive a steady stream of inquiries about our products from abroad, not so much from Germany but from the UK and the USA among other countries. Germany is already one of our largest export countries because Dimexes are sold at Fendt shops around the country. However, Germany was the best for us because Brexit brought new restrictions on the co.uk platform and the US Amazon is challenging due to distance. DE works for us because the warehouse is in the middle of Europe and our logistics operates within the European Union.
What surprised you the most about starting with Amazon?
I would have been lost without Retime. Amazon is a rigid and inflexible organization and requires professionalism to be able to weave through all the oddities. Amazon also has strict requirements for packaging products, which bite the margin quite painfully and are not really ecologically sensible, i.e. packing everything in individual plastic bags.
Amazon is, however, the world’s most important e-commerce platform so there are loads of opportunities.
What do you think is required from a company to go sell on Amazon?
The products must be interesting and suitable for the target market. We decided that we would not launch certified products at all on Amazon because it would have excluded the US out of the possible sellable countries due to local certification regulations. The presentation of the products should be invested with extra effort, because the products are purchased specifically on the basis of pictures and videos and in particular when the brand is not familiar to the market from before.
What was the one single hardest part in the project?
Making tax returns was surprisingly complicated via Amazon platform. Also getting the goods to Amazon warehouse. It was expensive to deliver, and many carrier companies didn’t even make an offer on the deliveries. Repackaging and logistics costs were significantly higher as estimated. On the other hand, if we had managed international sales from Finland ourselves, our logistics costs could have been even higher and less pleasant for the end customer to pay. E-commerce is a logistics game. Transportation prices and speed are essential. Amazon has a huge leverage in this stuff.
What advice do you have for a company considering selling on Amazon?
The most important thing is to find out the suitability of the products and take into account that hidden costs will always occur. Actually, it is only afterwards that you know whether it is possible to make a margin. Amazon is, however, the world’s most important e-commerce platform so there are loads of opportunities.
The products must be interesting and suitable for the target market.
Dimex uses Amazon’s FBA service. Do you think it has worked well?
The products only went live about a month ago so there is only a little bit of experience, but in my view Amazon FBA is the most efficient way to get the most out of Amazon logistics services.
Do you think Finnish design is worth selling on Amazon marketplaces?
With our narrow geographical imagination, we fall within the realm of scandi design, which has brand value globally: clear lines, functionality, less is more. Finnish design is beautiful and very exportable. We are not commercializing our western neighbor level, but on the other hand many Finnish companies have done a great job of bringing Finnish design front and center in both their branding and design. Dimex also works hard for this. “Good product sells by itself ” kind of thinking is, I think, already a bit of a havin of the past. Marketing and highlighting your own excellence is always valuable. Dimex is designed in Leppävirta and I believe that we can definitely beat any competition in Amazon, without a question.