• Well pumps
• Filters for cleaning
• Well drilling
• Borehole pumps
• Wells

Closing tt. Crisis jewelers: how Sunlight became one of the five largest chains in Russia Sunlight was really closed on neglinnaya

Unexpectedly, on Saturday evening, my childhood friend Marusia called me. We have been in contact with her for a long time. From her hoarse voice, I realized that she was seriously ill. Bumping loudly into the speaker of the phone with her nose, she asked me for a favor to work tomorrow for her as a mystery shopper. It would only take a couple of hours, she assured me. It had to be done in the Sunlight salon - this is a world-famous exhibition and sale of jewelry, watches, precious stones and other favorite women's trinkets. I have been there more than once, strolling like a museum, peering at the shiny windows for a long time. Of course, I agreed so as not to miss this opportunity and learn firsthand why the Sunlight store has such cheap jewelry with gold and diamonds.

But what did the concept of "mystery shopper" mean? I vaguely imagined, so I did not fail to ask Marusya about this, who continued to persistently sneeze into my tube, occasionally breaking into wheezing.

She drew a simple analogy with the famous "Revizorro" program, giggling, saying that I would be Lena Flying, only without cameramen, rudeness and public fights. Although ... and it was possible in our life. I will have to come to the salon and fully assess all the work, the environment, how the sales consultants perform their duties. detailed instructions issued by the customer. For example, there is a luxury lingerie store. And the director wonders why there are such small sales, so you need to find out what could be the reason: perhaps the sellers behave inappropriately with the clients, or maybe they even “hammer” at work and sit somewhere nearby “scratching their tongues” with other sellers, or maybe they make markups on the goods, putting a certain amount in their pocket?

I decided to prepare in advance for the visit and read some information on the Internet. It was from there that I found out whose production of Sokolov silver rings and earrings in the Sunlight store actually is. This information can be used to test the knowledge of consultants, for sure they should study this before hiring. Well, since we have almost an exam here, so why not ask some tricky questions.

I already rolled my lip, Marusya said that if, according to the idea, you need to buy something, then all the expenses are on the shoulders of the customer. In my thoughts I was already dressing up in a diamond necklace and trying on a gold ring. But my friend quickly brought me back to earth. I decided that I had nothing to lose, and this experience would not hurt me, and, armed with a questionnaire and a dictaphone, I set off on a mission.

They are greeted by clothes

The first item on the questionnaire was a description of the space in the store. Carefully glancing around, I ran my finger along the first shelf I came across to check for dust. I immediately thought that white gloves would not have interfered with me, but my finger turned out to be clean, as if literally 5 minutes ago all traces of dirt had been removed, perhaps it was. Nobody noticed me at this business, the people were dark, so all the consultants were busy with stories about beautiful diamonds. Even the guard, glancing at me, continued to do his usual business, not suspecting something was wrong. After examining everything in detail, I saw glass doors sparkling with cleanliness and freshness, a washed floor, paintings on the walls that reflected the essence of the place where we were.

Sunlight Jewelry Store

Each showcase was marked with information signs so that people would not get confused by the variety of jewelry manufacturers. By the way, it was almost impossible to get through to them. I immediately remembered the Soviet queues for sausage. But here they sell jewelery, it's still an expensive pleasure!

When I managed to get to one of the windows, I began to look at the tags, studying the information. In general, I would like to know whose production of real diamonds in rings from Sunlight, but this information was not written anywhere, so I decided to ask the seller. I still found something to find fault with, one tag lay a little sideways, so it was impossible to see what was written there, I immediately wrote it down in the questionnaire.

The next item was dedicated to appearance consultants. In my opinion, equally attractive, slender girls with no visible flaws were selected there. They were all dressed in branded clothes and had badges on them. The girls smiled affably, although the cashier's smile looked somewhat strained and insincere.

Let's talk to you heart to heart ...

Now I have to find out how girls are trained to communicate politely with clients. I play the role of an annoying customer who wants to know everything and everyone, asking a bunch of questions. I began to look out to see which of the consultants was now free, a pretty girl, Julia, got into my review. She almost immediately noticed that I wanted to turn to her and instantly came up.

My first question was which country is the producer of the Falcon jewelry in Sunlight. I was surprised that it turned out to be Russia. It has already become a habit for me that everything is MADE IN CHINA.

I continued asking questions.

- Is it true that you sell real gold?

Gold ring with diamond (order)

- Truth. The sample on the products directly indicates that this is real gold. She can be seen at inside such as rings. They put it in the Assay Office of the Russian Federation. An examination is carried out, where it immediately becomes clear that the product is, say, not made of gold, but of copper. Of course, no sample is put on such decoration. This is the law.

- Why are gold rings so cheap in Sunlight?

- It's all about large purchases. Our network consists of 250 branches throughout Russia. We buy a large number of products and may well keep the price lower than in other stores. Therefore, our customers become regular more often than in other chains, and can afford regular purchases of their favorite jewelry. Many people ask us why diamonds are so cheap in Sunlight - the answer is the same as with gold rings. We only sell real diamonds and gold at Sunlight, you won't find any fakes here. Of course, diamonds are different, and accordingly their prices are different. For example, in this piece (she showed me a gorgeous ring with a huge diamond in the middle), a pure 0.7 carat diamond. And it is worth it accordingly. And here (Julia took out a nice ring with small stones on the edge) diamonds weighing less than 0.1 carats, so the price is lower. But in any case, these stones remain diamonds, regardless of size.

The answer was quite comprehensive.

- And what do these numbers on the tag mean: 17 grams? Is this weight?

- This is the number of faces. All stones undergo different processing, the more facets, the higher the value of the diamond. But for a layman in this matter, it is almost impossible to determine the number of faces, especially in small pebbles, even approximately. Seventeen facets are a classic, there are many more - 57 gr.

From a conversation with Yulia, I realized that good quality gold in Sunlight is a law that no one is going to break, because the chain has established itself for many years as a responsible and stable seller in the jewelry market.

By the way, Julia was very polite and sociable with me. Of course, this was a plus on the mystery shopper profile.

- Do you have discounts for a customer's birthday in Sunlight?

- Yes, it is obligatory! When is your birthday? Come, we will definitely find something for you.

Conclusion

The following questions are already being born in my head: who is the manufacturer of silver jewelry in Sunlight and why are the prices for gold watches so low in Sunlight. I stubbornly keep them in my head so as not to forget, I just opened my mouth to ask the first one, but then I heard screams and scraps of phrases, from which it becomes clear that a scandal was beginning. What a luck for a mystery shopper! I start listening by quietly turning on the recorder. The noise is made by an angry lady of about forty-five ...

“We entered the low price segment before the crisis, and our products became very competitive,” explains Alexei Konovalov, CEO and co-owner of Sunlight. - So we "shot". Sunlight attracts consumers with middle and low incomes: a gold pendant with diamonds can be purchased for less than 2 thousand rubles, and a silver bracelet for less than 500 rubles. Now the network includes about 280 stores in 80 cities, one third of them are franchised.

The RBC magazine was unable to find the consolidated financial statements of the group. According to SPARK-Interfax, the turnover of the wholesale company Onyx-Holding, which supplies goods to the Sunlight franchisee, has grown almost 5 times since 2010 and in 2013 amounted to 6 billion rubles. According to Aleksey Konovalov, the Onyx group operates through several legal entities and its total turnover was “a little higher”.

Market participants are reluctant to comment on Sunlight's activities. “About competitors, either good or nothing,” - laconic executive director of “Adamas” Maxim Weinberg. “We do not consider them to be competitors at all, they are closer to jewelry than to the jewelry market,” says Alexander Tarasov. But he adds: watching the company is interesting. “Sunlight is a bold marketing experiment,” he notes.

"Onyx"

Sergei Gribnyakov disagrees with the fact that Sunlight's success can be called rapid: “We have devoted our whole life to it”. A graduate of the Novocherkassk State Melioration Academy, he founded the wholesale jewelry company Onyx in 1995, when he was 22. One of the partners was a former classmate Mikhail Maslovsky, who is now on the Sunlight board of directors. This council is headed by Gribnyakov. Other founders Gribnyakov and Konovalov are not disclosed.

In the first years of its existence, Onyx worked as a distributor of Russian manufacturers - Adamas, Bronnitskiy Jeweler, etc. In the early 2000s, he also started importing. The company was not a major distributor, but over 10 years of work, businessmen managed to study well the requests of buyers and the list of the best-selling goods. In the mid-2000s, Gribnyakov and other co-owners of Onyx decided that it was more profitable not to bring little-known imported brands, but to promote their brand by placing contract manufacturing in China.

“It was more profitable to hang your own tag, so [my own brand. - Approx. RBK] Sunlight, ”explains Alexey Konovalov, who joined the Onyx team in 2005. To stand out in multi-brand stores, they made red the corporate color of the brand and began to put red showcases with partners.

In 2008, Onyx carried out the first advertising campaign in support of its own brand: it was offered to buy a diamond pendant for 3,500 rubles on street billboards and in TV spots. In 2009, the first Sunlight branded store was opened in Moscow, and in the same year more than 1,000 multi-brand stores in all regions of Russia were selling Sunlight products.

Clean work

The explosive growth of the Sunlight network has raised suspicions among jewelry market experts. The President of the Guild of Russian Jewelers Valery Radashevich (died in November 2014) told RBC magazine how a couple of years ago he took several Sunlight products for examination to the Assay Office inspection, but no violations were found there. Buyers did not complain about Sunlight products to Assay Office, an agency spokesman confirmed.

Gradually, Onyx closed its wholesale business, focusing on Sunlight stores. “When they started developing their retail, they stopped buying our products,” says Maxim Weinberg. And partners, owners of multi-brand stores, the company decided to make their franchisees.

According to Onyx, 100 factories in China (including Hong Kong), India, Thailand, Turkey, Italy and Russia produce the products presented in the chain's stores. “The technologies used at foreign factories make it possible to make products elegant and beautiful,” says Andrey Senyushkin, an individual entrepreneur, Sunlight franchisee in Orel. "This is the level that Russian factories are only striving for."

“We entered the low price segment before the crisis, and our products became very competitive. So we "fired"

The Sunlight assortment is dominated by small and light items with thin fasteners. For their production, small precious stones and a small amount of precious metals are used, which maintains a low cost price. Thus, the diamond placer, which is actively advertised by Sunlight, often consists of diamonds with 17 facets (diamonds with a classic cut of 57 facets cost 1.5 times more).

IN last years instead of "islands" in shopping centers "Onyx" began to open large stores (Photo: Anton Berkasov for RBC)

The average check of the network, according to the former top manager of the company, is less than 3 thousand rubles. For comparison, Pandora, which operates in the middle and premium price segments, has an average check of 6-7 thousand rubles.

Alexey Konovalov does not name the average check in Sunlight (according to him, this indicator is not calculated on the network), but admits that it can be about 3 thousand rubles. The bulk of purchases are silver items, which are cheaper than this amount, gold items are much more expensive.

“We are small entrepreneurs, we could not take a franchise with large investments, so we chose Sunlight,” says Georgiy Petrov, a franchisee of the chain in Kaliningrad. The minimum opening costs in 2012, when he decided to cooperate with Onyx, were 350 thousand rubles (excluding rent). This was slightly more than jewelry franchises, but at least 5 times less than other jewelry franchises. Why so cheap?

Golden "islands"

Sunlight's offer is not a classic franchise: Onyx provides its goods for sale to partners under a commission agreement. The franchisee does not pay the company either a lump-sum fee or royalties, does not redeem the goods, but only returns the cost of the products sold, leaving a commission for himself. The smallest of the Sunlight formats - an "island" with an area of ​​6 sq. m in a shopping center. Such a place is also easier to rent than a section for a store, says Anna Rozhdestvenskaya, head of Francon's franchise sales department.

According to the former top manager of Onyx, the margin for goods supplied to partners is 20-30%. The franchisee's margin is on average another 20%, adds Vladimir Matyukhin, head of the franchising department of the consulting company Deloshop. These are low rates. “Usually, in the jewelry segment, franchisee margins are 100-150%, and even more for jewelry,” Matyukhin emphasizes.

Sunlight makes money on a large number of buyers: according to the calculations of the RBC magazine, the franchisee's revenue from 1 sq. M. m - about 300 thousand rubles a month, net profit - 5-7%. Anna Rozhdestvenskaya notes that the profitability is relatively low (for a jewelry franchise, it can be 20-25%), but the turnover is quite significant. As a result, a franchisee on the Sunlight "island" can earn 90-170 thousand rubles a month, and the jewelry "island" franchise often brings only 50 thousand rubles. Therefore, the Sunlight franchise is popular. Over the past year, the Franshiza.ru portal (one of the largest franchise databases) received more than a thousand requests from potential franchisees - this is the highest indicator among the chains selling jewelry and bijouterie.

More charm

In 2010, the founder of Svyaznoy, Maxim Nogotkov, franchised the Danish jewelry chain Pandora to the Russian market. Its main feature is bracelets with inlaid pendants, so-called charms. Nogotkov told Vedomosti that the project had become “very profitable,” and the profitability of Pandora's business in our country was double-digit. Since 2009, Sunlight has also been promoting charm bracelets. Olga Eremeeva, General Director of PanClub (Pandora's exclusive distributor), believes that Sunlight's marketing policy is built on imitation of the market: “As soon as the success of Pandora in Russia became clear in 2012, Sunlight began to actively copy the idea that the chain brought to the market, and make charms like Pandora. " In 2013, the Danish chain Trollbeads, specializing in charms, entered Russia, and Adamas began to make its collections of designer bracelets.

For Onyx, franchising has become the main growth driver. In 2013 alone, the company, according to its data, opened about 140 stores, the entire network grew to 272 (two-thirds were franchised). As the chain became famous, Onyx pushed franchisees out of the most attractive cities: their own large Sunlight stores were opened next to the partner ones, and the commission agreement with some of the partners was simply not extended.

Last year, the minimum cost of launching a Sunlight outlet, excluding rent, was already 1.5 million rubles, of which 1 million was a refundable deposit (Onyx began to demand it some time after the launch of the franchise). In 2014, the company opened 38 new stores of its own and relaunched 62 of its points in an expanded format - sections (up to 250 sq. M.) Or a hypermarket (from 300 to 650 sq. M.). Onyx also opened 20 franchised stores and transferred 40 under its own management. At the same time, about 50 Sunlight outlets were closed, mainly franchised "islands". As a result, the retail space of the chain doubled over the year to 15 thousand square meters. m. For comparison, "Adamas" in 2014 increased retail space by 30-35%, up to 17 thousand square meters. m.

Shiny market

Center for Strategic Research Enter, based on data from Rosstat and Euromonitor, estimated the volume of the Russian jewelry market in 2012 $ 5.3 billion , and the average annual growth in the next four years is about 12% (adjusted for inflation). But already in 2013, the growth rates were slower - about 11% , and the growth in the physical volume of sales - 3,7% - became one of the lowest among non-food products. Meanwhile, in recent years, foreign chains have been actively entering our market. In 2013, Adamas began to open stores of the French jewelry chain APM Monaco, and in 2014 became a franchisee of the French chain of jewelry and accessories Agatha. Since 2014, the stores of the Spanish jewelry chain UNOde50 have been opened by the Inventive Retail Group (re: Store, Samsung, Lego, etc.), which has not previously worked in the jewelry segment.

Two dollars as a gift

"Buy from us and get silver pendant For a present!" - something like this can be described the Sunlight promotions, which the chain often arranged with the partners most unexpected for the jewelry seller: Eldorado, Euroset and Magnit retailers, Good News press kiosks and even Fix Price stores.

Onyx constantly conducts cross-promotion campaigns, when a customer receives a coupon for a gift from Sunlight for purchasing goods in other chains. On average, according to the company, up to 100 federal and regional actions are held simultaneously. “This is a colossal amount,” says the director of one of the divisions advertising agency OMD Fuse Maria Azarenko. She could not remember any other firms that would conduct so many similar campaigns on the Russian market at the same time.

Onyx and its franchisees are relatively inexpensive. The cost of some gifts is $ 2-7, says Alexey Konovalov. Judging by the reviews on Internet forums, many are unpleasantly surprised by the small size of the gift, but they still take it away: "I will give it to someone." The goal of the sellers is to convince the person who came for a gift to buy an add-on from the Sunlight assortment (more than 15 thousand items). According to franchisees, during the most successful promotions, up to 60% of those who came for gifts made purchases, the weakest indicators were 5-10%. A good conversion for such stocks is 10-30%, says Maria Azarenko, and 60% is "just exorbitant numbers."

However, the effectiveness of cross-promotion campaigns is gradually declining. “Many residents of Oryol come to us for gifts for the fifth or sixth time. These are not potential buyers, but simply freeloaders who want to take a gift and run away, ”Andrei Senyushkin complains. Some stock partners are also unhappy. “Many clients are no longer interested in Sunlight's offers, they say that everyone gives out such gifts,” said Yulia Zefirova, PR-manager of Sela, who conducted a partnership campaign with Sunlight last autumn. In order to keep consumers interested, Sunlight tries to change gifts more often, and to attract new audience- collaborate with partners from new sectors. So, recently, the network held promotions with the Qiwi and Contact payment systems.

Although Sunlight operates in the low-price segment, its turnover has decreased due to the new crisis: in the fall of 2014, comparable sales dropped by 15-20%. To cope with the slump in consumer demand, the company is expanding its range of inexpensive silver and jewelry items. “Perhaps the new crisis will play in Sunlight's favor and purchases in the low price category will increase,” concludes Alexander Tarasov.

Featuring Maria Zholobova and Vera Prelovskaya

I really love all kinds of original jewelry, but it just so happens that it is quite difficult to find them among jewelry. And what a joy it was to find what I needed in the Sunlight store! And even for such a price!
My budget doesn't allow me to spend too much on Jewelry and therefore, I was very happy to catch such original earrings and pendant to my taste, at such ridiculous prices. Even jewelry can cost more. Well, first things first.

I didn’t think that you can buy something like that in the jewelry network, I just installed the Sunlight application on my smartphone and looked through the available products. As a result, the first thing I did was to buy this silver pendant with enamel for only 375 rubles !!! At first I thought I would only go to the sea in it, but now I don't even take it off at night))) Very comfortable and weightless. Suitable for almost any summer outfit.

And these earrings are for 757, although in a different color of silver, without gilding, they cost 250 rubles for the action. But these are the ones I like more. But the clasp of these earrings is still rather weak, it was once I hooked the earring with my hand, and it immediately unfastened. For an English castle, this is not natural. But for such a price, it's still okay. I was specifically looking for earrings with enamel for the summer season and settled on them.

As you can see, in spite of the low price, everything is packed very nicely, and in addition to the box, it is placed in a strong branded bag and decorated with a white bow. Just the same gift wrapping. The fish pendant was really just put in a branded paper bag, not a box.

I didn't really like the service. The girls consultants are not very eager to serve a man who is hunting for sale jewelry. Not that I'm finding fault, but the attitude is felt. Although, maybe they all have such an approach. But I don’t think it’s the fault of the company, it’s the quality of the people.

In any case, I am very happy with the purchases and will come again and again.

I also really like that it is very convenient to view jewelry on the site, breaking it down into categories, including choosing only goods at discounts. The same can be done through the app. It is very comfortable sitting in traffic jams)))) But once there was a case when I found a single copy of earrings in a store at a certain address and was about to go after them, but first decided to call and find out if they really exist. As it turned out, they were no longer available. It upset me to put it mildly. And if I did go through the whole city, and this is about an hour's drive one way? The sale must be immediately marked on the site.

I really love the monthly draws in the app. Once a month you can play a game with prizes and win all sorts of goodies. In my opinion, this jewelry chain is still a leader in comparison with the rest. Everything is thought out for the client.

WHY DID I CHANGE MY OPINION ???

In general, I bought one more earrings in this salon, and in less than a month they peeled off !!! I put them on at most 5 times. And this is what began to happen with their cover. Unfortunately, the photo does not convey 10 parts of how it can be seen that they went to darken and climb.

To my complaint in the store, the first thing they told me was that it was normal! Those. buy a piece of jewelry in a specialty in this store, and it will begin to climb in a month - that's how it should come out! I HAVE JEWELERY WEAR FOR YEARS AND WON'T COVER !!! And this is a piece of jewelry! I began to demand the director, who turned out to be on vacation. In response to my claims, I was offered to send the product for examination, which may take 21 days. And the fact that the store closes and liquidates all its products, no one gives any guarantee to what date it will work for me. And what happens? I will give the product, it floats away, don't understand where, and then should I write to my grandfather in the village? But in this case, I still won back so that the money was returned to the certificate, then it turned out that the earrings I praised above failed, and this is generally atas.

As you can clearly see in the photo, they became an incomprehensible burgundy-purple hue precisely in the area of ​​the lobes. Those. they are peeled off due to skin contact !!! This is generally something with something. And all this in 2 months of socks!

On my next complaint, but already in another store of the same network, they gave me a clear lapel turn - I have to do an examination, period! Am I the only one who thinks that when silver with gilding is covered like this, this is definitely not normal ?! Here I demanded and the director, who again was not there, the deputy director assured me that she was not going to pay at her own expense if this product was supposed to go around. As a result, I called hotline Sunlight and I was assured that if I hand them over for examination right now, then most likely the answer will come before the store closes. BUT! If they do not have time to carry out the examination, I will have to go to the NEIGHBOR CITY, where the store of this chain will operate. Cool in general! They will not send them by mail, in any way! And the earrings cost 750 r. And what, because of these 750 rubles. you only have to pay for the road, and that, in the best case. Who will guarantee me that I will not have to go to Moscow?

By the way, in this store, on my assurances that it is not normal for me to force a person to rush to another city for the result of the examination, they were assured, they say, there will still be shops in Krasnodar, now they say, all these points worked out over the years are being closed, they are selling goods for a gift, and they will open new ones, but in a different place, but on the same network. Iron logic!

Disgusting web and disgusting merchandise!

Update from 10/17/2018:

As it turned out no one to close anything and did not plan... It was just marketing ploy. So that people run in droves to buy what is lying on the shelves. I want to assure everyone that there was no super-discount. I have often visited the stores of this chain before and I want to say that the discounts on this promotion were more than during it. Another one in general.

For the earrings in the form of wings, they returned the money with a certificate, they flatly refused to return the cash to me, such as their rules. What I personally did not like to put it mildly. Why am I obliged to buy again in the same store but something different ???

But for the enamel earrings they gave me fig with poppy seeds... I still gave them to the store with a complaint, but here they did not carry out an examination for me, they just sent them for quality control on Saturday, and on Monday morning they called and said that this is normal for earrings, come and take them. In general, I'm not going to do an examination at my own expense, the store is not going to either. Super.

Jewelry hypermarket Sunlight offers a variety of jewelry from both domestic and foreign brands. In the assortment of the store you will always find rings, bracelets, chains, pendants, necklaces and brooches. The Sunlight jewelry catalog is so wide that it can satisfy the most sophisticated tastes of any customer: gold and silver jewelry with precious stones, wedding rings, elegant watches for men and women - and all this at affordable prices with delivery to shops in your city.

The network of jewelry boutiques Sunlight covers more than 50 cities throughout Russia, but in order to make shopping not a tiring task, you can order rings, earrings and other jewelry online on the Sunlight.net website, and buy and pay for the order directly in the nearest to you store. Feel the luxury of elite accessories from brands Sunlight, OKAMI, Sokolov, Topaz, Zolotov, Bronnitskiy Jeweler, NIKA, SADKO of the highest quality, confirmed by numerous certificates, and at reasonable prices.

Where can I find the Sunlight promo code?

To get an individual discount on your order when buying jewelry and jewelry with precious stones, look for banners with special promotions and offers from the Sunlight hypermarket, where you will find a promotional code for the discount.