Shopware winner in April - Guido Huber from skapetze® in an interview

How long has the shop been around and how did you come up with the idea? Can you tell us something about the story behind its founding?

skapetze® has been around for more than 40 years. We are a family-run traditional business where lighting is still considered a true craft. Over the years, the company has evolved from being a brick-and-mortar lighting expert in the region to selling online on third-party portals to becoming a true omnichannel provider both online and offline, with our own online shop and our own brand s.luce being among its main pillars. Others include our login for B2B customers, lighting design, and on-site sales.

You use Shopware 6. Did you consciously choose the software, or was it a recommendation from your agency?

The decision to

use

Shopware 6 was made in consultation with our agency, Onedot. Our goal was to relaunch with a future-oriented system that would meet our needs. We hope to continue to bring strong unique selling points and a lot of personality to the table in the coming years. Customers should feel comfortable in our shop and feel confident that they are truly in the hands of lighting experts. We provide support via chat, telephone, or email. We would like to see even more intensive contact and a dedicated contact person from Shopware.

You have incredibly good photos in your shop. How did the photo shoot come about, who took such great photos? How important is the photo when buying lighting?

Light stands for emotion. An effective s.luce Beam Up & Down wall lamp on a white background or as a cutout cannot be adequately depicted. That's why we rely on our own photos, which are taken by our employees in our in-house photo studio, as well as on the great references from our customers. We don't just sell the product, but above all the lifestyle behind each light.

Are people buying out of necessity or are they simply being inspired?

Instead of just calculating lux and lumens, we focus on vibrant colors and the perfect harmony of light and interior design. There are hardly any lighting scenarios that we cannot recreate for our customers. Ideally, desires and needs can be perfectly combined. At s.luce, we don't reinvent the wheel, but rather orient ourselves towards current trends, which we then pick up on and design into stylish forms. The s.luce brand catalog can be ordered free of charge from our website.

You have an impressive lighting studio... is that important in the customer journey? What concerns do customers have when buying new lighting?

skapetze® is Bavaria's largest lighting studio for customers within a radius of around 120 kilometers. We are located in the Munich, Passau, Salzburg triangle and have long established ourselves as the leading point of contact for lighting matters. Most customers gather information online and then take the opportunity to seek professional support in the form of professional lighting design. Many customers appreciate being able to touch the lights, test their functions, and develop a feel for their look and feel.

With online lighting design, you offer maximum advice—the new luminaire now fits perfectly. How does online lighting design actually work?

Ideally, it should make no difference to our customers whether they are physically in our showroom or talking face to face with our lighting experts digitally. We discuss the plan sent in advance by email live on the phone or via an online program, make suggestions directly, and even guide customers through the showroom via gimbal if they wish. Finally, we prepare a prompt quote that is tailored precisely to the customer's wishes.

How unusual are Germans' lighting tastes?

Lighting is constantly evolving. In addition to timeless With our own brand s.luce, we offer our customers affordable, trendy classics for every living space. The range is complemented by a large selection of manufacturers who are set to make a difference. The trend is towards smart controllable lighting, for which we at Skapetze naturally provide all the necessary components.

Through which channels do you inspire your customers?

In order to offer sufficient inspiration for every age group, we are represented on numerous forums. Social media channels such as Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook are a must. We also specifically target blogs that focus on interior design and construction projects, from planning to final move-in. In our opinion, it's not just the quantity of posts that matters, but rather the quality and added value for the customer.

One final question: everyone is talking about sustainability these days. To what extent do you incorporate this aspect into your products in the shop?

Environmental protection is a matter close to the heart at skapetze®. This starts with reducing paper consumption in the office, where we digitize as many processes as possible. We also want to act in an environmentally friendly manner when it comes to transport and do everything we can to avoid partial deliveries for orders. In the case of customer purchases where several individual items are obviously ordered for e.g. walls or ceilings, we also actively call customers and ask how we can help them with their selection. This saves unnecessary returns.