Ilia Gepheridze on Challenges Gepherrini Faced in 2021

Ilia Gepheridze, Founder of Gepherrini, spoke with CBW about the year 2021 and their plans for the future year. Gepherrini is a Georgian brand that makes handbags, shoes, wallets, and other accessories.

Year 2021

It was a challenging year, and it was a time when everyone's attention was focused on saving the business. This year's business environment was hampered by a number of factors. The pandemic and the difficulties that follow from it will were the main issues. Among them was Lockdown, which made transportation of staff difficult and caused delivery times to be missed.

The challenge was also inflation, as a result, the wages we paid were no longer enough, so the company automatically had to raise wages.

The export direction was halted because of the pandemic, and expenses in the local market were extremely high. This served as the foundation for the company's online sales strategy. We increased expenditure on the web destination as one of them, which yielded a good outcome. One of the key directions has become the internet platform. We are now in a position to gradually reintroduce exporting countries to the market.

Year 2022

Expectations are positive as we start selling in various countries, including China. After lengthy negotiations, sales on several international online platforms, including TAOBAO and Tmall, will start in March. In 2022, the Chinese and Italian markets will be added.

In general, we believe that operating for business in 2022 will be easier than it was in 2021, and the basis for this will be to improve the epidemiological situation.