Article Twinkle: The road to success: Pink Gellac x Monta

Pink Gellac, the Dutch market leader in gel nail polish, is growing rapidly abroad. What is behind the company’s success? How is the fulfilment company Monta supporting them in this?

The gel nail polish company’s rapidly growing sales figures speak for themselves: Gel nail polish is immensely popular. Personal grooming is becoming increasingly valued. In fact, Pink Gellac starter sets, which have proven extremely popular among the target audience, have experienced a significant sales jump. This type of starter set provides customers with everything they need to easily apply beautiful gel nail polish at home, eliminating the need to visit a nail salon. With consumers paying more attention to costs, this product is seen as an attractive and cost-effective alternative.

Despite Pink Gellac’s online success, they are continuing to open new physical stores. This has proven to be a very successful combination for the gel nail polish company.

Sander Groenendijk, CFOO of Pink Gellac, says, “Omnichannel works very well for us. We use a good mix of online and offline channels for our target audience and maintain the same style across all platforms. Initially, we started with online sales only. After some time, we decided to open physical stores. This had a significant positive impact because consumers often want to see the colour of a gel nail polish or a set in person. They want to know the quality and see the result. They can experience all of this in our stores.”

Edwin van der Ham, CEO of Monta, adds, “In addition to supplying Pink Gellac’s stores, we also handle all online order processing. With Pink Gellac, consumers can place orders online until 11:45 PM and have them delivered the next day. This requires fast order processing because our delivery drivers arrive at midnight. To ensure efficient picking and processing of the various pots of gel polish, we have created a customised picking system for Pink Gellac. We call it the ‘pick-to-light’ system, or in this case, ‘Pink-to-light’ with a nod to Pink Gellac. In this system, all the different variations of Pink Gellac gel nail polish are displayed in an organised manner. An illuminated light on the display indicates the pick location that an order picker needs to visit. A number on the display indicates how many units of that specific nail polish colour need to be picked. It’s a very precise and fast way of order picking.”

This collaboration between Pink Gellac and Monta ensures efficient inventory management, seamless order fulfilment and a smooth shopping experience for customers, both online and offline.

Groenendijk: “Monta has been our fulfilment partner for years, helping us achieve our growth. At Pink Gellac, everything revolves around providing the ultimate customer experience for our products. Over the past year, we have completely revamped our website and branding, and we now have 6 brand stores. The first brand store across the border in Antwerp opened last year, and the most recent store to open is in Amsterdam. Several more openings are planned in the coming months. We are also expanding internationally through various channels, including our own websites.”

“We are a true omnichannel company that is rapidly growing internationally, which presents operational challenges. The key to our path to success is ensuring that our logistics process is in order and remains efficient. With Monta, we have set a clear goal and we work together as business partners. The flexibility that Monta offers us is crucial. They are highly pragmatic, maintain short lines of communication, focus on finding solutions and together we professionalise end-to-end processes through clear agreements and ‘lean’ meeting structures. It’s a great collaboration!” adds Groenendijk.

Why is this the right time to pursue international growth? Groenendijk is confident: “We also have noticed an increasing demand for our products beyond the borders. Germany, in particular, represents a significant market. However, having a German webshop and being able to ship products from within the country makes a big difference for German consumers. It instils a sense of trust and familiarity. Shorter delivery times are also a crucial factor. That’s why we decided to expand across the border with our fulfilment partner, Monta.”

Van der Ham responds: “Pink Gellac became our client in 2013. We have witnessed its journey from a small player to becoming the market leader in the Netherlands. It’s great that we, together with Monta, now have a presence in Germany, offering our customers the flexibility and capability to ship from within Germany and handle any returns. It is clear that a company like Pink Gellac will eventually make a significant impact on the German market. If we can contribute to their success, it would be fantastic.”