The art of spotting new products for JYSK

In this series, you will get a glimpse into the high-quality work that lies behind the becoming of JYSK products, starting as a colour sample, and evolving into real products. This is the second article in a series of four.

15 months ago, the JYSK Category Buyers received their trend definition from Range & Design. It was now time for them to do their part in finding all the new JYSK products. Among them you find the vase ULF.

Tina Nymann works as a Category Buyer in JYSK Homeware. She and the Homeware team ultimately decided to include the vase ULF into the new assortment, but their work started elsewhere with a briefing from the Range & Design department about the new trend “Belonging” in JYSK.

“The final briefing with Range & Design works as an inspiration as of which colours, materials, and shapes we should look for in the new JYSK assortment. This brief is also presented for the suppliers, who then search for suitable new trendy products that they see fit the new trend “Belonging”. Then, we have a lot of options to choose from,” Tina says.

Fill the assortment gaps

Three months after the briefing, the suppliers present their collected products in their showrooms. Tina and her colleagues can now pick and choose the products they want to take a closer look at and potentially include in the new assortment.

“We go on road trips, where we visit all the showrooms. Our suppliers each presents a large collection of new potential products. So, it is very important to have experience in spotting the right products that both complement the existing JYSK assortment as well as the new trend direction. I search for products that fill the gaps in the assortment, and I also look for new trendy products to replace others. The vase ULF is for instance a trend-based article underlining the theme “Belonging” with its colour, raw lines, and organic shape,” Tina explains.

Assembling the product puzzle

After Tina and her team have selected all potential samples in the showrooms, the products are sent to JYSK Head Office in Brabrand. Now, Tina and her team start putting together the product puzzle.

“We receive all the products that we have selected from our suppliers. Now, we must narrow the selection. We may have chosen more than 20 potential vases, but the assortment should as an example only include eight. In our final selection, we try to establish the trend story through the products. In this way, we ensure that the trend direction, defined by Range & Design, is present in the new JYSK products, which ensure that all JYSK products can be combined across product categories,” Tina says.

Quality all the way

Throughout the entire process of selecting and deselecting new products, Tina and her team work closely with the Compliance & Quality department in JYSK.

“Compliance & Quality looks at the selected products before we buy them. In co-operation, we make sure that the products comply with all rules and regulations. In that way, we also know if we should ask our suppliers to make small changes to a product before we accept it into our assortment,” Tina rounds off.