Vykhodtsev and Makovetskyi: Foxtrot Group and its first 25th anniversary
In the autumn of 2019, Foxtrot is celebrating its first 25th jubilee. The company has collected a persuasive package of achievements over the quarter of a century. Today’s Foxtrot is the largest retail network in Ukraine by sales and the number of shops, with the portfolio of 25 thousand names of goods, mainly electronics and household appliances. The brand’s co-founders are Ukrainian businessmen Gennadii Vykhodtsev and Valerii Makovetskyi.
• Using railway transport to deliver goods to oblasts of the country. In 1994, this know-how enabled the novice businessmen Gennadii Vykhodtsev and Valerii Makovetskyi to leave competitors behind, increase their profits 10 times in half a year and move their business up to the top league of Ukrainian retail segment of electronics and household appliances.
• Foxtrot systematized its cooperation with banks on corporate lending. At the end of the first decade of the 2000s, Foxtrot provided the innovative consumer loans tender for operating business. The customer became the cornerstone. Therefore, the main condition for the tender was to provide clearly defined lending terms, without any hidden payments and with maximum convenience in using loans. This move allowed the company to increase its turnover and consolidate the consumer loans market.
• Foxtrot was the only pioneer Ukrainian home appliances and electronics retailer to become a member of Euronics. It is the largest electronics and household appliances purchasing group working with 35 European countries.
• International auditing. To demonstrate the transparency of its business to foreign partners, Foxtrot Group of Companies undergone an international audit. Financial and social performance reports are regularly published on FGC’s official website within the framework of the UN Global Compact. This move enabled the company to attract investors and almost double the market of Foxtrot Home Appliances.
• The company started implementing its own social programs as far back as 10 years ago. At that time nobody spoke about the trendy-now issue of corporate social responsibility, but for Gennadii Vykhodtsev, who as early as in 2006 called on the business community to join the UN Global Compact (retail chain in Ukraine).
• In 2012, Foxtrot started the transition to the omnichannel business management platform. It combines online and offline formats for business operations and consumer communication.
• At present the brand is being developed as the omnichannel one. This means close interaction between and support of traditional stores and the online store, a combination of offline and online trading.
1. Foxtrot is the leader of numerous top lists and ratings continuously from 1998 to 2018. Such ratings include, for example, The Choice of the Year in Ukraine in trade and service in nominations “Kyiv Electronics Supermarket of the Year” (2003-2005), “The Best Electronics and Household Appliances Chain in Ukraine” (2006-2011). The Choice of the Year awards were granted following an all-Ukrainian marketing research conducted by TNS Ukraine. It estimated the levels of brand recognition and customer service, and the number of visits and purchases made.
2. 81.2% of the Ukrainian consumers know about the Foxtrot stores. 41.9% of domestic consumers regularly visit the stores of the chain. 17.9% of the Ukrainian consumers make purchases in the stores of the chain.
3. Foxtrot is the partner of the Price of the State project implemented by CASE Ukraine in our country since 2013. The project is funded by the European Commission, UNDP, USAID, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland, the World Bank and private donors, which guarantees its organizational independence. The project purpose is to make the costs of government services understandable to voters. From December 2018 to January 2019, the company distributed envelopes with The Invoice from the State publications in its stores in Kyiv and 15 cities of the country.
4. 2019: the company became the head of Ukraine’s Top 5 Retailers ranking by Biznes magazine.
5. 2019: the company is acknowledged as the best employer in Ukraine in the segment of Electronics and Home Appliances Retail according to Vlast Deneg web portal (TOP-20). Moreover, in 2018 Foxtrot was included into the list of Ukraine’s best employers by Delovaya Stolitsa, Fokus, Reiting, Vestnik GFS and Vlast Deneg magazine (SFS of Ukraine statistics).
6. 2019: Foxtrot is recognized as one of the 20 top eco-brands of Ukraine (TOP-20) according to Delovaya Stolitsa.
7. Foxtrot took the 72nd place in the overall rating of Ukraine’s top 200 companies. Foxtrot also took the 10th place in Retail Trade category, thus becoming the first electronics and household appliances retailer in this rating. The company employs 5,000 people, providing each of them with a comfortable workplace, motivation and social protection.
8. The official website of the company is visited by 5 million 100 thousand people per month (on average). In peak months, prior to September 1 and on the New Year's Eve, the number of visitors increases to 8 million.
9. You can visit the company's stores in 90 localities of Ukraine. There are 162 traditional retail outlets, with the area of 153 thousand sq. m. The total number of visitors is estimated at up to 76 thousand per day, and up to 25 million per year.
10. Fox Club, a branded loyalty program, covers 9 million customers.
11. The call centre, which has been operating for 14 years, consults the company's clients from 09:00 to 21:00. 70 employees of the call centre solve clients' problems and communicate with actual and potential customers of Foxtrot.
12. According to PrivatBank analysis of the Payment by Installments service, in June-August 2019 Ukrainians paid by installments more than UAH 2 billion for goods and services. Smartphones, computers and small household appliances were in the most popular demand. As for the companies which consumers choose most often, they are the following partners of PrivatBank: ALLO, Foxtrot, Comfy, Rozetka. The average spend was UAH 5,800.
All commercial and social activities of the brand meet the UN Global Compact’s Sustainable Development Goals. FGC social programs include such systemic social projects as the Safety School, Green Office, Eco-Class, contributing to development of a safe and ecologically sound society.
In 1994, Gennadii Vykhodtsev got acquainted with Valerii Makovetskyi. Together they started the business of wholesale and retail trade of imported electronics. By the way, the two-room apartment in the capital, where Gennadii Vykhodtsev lived with his wife and two children, was their first office. At first, they sold the goods directly from the apartment by posting ads. Then we took the first loan of 100 thousand hryvnias. The amount was huge for those times and the interest should have been paid right away. The money was spent to buy a consignment of the goods.
Gennadii Vykhodtsev and Valerii Makovetskyi started with the wholesale of electronics and household appliances. But over time, the necessity has come to build their own channel of interaction with customers. They needed their own retail store of home appliances and electronics. At first, they opened a store in Kharkіv in 1996, on Sumskaya Street, together with a local partner. And then, in 1997, the first supermarket of electronics and household appliances opened in Kyiv, at 48, Degtіarіvska Street.
At first, the shapely fox lady stretched beyond limits (beyond the Ukrainian understanding of home comfort) by her pointy nose and tail. Then she curled up like a domestic kitten, transmitting the message to customers that their home would be particularly cozy with the Foxtrot appliances. Next, there was the concept of Old England, in which the zoomorphic character disappeared for a while from the sight of the store's visitors.
Today, the fox has returned to Foxtrot. The 2019 rebranding of Foxtrot was carried out by the team of Natalia Stavrati, the CMO of Foxtrot, and the Fedoriv creative agency. The rebranding aimed at focusing on the young audience, reincarnating the legendary Foxtrot fox and updating the corporate colors in accordance with the brand rejuvenation policy.
Foxtrot is focusing on the young audience – Generation Z. To be meaningful to the younger ones, the retailer started to "grow young". At the same time, it is important not to discourage the people who buy appliances from Foxtrot for years and years. Therefore, the company optimizes its website and refines the formula of fast service, both in the purchase process and after-sales service.
Unfortunately, they don't give master classes on “how to become a millionaire”. That's why we can only offer quotes from the persons who have been developing Foxtrot in partnership for 25 years. We invited Gennadii Vykhodtsev to a correspondence master class. Now we know that he believes that:
1. The middle class is only just emerging in our country. Therefore, it has not formed yet the critical mass to which the elite would listen.
2. I don't like talking about leadership and big changes. However, the theory of small-scale deeds is quite an understandable format for me.
3. My mother is the public opinion trigger for me.
4. Of course, I would like to go back to my youth. But if I had worked hard and achieved nothing, it would have been a lot more frustrating.
5. I've achieved more than I ever dreamed of, more than I wanted.
6. Friends are employed by us on general terms only.
Valerii Makovetsky joins the partner to add his own beliefs:
1. Money is the blood of business.
2. The best business is the successfully sold business.
3. December is the key month in our branch, the annual results can be judged by its outcome.
4. The election year does not influence the volume of business by any means. What matters are economic development, the inflation rate, the exchange rate of hryvnia against major currencies and the public incomes.
5. Nobody works to get the market share. I may be an old-school businessman, but I do not understand working for the market share. What is the business built for? The business aim is to bring profits.
6. There are many global methods of estimating business value. Unfortunately, the stock exchange as the main method does not work in Ukraine. In fact, the business value is as high as the investors are willing to pay for it.
With kindest regards,
Allan Chen, the director of Huawei Consumer BG in Ukraine
You are different from others in that you are always up to date on innovation and technology. The customer searches for my newest accumulators and chargers always succeed in your supermarkets.
You are young and energetic. I wish you prosperity and success.
I will always be around. Your rabbit, Duracell.
Dear friends,
Our companies are connected not only by many years of cooperation. We have been strategic partners from the very first day of Foxtrot foundation and Duracell appearance at the Ukrainian market. Happy anniversary!
Irina Molchanova, the head of Duracell representative office in Ukraine
Sergiy Hontar, general director of Philips Ukraine
I have the honor of working with Foxtrot for twenty-one years out of twenty-five. We sincerely wish you growth and prosperity, new successful projects and an inexhaustible source of creative ideas. Let the energy and optimism of our teams help us to reach new heights, and let their experience and intuition guide you to new goals!
Yours sincerely,
Marina Ivanitskaya, director of GROUPE SEB UKRAINE
Sergiy Maksymov,
CEO, BSH Pobutova Tekhnika
Foxtrot as a trailblazer
During these 25 years Foxtrot has become a trailblazer in shaping the household appliances and electronics retail branch and a driving force of developments which today, from the height of 2019, look like routine decisions. Let us together remember the fields in which Foxtrot became the real trailblazer.• Using railway transport to deliver goods to oblasts of the country. In 1994, this know-how enabled the novice businessmen Gennadii Vykhodtsev and Valerii Makovetskyi to leave competitors behind, increase their profits 10 times in half a year and move their business up to the top league of Ukrainian retail segment of electronics and household appliances.
• Foxtrot systematized its cooperation with banks on corporate lending. At the end of the first decade of the 2000s, Foxtrot provided the innovative consumer loans tender for operating business. The customer became the cornerstone. Therefore, the main condition for the tender was to provide clearly defined lending terms, without any hidden payments and with maximum convenience in using loans. This move allowed the company to increase its turnover and consolidate the consumer loans market.
• Foxtrot was the only pioneer Ukrainian home appliances and electronics retailer to become a member of Euronics. It is the largest electronics and household appliances purchasing group working with 35 European countries.
• International auditing. To demonstrate the transparency of its business to foreign partners, Foxtrot Group of Companies undergone an international audit. Financial and social performance reports are regularly published on FGC’s official website within the framework of the UN Global Compact. This move enabled the company to attract investors and almost double the market of Foxtrot Home Appliances.
• The company started implementing its own social programs as far back as 10 years ago. At that time nobody spoke about the trendy-now issue of corporate social responsibility, but for Gennadii Vykhodtsev, who as early as in 2006 called on the business community to join the UN Global Compact (retail chain in Ukraine).
• In 2012, Foxtrot started the transition to the omnichannel business management platform. It combines online and offline formats for business operations and consumer communication.
• At present the brand is being developed as the omnichannel one. This means close interaction between and support of traditional stores and the online store, a combination of offline and online trading.
12 achievements of Foxtrot
With all Foxtrot know-hows, the team and customer loyalty available, the company has developed the status, regalia and customer loyalty since the first days of the brand appearance, which is expressed in the following numbers.1. Foxtrot is the leader of numerous top lists and ratings continuously from 1998 to 2018. Such ratings include, for example, The Choice of the Year in Ukraine in trade and service in nominations “Kyiv Electronics Supermarket of the Year” (2003-2005), “The Best Electronics and Household Appliances Chain in Ukraine” (2006-2011). The Choice of the Year awards were granted following an all-Ukrainian marketing research conducted by TNS Ukraine. It estimated the levels of brand recognition and customer service, and the number of visits and purchases made.
2. 81.2% of the Ukrainian consumers know about the Foxtrot stores. 41.9% of domestic consumers regularly visit the stores of the chain. 17.9% of the Ukrainian consumers make purchases in the stores of the chain.
3. Foxtrot is the partner of the Price of the State project implemented by CASE Ukraine in our country since 2013. The project is funded by the European Commission, UNDP, USAID, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland, the World Bank and private donors, which guarantees its organizational independence. The project purpose is to make the costs of government services understandable to voters. From December 2018 to January 2019, the company distributed envelopes with The Invoice from the State publications in its stores in Kyiv and 15 cities of the country.
4. 2019: the company became the head of Ukraine’s Top 5 Retailers ranking by Biznes magazine.
5. 2019: the company is acknowledged as the best employer in Ukraine in the segment of Electronics and Home Appliances Retail according to Vlast Deneg web portal (TOP-20). Moreover, in 2018 Foxtrot was included into the list of Ukraine’s best employers by Delovaya Stolitsa, Fokus, Reiting, Vestnik GFS and Vlast Deneg magazine (SFS of Ukraine statistics).
6. 2019: Foxtrot is recognized as one of the 20 top eco-brands of Ukraine (TOP-20) according to Delovaya Stolitsa.
7. Foxtrot took the 72nd place in the overall rating of Ukraine’s top 200 companies. Foxtrot also took the 10th place in Retail Trade category, thus becoming the first electronics and household appliances retailer in this rating. The company employs 5,000 people, providing each of them with a comfortable workplace, motivation and social protection.
8. The official website of the company is visited by 5 million 100 thousand people per month (on average). In peak months, prior to September 1 and on the New Year's Eve, the number of visitors increases to 8 million.
9. You can visit the company's stores in 90 localities of Ukraine. There are 162 traditional retail outlets, with the area of 153 thousand sq. m. The total number of visitors is estimated at up to 76 thousand per day, and up to 25 million per year.
10. Fox Club, a branded loyalty program, covers 9 million customers.
11. The call centre, which has been operating for 14 years, consults the company's clients from 09:00 to 21:00. 70 employees of the call centre solve clients' problems and communicate with actual and potential customers of Foxtrot.
12. According to PrivatBank analysis of the Payment by Installments service, in June-August 2019 Ukrainians paid by installments more than UAH 2 billion for goods and services. Smartphones, computers and small household appliances were in the most popular demand. As for the companies which consumers choose most often, they are the following partners of PrivatBank: ALLO, Foxtrot, Comfy, Rozetka. The average spend was UAH 5,800.
All commercial and social activities of the brand meet the UN Global Compact’s Sustainable Development Goals. FGC social programs include such systemic social projects as the Safety School, Green Office, Eco-Class, contributing to development of a safe and ecologically sound society.
The story of Foxtrot. The way it all started.
The story of Foxtrot might not have happened if in some period of his life Gennadii Vykhodtsev (CEO of Foxtrot Group) had not gone to Poland to earn start-up capital. The salary of a former teacher of applied work, auto driving and plotting was no longer paid at that time, so the money for the survival of a family with two children had to be earned in commerce. During two years, Gennadii Vykhodtsev managed to put aside two thousand dollars. This was what later became the initial capital of the business, which eventually grew into Foxtrot.In 1994, Gennadii Vykhodtsev got acquainted with Valerii Makovetskyi. Together they started the business of wholesale and retail trade of imported electronics. By the way, the two-room apartment in the capital, where Gennadii Vykhodtsev lived with his wife and two children, was their first office. At first, they sold the goods directly from the apartment by posting ads. Then we took the first loan of 100 thousand hryvnias. The amount was huge for those times and the interest should have been paid right away. The money was spent to buy a consignment of the goods.
Gennadii Vykhodtsev and Valerii Makovetskyi started with the wholesale of electronics and household appliances. But over time, the necessity has come to build their own channel of interaction with customers. They needed their own retail store of home appliances and electronics. At first, they opened a store in Kharkіv in 1996, on Sumskaya Street, together with a local partner. And then, in 1997, the first supermarket of electronics and household appliances opened in Kyiv, at 48, Degtіarіvska Street.
How Foxtrot changed: Rebranding-2019
The first Foxtrot customers remember vividly the brand colors, which were used in all stores of the chain: the dense red color in combination with black and white, a little later - with blue. However, the brand recognition was due to the Fox rather than the unique color scale.At first, the shapely fox lady stretched beyond limits (beyond the Ukrainian understanding of home comfort) by her pointy nose and tail. Then she curled up like a domestic kitten, transmitting the message to customers that their home would be particularly cozy with the Foxtrot appliances. Next, there was the concept of Old England, in which the zoomorphic character disappeared for a while from the sight of the store's visitors.
Today, the fox has returned to Foxtrot. The 2019 rebranding of Foxtrot was carried out by the team of Natalia Stavrati, the CMO of Foxtrot, and the Fedoriv creative agency. The rebranding aimed at focusing on the young audience, reincarnating the legendary Foxtrot fox and updating the corporate colors in accordance with the brand rejuvenation policy.
Foxtrot is focusing on the young audience – Generation Z. To be meaningful to the younger ones, the retailer started to "grow young". At the same time, it is important not to discourage the people who buy appliances from Foxtrot for years and years. Therefore, the company optimizes its website and refines the formula of fast service, both in the purchase process and after-sales service.
Free master class: a dozen of quotes by Gennadii Vykhodtsev and Valerii Makovetskyi about business, Ukraine, management and responsibility
Co-founders of Foxtrot Group of Companies - Gennadii Vykhodtsev and Valerii Makovetskyi - are the Ukrainian entrepreneurs who founded a successful business. They pay taxes and contribute to the ability of another 5 thousand people to perform their obligations to their families, the society and the state. Unfortunately, they don't give master classes on “how to become a millionaire”. Therefore, we can only offer quotes from the persons who have been developing Foxtrot in partnership for 25 years.Unfortunately, they don't give master classes on “how to become a millionaire”. That's why we can only offer quotes from the persons who have been developing Foxtrot in partnership for 25 years. We invited Gennadii Vykhodtsev to a correspondence master class. Now we know that he believes that:
1. The middle class is only just emerging in our country. Therefore, it has not formed yet the critical mass to which the elite would listen.
2. I don't like talking about leadership and big changes. However, the theory of small-scale deeds is quite an understandable format for me.
3. My mother is the public opinion trigger for me.
4. Of course, I would like to go back to my youth. But if I had worked hard and achieved nothing, it would have been a lot more frustrating.
5. I've achieved more than I ever dreamed of, more than I wanted.
6. Friends are employed by us on general terms only.
Valerii Makovetsky joins the partner to add his own beliefs:
1. Money is the blood of business.
2. The best business is the successfully sold business.
3. December is the key month in our branch, the annual results can be judged by its outcome.
4. The election year does not influence the volume of business by any means. What matters are economic development, the inflation rate, the exchange rate of hryvnia against major currencies and the public incomes.
5. Nobody works to get the market share. I may be an old-school businessman, but I do not understand working for the market share. What is the business built for? The business aim is to bring profits.
6. There are many global methods of estimating business value. Unfortunately, the stock exchange as the main method does not work in Ukraine. In fact, the business value is as high as the investors are willing to pay for it.
The partner feedback about Foxtrot.
Special pride and gain of Foxtrot is the long-standing cooperation with reputable manufacturers and brands. Many of them were delighted to join Foxtrot in celebrating its first 25-year anniversary. Here is some feedback on Foxtrot from long-standing partners of the retailer.Huawei and Foxtrot
Together we have implemented a number of interesting campaigns and projects, including a shop-in-shop project (shopping areas of Huawei in Foxtrot stores), Huawei promoters at Foxtrot chain, a joint advertisement project and many others. Our success in Ukraine is closely connected with honest work and fruitful cooperation with Foxtrot. During this time, we have witnessed the commitment and reliability of our partner that is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.With kindest regards,
Allan Chen, the director of Huawei Consumer BG in Ukraine
Duracell company congratulates Foxtrot
Dear Foxtrot company,You are different from others in that you are always up to date on innovation and technology. The customer searches for my newest accumulators and chargers always succeed in your supermarkets.
You are young and energetic. I wish you prosperity and success.
I will always be around. Your rabbit, Duracell.
Dear friends,
Our companies are connected not only by many years of cooperation. We have been strategic partners from the very first day of Foxtrot foundation and Duracell appearance at the Ukrainian market. Happy anniversary!
Irina Molchanova, the head of Duracell representative office in Ukraine
The company Philips gives its feedback on working with Foxtrot
The whole Philips Ukraine team congratulates every employee of Foxtrot Group of Companies on the anniversary of their work in Ukraine. Together we will continue to improve the lives of Ukrainians!Sergiy Hontar, general director of Philips Ukraine
GROUPE SEB UKRAINE gives its feedback on Foxtrot
On behalf of GROUPE SEB UKRAINE, and brands of TEFAL, ROWENTA, MOULINEX, KRUPS, I congratulate you on your 25th anniversary!I have the honor of working with Foxtrot for twenty-one years out of twenty-five. We sincerely wish you growth and prosperity, new successful projects and an inexhaustible source of creative ideas. Let the energy and optimism of our teams help us to reach new heights, and let their experience and intuition guide you to new goals!
Yours sincerely,
Marina Ivanitskaya, director of GROUPE SEB UKRAINE
BSH Pobutova Tekhnika
We've been working with the Foxtrot chain for a long time. When Bosch and Siemens brands came to Ukraine, we understood that cooperation with one of the future leaders of the Ukrainian market will be mutually beneficial and particularly fascinating. I'm especially delighted to say happy birthday to our friends from Foxtrot!Sergiy Maksymov,
CEO, BSH Pobutova Tekhnika