[NL] Mamzel: from happy webshop to sustainable package

For many entrepreneurs, the corona pandemic in 2020 equalled a period of great change. Mamzel’s story attests to this as well. They were forced to evolve from a home party concept into a full-fledged webshop, brimming with products that can be described with a big smile as ‘joy makers’. This switch to the digital world demanded a completely different way of doing business. Suddenly, a lot more packages had to be prepared, some of which had to meet different requirements. In this interview, we explain how RAJA was able to help them and what solutions were chosen.

Kim Severy, Mamzel’s leading lady, dives into the story behind Mamzel with us (and a good cup of coffee). She explains to us the challenges that came her way and how RAJA was able to contribute to the current webshop formula as a supplier. In 2022, they launched a brand-new e-shop that corresponded even better to their DNA and to the conveniences customers want today. This turned out to be a bull’s eye, because that same webshop won the Customer Friendliness Award in 2022. In addition, Kim was awarded the Award for E-commerce Personality of the Year (presented by Safeshops.be). Great recognition for the surprising course she and her team have taken.

How would you best describe Mamzel’s philosophy?

Mamzel is a webshop full of, for and by happy people. We want to do that in every possible way. And that story obviously starts with the products we offer: fashion and home accessories, gift boxes, reading material, care products, and so on… All things that can make our customers happy and joyful.

Those happy makers are not only the products, but also the suppliers behind them, the experience on the webshop, the posts on social media, and the packaging we use. In everything we do, we want to create added value with a focus on a happy mindset.

Mamzel has not always been a ‘full-time’ webshop, by the way. Actually, we started with a home party concept. Our ‘mamzellen’ would then bring our happy makers directly to your living room. During the corona pandemic, however, it was no longer possible to meet in groups at home. We then quickly decided to set our sights 100% on our webshop. Switching to this new model required a different way of handling our products. For example, we now had to handle much larger quantities for a shipment via a courier service – and we still wanted to keep adding a touch of cheer to that. As a packaging specialist, RAJA was the ideal partner to work with for this.

How does RAJA meet your expectations of a supplier?

When choosing a supplier, I pay a lot of attention to the sustainability aspect. Every company has to be able to do its bit. Does the company offer the right kind of products? And is the company’s operation itself sustainable? For us, RAJA fully meets those expectations. Packaging is simply necessary in the e-commerce world. It is important to us that we can do that with recycled and recyclable materials – which we can then preferably also buy locally.

Secondly, for us, RAJA is an agile and flexible company. When we made the switch to a 100% webshop, we suddenly had to buy a completely different type of products. We needed a much larger range of box sizes, for instance, and adapted filling material. RAJA was able to respond quickly to this and introduced us to solutions we had not been familiar with at all. One example is the Fillpak TT paper cushion machine. Since we have been using these paper cushions, we notice that our products are packed much more firmly, which means fewer returns. That saves us a lot of costs down the line.

And finally, there is the personal contact, in our case with Tom and Chris from the RAJA Sales Team. An aspect I personally value a lot. It gives me a lot of peace of mind and takes a lot of work off my hands. If I need a new product (such as a new box size), I know that my regular contact at RAJA can sort it out for me without any problem. That way I save a mass of time.

What RAJA products does Mamzel use?

For us, it is an advantage that RAJA is a one-stop shop. We can bundle and order everything for our entire company in one go. We have been ordering cardboard boxes and other packaging materials from RAJA since the early days of Mamzel. A few years ago, we added more products made of paper such as padding chips, a paper cushion machine and printed paper tape.

We can then complement that with cardboard storage trays, office supplies, printing paper and toilet paper. What’s more, this is all delivered extremely quickly (often as early as the next working day) so we really never run out.

Sustainability is inextricably linked to e-commerce. How does Mamzel deal with it?

The unboxing experience plays a big role for us. Because that too is a form of ‘making you happy’. In the first place, unboxing is about the product you bought, but what about the packaging? People don’t want to receive a badly damaged box, that doesn’t make anyone happy. So good and sturdy packaging is indispensable for us. In addition, the ecological character of the box also plays a very important role. Mamzel consciously chooses packaging made of a mono-material, such as paper.

Until a few years ago, we often used plastic for packaging, such as bubble wrap or tape. Thanks to Tom, our regular contact at RAJA, we then learned about other materials and so we consciously switched to paper. So today, we combine a cardboard box with paper filling material and paper tape. Our customer can then sort that together afterwards. That means a lot less frustration. And that’s what we do it for!

What future plans are in store for Mamzel?

The ‘web’ in our webshop is more and more in brackets these days. In our warehouse, we now offer the possibility to come and buy products directly. In this way, we give our customers the freedom to physically experience our delighters, to feel, smell, listen, etc. We find that customers who visit us really need this and really appreciate the physical experience. So our warehouse is anything but a traditional warehouse. It feels much warmer and cosier. We carry the atmosphere of the web shop all the way through here. People should feel welcome to come and shop here as well.

Secondly, we are paying close attention to what the future will bring for e-commerce packaging. The proposal of the new European Packaging Act (PPWR) talks about being able to reuse a box more often. This will require new types of boxes and a new way of thinking in Dutch logistics… We know RAJA is working on new projects to respond to this, so we look forward to continuing to work with them.