THURSDAY PRO // After more than 100 years of existence, Terraillon, a French company specializing in kitchen scales and bathroom scales, has begun its digital revolution under the aegis of Didier Bollé. We check in with his boss.
A centenary start-up, is the nickname given by Didier Bollé to the company he runs, Terraillon. This was created in 1908 when Lucien Terraillon, a watchmaker in the Jura, bought a factory, which over time became a French reference in kitchen scales and bathroom scales. But, after having experienced a prosperous period during the Glorious Thirties, the company almost disappeared, to the point of being bought for a symbolic franc in 1981 by Bernard Tapie.
After two tumultuous decades, marked by changes of shareholders, the company will find a little more stability from 2002 with the Hong Kong group Fook Tin Technologies, specialized in the production of scales. However, it is ten years later that Terraillon begins a decisive shift with the arrival at the helm of the company of Didier Bollé, who will truly bring it into the digital age.
“Getting out of the commoditization of commodity products”
In this sense, the leader, who can rely on a wealth of experience at Whirlpool and LG, has diversified Terraillon’s activity by opening up to connected objects. “The idea was to get out of the commoditization of convenience products, such as kitchen scales and bathroom scales, by making these products smart with a mobile application”, says Didier Bollé. But you don’t become a digital expert overnight, and to accelerate its transformation in this context, the company did not hesitate to outsource complex functions. While R&D (research and development) is based in France, production is done in China. “We are not digital-native, we had to learn”underlines the boss of Terraillon.
This digital shift has enabled the company, which has a market share of nearly 45% in France, to offer itself a new engine of growth with connected objects, which now account for 15% of turnover. , approaching 50 million euros. But this breakthrough in the sector has also been accompanied by competition which has become denser, with in particular Withings, a former tricolor flagship of connected objects which has experienced turbulent years after a chaotic stint at Nokia. “They came to our territory, it could have shaken up the company, but it offered us new perspectives, which we may not have imagined before”, recognizes Didier Bollé. In the meantime, Withings is working hard by strengthening its presence in connected health with the acquisition of the fitness and health application 8fit, barely a month after the acquisition of Impeto Medical, which offers medical devices for healthcare professionals. .
Sleep, a new axis of development
If connected health is not yet a real martingale for Terraillon, the French company, which has around a hundred employees, half of them in France, is continuing its efforts to gain ground in this booming market. She tried it on the market of connected bracelets by offering a very simple solution. Didier Bollé recognizes that they need it for their ecosystem, but that it matters very little to them. It is mainly interested in improving sleep, as evidenced by the launch of Aloha, a dawn simulator that promises to wake the user gently, thanks to increasing brightness, and to promote sleep.
This product is added to the connected scales, connected blood pressure monitors and even connected thermometers soon to expand Terraillon’s offer. “These are potentially very interesting markets, which go well beyond France”, believes Didier Bollé. A potential to be exploited when there is “a scissor effect in the making” to his eyes. “The market has grown strongly in volume, but very little in value, this is still very confidential. In France, we are talking about 580,000 pieces sold on connected scales”he explains.