• ‍Challenge: Increasing prices on printing and ineffective distribution made it necessary for Mr. Bricolage Bulgaria to look for digital alternatives to their printed leaflet.
• ‍Solution: Digital leaflets are uniquely fitted to replace print because of the familiar format. Mr. Bricolage Bulgaria progressively improved the digital leaflet experience to do more than what is possible with print.
• ‍Results: Mr. Bricolage Bulgaria now have a proper digital alternative to the printed leaflet, which enables them to reduce print volume, save budget and reach more shoppers with online distribution.

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Mr. Bricolage is a French retail chain offering home improvement and do-it-yourself (DIY) goods. The company has around 500 total stores in France and 10 other markets.

One of those markets is Bulgaria.

Mr. Bricolage Bulgaria faced - and still face - many challenges common to retailers in Europe, such as print costs and digital transformation:

The cost of print is high. Distribution has become more expensive. Also, it’s not sustainable to print so many leaflets.”

- Magdalena Kotupova, Marketing Director at Mr. Bricolage

But Magdalena Kotupova and her team, after starting back in 2018, are now well on their way to solving them.

Reducing print costs with digital leaflets

Mr. Bricolage Bulgaria has turned to digital transformation of the leaflet:

Digital leaflets can help reduce printing! We are sure that the digital leaflet is slowly replacing the printed version.”

- Magdalena Kotupova, Marketing Director at Mr. Bricolage

And digital leaflets are uniquely fitted to replace print, because shoppers still want the format:

“Shoppers are changing towards digital. But they are still interested in promotions, so we are obliged to show promotions.” - Magdalena Kotupova, Marketing Director at Mr. Bricolage

Therefore, it makes sense to provide the leaflet in a digital format.

Digital Transformation Timeline

But it's one thing to just provide a digital version of print, and it's quite another to create a shoppable, interactive digital leaflet.

To do that, you need a premium digital leaflet solution and the patience to take the right steps in the right order.

Digital transformation of the digital leaflet is a journey with many steps. That was the case for Mr. Bricolage Bulgaria AND for most retailers:

Over several years, Mr. Bricolage Bulgaria fine-tuned internal processes and customer expectations and habits to ensure a smooth transition.

This way, they could successfully go the entire way from static PDF to trackable, interactive and shoppable digital catalog.

The difference between Mr. Bricolage Bulgaria's digital versions of the printed leaflet at different times in their digital transformation journey can be seen here:

Other retailers would be wise to take note of Mr. Bricolage Bulgaria’s stepwise and steady progress on the digital transformation timeline.

Because if you do so, Mr. Bricolage Bulgaria has shown that you can get ahead…

Gaining an edge over competitors

In general, Magdalena believes all Mr. Bricolage’s competitors are doing something with digital leaflets.

But getting ahead of them may just be a matter taking even more advantage of iPaper's functionalities:

If we implement all the features of iPaper, then I think we’ll be in front of our competitors.”

- Magdalena Kotupova, Marketing Director at Mr. Bricolage

Gaining an edge internally

Along with external competitors, it can be tempting, in a multinational company, to see what other business entities in different markets do.

As far as Magdalena is aware, no other Mr. Bricolage markets use iPaper, but Magdalena believes that they should consider doing so:

I would definitely recommend other Mr. Bricolage markets to go with iPaper!”

- Magdalena Kotupova, Marketing Director at Mr. Bricolage

It's worth the investment

iPaper is - at least compared to many other digital leaflet creators out there - a premium-priced product.

When making buying decisions, it’s easy to get caught up in the cost-savings of paying 50 euros per month instead of 250, without considering the different results and potential ROI of the two options.

Ultimately, Mr. Bricolage Bulgaria pay a little extra to get a lot more in terms of results and ROI.

Yes, I would say iPaper is worth the investment. Compared to the effect that iPaper has, and the fact that it’s replacing the printed leaflet. For us, we think it’s a good deal, good value for money.”

- Magdalena Kotupova, Marketing Director at Mr. Bricolage

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Do you want more from Mr. Bricolage? 

Check out our interview about embracing digital transformation here.