How a long-standing company like Beurer is battling the influx of cheap products on the Internet

It has been 100 years since Beurer was founded, and a huge amount has changed during this time. Back then, everything revolved around surviving in the wake of the First World War and the economic crisis. But now, long-standing companies like Beurer have to confront completely different challenges: globalisation and the Internet – a blessing and a curse at the same time. Beurer is taking advantage of being able to market its products via all manner of channels – increasingly online as well – all around the world. Nevertheless, the Internet has hidden risks: more and more unknown brands are flooding the online market with goods that are often much poorer in quality and come with dubious top ratings.

It takes a particular kind of instinct to live and authentically communicate the quality, experience and tradition of a brand when combined with the aim of setting new trends, but also whilst driving forwards digitalisation and still not forgetting about globalisation. To achieve this, Beurer – like many renowned manufacturers – relies on various distribution channels. When it comes to over-the-counter retail, the Ulm-based company is still very much a reliable partner for quality products. For a few years now, online retail has been a particularly rapidly growing market. Holding ground in the large, internationally trading online shops over the long term means hard work, even for long-standing companies with a strong brand. This is something Beurer has managed to do, and over many years, has built up a reputation in terms of quality and service in this respect. Nowadays, the main challenge is in upholding this reputation.

It is no longer just product quality or the name of a manufacturer that stands out on the web. End users are relying more and more on customer reviews when making purchase decisions. The problem with this is that many Chinese manufacturers are flooding the Internet with unbranded products which often come onto the market with a conspicuously large number of product reviews that are overwhelmingly positive. If customers order a product like this, they quickly realise that the quality is often far removed from the glowing ratings on the web. The problem of phony reviews has been highlighted already in programmes broadcast on German television – in ZDF WISO shown on 25/11/2019 and in ZDFinfo Doku shown on 29/07/2019. What does this mean for well-known brand manufacturers?

"Keeping the brand and quality that you have built up on course and driving these forwards is a never-ending battle. Manufacturers that use dubious and unfair methods to do this ruin the quality standards that we set. They also drag down the reputation of the entire product category. Additionally, it confuses the end customer and it is difficult for them to navigate through the seemingly infinite jungle of products. We know that most customers are looking for high-quality products. That's why we'll try anything to defend our position and reputation," explains Marco Bühler, Managing Director of Beurer. Many long-standing brands are battling with the same problem and will probably have to accept losses of several million euros in the next few years. "We will be countering this with a specific set of measures, including content improvement, rebranding, increasing advertising on strategic products, thorough scrutiny of suspect goods, and focussing of our public relations activities," adds the business owner.

The German Federal Cartel Office and German Federal Court of Justice have also been intensively addressing the issue of the dubious creation of reviews, as the problem has now become more complex and also affects other sectors, including doctors, tradespeople, hotels and restaurants. Marco Bühler rounds off with an appeal: "Of course, every company has to make sure that their own products live up to quality and presentation standards in the best possible way. In the end, all we can do is appeal to consumers to scrutinise a product before making a purchase and to not put blind faith in each positive or even negative review on the web."