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~ Salesupply ~

It all started with the broken seat heating of his first car. After
Teun van Leijsen had opened the seat and repaired the seat
heating, a question kept haunting his mind for years: “Why is this
kind of heating only available in car seats?” Now, years later, the
rechargeable, wireless infrared heating cushions and blankets from

his company Stoov® are available in four countries, and further
international expansion is planned for later this year. We spoke with
Teun van Leijsen, founder of Stoov® , about the development of a new product category and
the strong international growth of his company.

During my college years, I organised parties for us. After that, we converted our products into individual
my fellow students to earn some money. From rechargeable cushions and relaunched them through our
“that money, I bought a car to travel to my first webshop as a consumer product in the Netherlands and
job at ABN Amro, where I worked for ten years. Germany. Since then, we have grown steadily at 3x each
However, at some point, I noticed that the heating year.”
car seat of my car was broken. Therefore, I decided
to inspect the damage, and it turned out to be quite Conquering the German market
easy to repair. From that point on, I wondered why “We started in the Netherlands and Germany, and
these heating seats are only available in cars, and the especially in Germany, it immediately turned out to be a
idea of a new product slowly started to arise,” says hit. We have higher satisfaction, higher-order value and a
Teun. lower return rate in Germany because the products simply
suit the German market very well. Premium products with
From the very first prototype to a successful business good quality and comfort are valued highly in Germany.”
“In 2012, my first son was born, and during the pregnancy,
my wife loved to sit outdoors in our garden. Obviously, on Building a strong brand
colder days, I needed to light the fire pit in order for us “Currently, we do not sell our products in any brick-and-
to stay warm and cosy. However, I spent most of my time mortar stores. We are a pure player, and we want to keep
outside of the house because of my work which meant that growing online. At the moment, it is easier for us as a pure
the fire pit would not be lit very often, and it would not player to launch in a new country with the help of partners
be as pleasant to stay outdoors in the garden. Therefore, I such as Salesupply than to roll out an entire retail and
decided to provide our garden bench with a heater. That distribution strategy in our current markets.
was the very first prototype and it was well-received by the
(non-objective) test public,” says Teun. “In the beginning, we focused on our own website, but
then we quickly joined online marketplaces Bol.com
“Then I decided to make a business case to discover if and Amazon. However, we focus on our own channel
the idea was economically viable and for which markets it because you can share your branding and your story there.
would be most suitable. With the prototype, I cycled into Currently, we use marketplaces as a conversion enhancer.
the city centre of Utrecht (the Netherlands) and returned We see that many customers come across our brand on
that same afternoon with an order from a restaurant owner social media and end up buying on Amazon because of
for whom we could heat his terrace sustainably. At the their trusted reputation and the ease of buying there.”
end of 2014, we ran a pilot with that restaurant, and that
is when it all started. At some point, we had our heating The importance of transparency
cushions in use at approximately 150-200 hospitality Teun continues: “Our brand and the experience that comes
establishments,” he continues. with it is of great value to us. We want to sell a product
that is of good quality and that customers appreciate.
“Then something unexpected happened. We received At the very beginning of Stoov®, we sold products that
more and more requests from consumers who wanted to we thought were good. However, they were not always.
buy the cushions for their home. The hospitality industry, Then you have to solve that properly. We told our initial
our intended target audience, turned out to be the perfect customers that they were the co-testers of Stoov® to ensure
marketing channel. Consumers sit on our cushions – that they knew the product might not be perfect from
enjoying a pleasant moment with family or friends – they the start. We kept in close contact with our customers to
see the Stoov® brand label, and then they decide to contact learn from their experiences. This urge to be close to our

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