Hornbach-Baumarkt-AG Group

GROUP MANAGEMENT REPORT Non-Financial Performance Ind icators 57
Non-Financial Performance Indicators
No normal DIY store – dedicated to projects
“We’re no normal DIY store. We’re a project DIY store”. Consistent
with this image of itself, HORNBACH focuses above all on
project customers. We are the address for people with big
plans – construction and renovation projects in their houses,
apartments and gardens – people with a passion for home
improvement. At HORNBACH, they can rely on a partner that
offers them a comprehensive range of services for their project
– with easily accessible locations, great breadth and
depth of product range, the right volume of stock on hand for
their projects, uncomplicated and easily comprehensible
merchandise presentation, dependable permanently low
prices, and professional advice. In this, customers can depend
not only on our high-performance stationary retail store
network, but also on our extensive online offering. In Germany
and successively in other countries, customers now have the
option of conveniently making their purchases at our internet
store. Not only that, customers in all HORNBACH countries can
find inspiring project ideas, product information, and planning
and implementation aids on the internet.
HORNBACH’s concept – a European recipe for success
Our unmistakable position as the top address for projects was
honored once again in various consumer surveys and sector
studies in the past financial year.
In the “Kundenmonitor” study issued by ServiceBarometer AG
since 1992 and one of Germany’s most renowned customer
satisfaction surveys, almost 6,000 DIY customers were surveyed
about their home DIY store once again in 2012. Of the
ten large DIY chains covered by the survey, HORNBACH was
awarded the best average marks in many key individual
categories. Among others, we came top in categories particularly
important to project customers, such as “product range
compared with competitors”, “merchandise and product
quality”, “value for money”, “prices compared with competitors”,
and “service compared with competitors”.
In the international arena as well, consumers confirmed that
HORNBACH had created benefits for its customers and clearly
differentiated itself from its competitors with its consistent
project focus. In the “Kundenmonitor 2012” survey performed
by analogy with its German counterpart in Austria and Switzerland,
for example, we came first in the “product range”,
“selection and product variety”, and “prices compared with
competitors” categories. In Austria, we also scored highly in
categories such as “value for money”, while in Switzerland we
came top in terms of “product quality”.
HORNBACH received the best assessment in the annual Swedish
Quality Index (SKI) customer satisfaction survey, and that
for the fifth year in succession. We even improved on the very
high satisfaction figures already awarded in 2011, and received
correspondingly high marks in individual categories.
Our Dutch customers were also particularly satisfied in 2012
and singled out HORNBACH as “Retailer of the Year” in the
DIY store category. In the Czech Republic, HORNBACH scored
very highly in terms of its prices and product range in the “Do
it yourself 2012” survey performed by GfK. We also received
top marks in the “specialist advice” category.
Homogenous store network across Europe
HORNBACH has decades of experience in operating DIY megastores
with garden centers. The network of 138 stores in nine
countries across Europe forms the stationary foundation for
implementing the company’s project concept. Our portfolio of
locations in Germany and abroad is highly homogenous, with
84% of the Group’s sales areas as of the balance sheet date
at stores which are larger than 10,000 m². This facilitates the
rapid rollout of universal and/or innovative concepts to old
and new sales areas alike.
What’s more, the combination of homogeneity and large surfaces
generates substantial logistics benefits, thus securing
a competitive advantage for us. Moreover, we are also working
continuously on bringing the design of older stores in line with
the latest standards, and on enhancing operating processes
to enable customers’ wishes to be met even more closely.
These measures include signs, shelving measures, adjustments
to the layout of stores, through to store extensions and
the further enhancement of product ranges. Alongside our
stationary retail business, in December 2010 we began work