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METRO GROUP : ANNUAL REPORT 2011 : STRATEGy
→ sTRaTeGIC posITIonInG oF MeTRo GRoUp : MeTRo CasH & CaRRY
and restaurant owners as well as catering firms. at the
same time, the sales division thus improves the service it
provides to its current top customers. During the reporting
year, the sales division generated sales of about €1.6 billion
with this service.
Rigorous service focus:
innovative concepts
Metro Cash & Carry also ventures down new avenues with
specially tailored trader support programmes. The key aim
of these programmes is to bolster the competitiveness of
small retailers and establish long-term business relationships
with these customers. The programmes comprise
country-specific measures that help to professionalise and
modernise commercial customers’ business. Together with
the customer, for example, Metro Cash & Carry analyses and
assesses specific store parameters and operations. Based
on the collected data, the sales division’s employees develop
specific improvement measures, for example with a view to
assortments, prices, store layout and marketing. In Russia
and India, Metro Cash & Carry organises seminars where
retailers can acquire specific trade knowledge. at the same
time, our sales division is testing a franchise-type concept,
for example in poland: here, Metro Cash & Carry acts as a
kind of franchisor which offers training, advice on assortment
design and professional price comparisons. Franchisees
also receive professional support in the marketing of
their stores. In poland, these stores operate under the name
“oDIDo”. In addition, the assortment of the food stores is
designed to ensure that consumers find everything to satisfy
their daily needs – including fresh fruit and vegetables. In
return, retailers agree, among other things, to include a minimum
number of own-brand articles and products in their
assortments. The store owners manage their stores completely
independently. More than 600 small retailers have
already joined the franchise concept in poland.
Tapping a new sales channel:
online business launched
Metro Cash & Carry continues to improve its service for customers.
Going beyond stationary sales and delivery services,
the sales division offers customers in a number of countries
the opportunity to shop online. During the reporting year,
the cash & carry company started its first online shops in
Hungary and Denmark. at www.metroirodaszer.hu and
www.metroshop.dk, customers can now order office supplies,
sweets and beverages and have the requested quantities
delivered. In addition, Metro Cash & Carry launched an
exclusive online wine store for commercial customers in Germany
in november 2011. The articles, which can only be purchased
on the Internet, complement the assortment of the
wholesale stores. The initial assortment comprised about
200 wines. Metro Cash & Carry plans to expand the offer to
500 articles over the medium term.
strong own brands for professional customers
since 2009, Metro Cash & Carry has been forging ahead with
its own-brand strategy through a focused product portfolio:
the six core own brands of aro, H-line, Horeca select, Fine
Food, Rioba and sigma offer excellent value for money and
thus real added value, particularly for professional customers.
The own-brand share of Metro Cash & Carry’s total sales
rose by 2.4 percentage points to 15.7 percent in the reporting
year compared with the previous year.
The new own brand Rioba, which comprises tailor-made
product solutions for cafés and bars, has proven successful.
The assortment ranges from professional espresso machines
to complete dish assortments and from premium coffee to
biscuits. In the context of a partnership model between Metro
Cash & Carry and a café operator, the first Rioba Coffee Bar
was opened at the airport in the Ukrainian capital of Kiev in
July 2011. operated as a complete solution, this bar offers only
products from the own-brand assortment. Four additional
such bars have since been opened in athens (Greece), Düsseldorf
(Germany), Maastricht and Rotterdam (netherlands).
Expansion: new locations around the world
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Metro Cash & Carry operates in 30 countries on three continents
where it has to deal with widely divergent market parameters.
While trade structures in the Western european
markets are already fully developed, markets in eastern
europe, asia and africa are in different development phases.
In november 2011, Metro Cash & Carry opened its 700th
wholesale store worldwide in Kağithane, a district of Istanbul.
In December 2011, the sales division celebrated the
opening of its 50th Chinese store, which is located in Guangzhou.
a total of 37 wholesale stores and satellite locations
were newly opened during the reporting year.