Electronics
Europe's biggest electronics retailer MediaMarktSaturn has installed a self-checkout in its flagship store in Hamburg. Customers can now shop without passing by a cash register, if they so choose.
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An international group of companies is set to test drones at the DronePort campus in Brustem, Belgium. Internet giant Amazon is among its members.
A new employee called Toru is starting in Zalando's warehouse in Erfurt, Germany. You might consider this nothing special, but Toru is an autonomous picking robot that can not only move whole boxes, but even individual objects.
Ceconomy CEO Pieter Haas leaves the holding company of German electronics chains Media Markt and Saturn with immediate effect, after another series of disappointing results.
German electronics group Ceconomy has released a profit warning: disappointing sales in its MediaMarkt and Saturn stores have caused the company to miss the profit forecast.
Dutch electronics retailer Coolblue has launched its website and app in English as a third language (after Dutch and French), aiming to increase their service for English-speaking customers in the Benelux. However, the retailer does not (yet) speak of a step towards foreign markets.
Ceconomy, MediaMarkt's parent company, has sold its onerous Russian division to local electronics chain M.video. The German electronics giant does not quit Russia altogether however, as it continues as shareholder of M.video.
BackMarket, a French start-up that wants to be a marketplace for refurbished smart phones, tablets and laptops, has secured a 41 million euro investment. The most famous new investor is Bernard Arnault, CEO of luxury group LVMH.
Dutch e-commerce group Coolblue has terminated hundreds of its web shops, instead preferring one central web shop at coolblue.be/nl. This may be the precursor to an international expansion, the company says.
Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi just opened a physical store in Paris, part of its ambitious European expansion plan. The brand is also dreaming of an American launch.
French electronics retailer Fnac Darty has set up a purchase alliance with competitor MediaMarkt Saturn. Both companies will buy together when it comes to the European retail market.
The battle for dominance on the Indian e-commerce market seems to be stepping up a notch: Amazon may be looking to buy a majority stake in Flipkart, trying to better Walmart which already started negociations with the Indian online retailer.
Amazon is secretly working on robots for consumers. According to press agency Bloomberg, the tech giant wants to trial the robots at their employees’ homes and wants to present its domestic robots in 2019.
Electronics group Fnac Darty has achieved a small turnover growth in the first quarter of 2018. The group also says it took major steps in its recovery plan: before the end of 2018, it seeks 130 million euro in synergies.
It seems a lost fight to compete with web shops, but not every retailer is simply throwing in the towel. A German household appliance seller has found an original way to entice customers.
Saturn has opened Europe’s first checkout-free electronics store in Austria. The former Metro Group chain offers its customers traditional sales assistance, but payments have to happen using an app.
