Categories: Business

Almost all stores reopen: Media Markt and Saturn feel customer catching up

The electronics chains Media Markt and Saturn experienced a veritable customer rush in the first few days after the reopening.

Due to the demand congestion caused by the store closures, sales in individual markets were twice as high as usual, reported Bernhard Düttmann, head of the Media-Saturn parent company Ceconomy.

However, the electronics retailer does not expect this onslaught to continue. On the contrary, given the rather gloomy economic outlook, Düttmann expects “that consumer spending in general and also for consumer electronics will be lower than it was before the crisis” – and possibly for a longer period of time.

However, the electronics retailer, which has just secured a EUR 1.7 billion credit line from KfW and a banking consortium, is prepared for the challenges ahead. “Even if a second covid wave comes, we are well placed to cope with this,” said Düttmann.

According to the manager, the pandemic will change the electronics trade in a lasting way. The rise in online sales during the crisis would remain at a high level, even if the store recovered, Düttmann predicted.

Media Markt and Saturn had quadrupled their online-only sales in April. However, even this online boom could not compensate for the losses caused by store closures across Europe. Overall, the electronics giant’s sales fell by 6.6 percent to 4.6 billion euros between January and March. The net result in the second quarter of the 2019/20 financial year was a net loss of EUR 309 million, up from EUR 20 million in the same period of the previous year.

But Düttmann also sees opportunities in the crisis. He expects the pandemic to accelerate market consolidation and wants to seize the opportunity to gain market share. The Group also intends to adapt to the new situation in its offerings and to increasingly offer products from the home office, home entertainment and home-schooling sectors in order to attract customers to the stores.

During the Corona crisis, Ceconomy had to close 90 percent of its stores at times. In the meantime, however, 92 percent of the stores – including all stores in Germany – have reopened, Düttmann reported. At times, more than 30,000 of the electronics retailer’s 34,000 employees were on short-time work.

Matthew Velter

With 5 years of experience as an editor, Matthew has been a crucial part of eTrendy Stock since its inception. He looks after the editing of news content published on eTrendy Stock. Apart from investing his time in editing, he also provides well-researched news articles for the U.S. niche. Mathew studied at University of central Florida.

Recent Posts

Chummy Tees Review Rising Trends in the Funny T-Shirt Industry

Sonora, California, 30th March 2025, ZEX PR WIRE, As humor continues to shape popular culture,…

17 hours ago

UBX Powers UBC’s 15x Surge: AI and DePIN Innovation Reshaping Crypto Investments

Singapore, 30th March 2025, ZEX PR WIRE, Recently, the native token UBC issued by the…

17 hours ago

Tether Eyes U.S. Stablecoin Launch Amid Regulatory Tailwinds

Tether is weighing a crucial entry into the U.S. domestic stablecoin market as CEO Paolo…

3 days ago

Ripple Partners with Chipper Cash to Expand Crypto-Powered Payments in Africa

Ripple has joined forces with African payments firm Chipper Cash to bolster crypto-enabled cross-border payments,…

3 days ago

HyperLiquid Delists JELLY After $13M Vault Manipulation Blowout

HyperLiquid, a decentralized exchange (DEX), has delisted the JELLY token following a high-stakes trading exploit…

4 days ago

GameStop Adds Bitcoin to Balance Sheet: Details

GameStop has officially joined the growing list of public companies adopting Bitcoin (BTC) as a…

5 days ago