Ceconomy, the parent company of MediaMarkt, has weathered the past year more than adequately. The group owes this mainly to its successful omnichannel strategy.
Online boost
Despite the compulsory store closures in several countries, the electronics giant managed to boost organic turnover by 3.8 % to 21.4 billion euros in the 2020-2021 financial year. Operating profit (EBIT) remained nearly stable at 237 million euros.
Ceconomy’s comprehensive omnichannel strategy proved a considerable advantage during the lockdowns: online turnover grew by almost 65 % to 6.9 billion euros. This amply compensated for the decline in the physical stores due to the closures. Especially in the Netherlands and Germany, strict restrictions were in place for an extended period of time. In countries such as Italy, Spain and Turkey, on the other hand, stores did perform very well.
CEO Karsten Wildberger called the last financial year true acid test, but said the results prove his company passed the test with flying colours, growing despite the fact that the pandemic-related restrictions were much more pervasive than in the previous year.
Continuing the implementation of the strategy
In the past twelve months, Ceconomy has continued to roll out its customer-focused omnichannel strategy. Last month MediaMarkt opened a new experience store in Rotterdam, the second city in which the electronics giant introduced this concept after Milan. MediaMarkt also successfully launched a marketplace in Germany and Spain and plans to do the same in the Netherlands and Austria next year.
In light of the current climate of uncertainty, both regarding the pandemic and the international supply chains, Ceconomy is not making any concrete forecasts for the current financial year. The group is sticking to a “slight increase in sales” and is aiming for “very significant improvement in adjusted EBIT”. As soon as conditions allow, the company will specify its outlook.
