MediaMarktSaturn continues to expand its range of recommerce solutions: From now on, customers can benefit from a sell-back service for numerous electronic devices – both in store and online. Europe’s biggest consumer electronics retailer is cooperating here with Foxway, the leading recommerce company. The company is thus expanding its buyback offerings. With this form of circular economy, MediaMarktSaturn intends to make a significant contribution to the reduction of electronic waste and CO2 emissions. The initiatives are an important component of the extensive company-wide sustainability initiative “BetterWay”.

“Trade-in solutions for used electronic devices offer advantages for consumers and the environment alike. First of all, our customers receive an attractive buyback premium when trading in their devices. At the same time, we significantly reduce electronic waste and CO2 emissions through refurbishing and recycling. The cooperation also strengthens our Services & Solutions business. Foxway is a very experienced and renowned specialist in the field of recommerce, whose solutions are scalable and thus be expanded even further in the future,” explains Christian Casado Alegre, Vice President Services & Solutions at the MediaMarktSaturn Retail Group.

Thanks to the cooperation with Foxway, customers can now trade their mobile phones, tablets, smartwatches, laptops, cameras and consoles – regardless of age and condition – for gift vouchers at MediaMarkt and Saturn stores and online shops in Germany, Austria, Italy and Sweden. The company is thus complementing its existing recommerce offers. In 2020/21 alone, over 30,000 devices were purchased and either refurbished or recycled.

MediaMarktSaturn on the “Better Way”

MediaMarktSaturn counts sustainability among the cornerstones of its strategic advancement. For years, the company has pursued a far-reaching sustainability strategy with clear goals. Since the spring, all offers and activities in this area have been bundled under the “BetterWay” logo. In addition to the circular economy (repairing, refurbishing, recycling), the company is also taking great strides on the “Better Way” in many other areas. The company already obtains over 80 percent of the electricity it uses from renewable energies. The aim is to achieve 100 percent by 2023. By 2023, the number of sustainable products in the range will also be doubled to more than 2,000. In addition, the company is continuously reducing its CO2 emissions and packaging waste.

All progress made by the Group in the area of sustainability is published transparently in CECONOMY AG’s annual non-financial statement.

Further information about the “BetterWay” measures and initiatives can be found on the MediaMarktSaturn website or the CECONOMY AG website.

MediaMarktSaturn has developed an international campaign concept for its MediaMarkt brand together with its new lead creative agency Saatchi & Saatchi. For the first time, it will be rolled out company-wide in all 13 countries in which MediaMarkt is active. The campaign is based on a new brand purpose and is thus characterised by the strategic reorientation of the company, which focuses on the customer experience and personal advice. The core and unifying element of the campaign is the claim "Let's go!", which interlinks all communication across all channels. In Germany, the campaign will start on 1 October 2022.

"MediaMarkt is back! It's time to harness the strength of the brand again," explains Michael Schuld, Chief Commercial & Marketing Officer of MediaMarktSaturn Retail Group. "We want to offer our customers experiences and make technology tangible in a special way. Our claim 'Let's go!' stands for the power that arises when you tackle things together. When you just get going. When you dare, when you do." 

MediaMarktSaturn creates experience electronics to enrich people’s life

The electronics retailer, which once established consumer electronics as a new category, is now redefining this category as part of its strategic development: MediaMarktSaturn uses the term "Experience Electronics" to describe its repositioning - and at the same time the range of services for its customers. At MediaMarktSaturn, they can touch, try out and get to know products, in other words, experience them in the truest sense of the word. Technology thus becomes an exciting, positive adventure along the entire customer journey - from on-site testing to optimal set-up at home. "Our goal is to make technology accessible to everyone and to get the best out of technology. With the right content, the right advice and the right service. This is exactly what our new brand campaign shows," explains Michael Schuld.

The campaign focuses on people in all their diversity, taking them on their journey through the world of technology. "'Let's go!' is an invitation to our customers to rediscover technology and also the enthusiasm for it. 'Let's go!' stands for all the possibilities that technology offers people and for the experiences that we make possible for our customers through personal advice and suitable services. As a competent partner, we offer our customers orientation, on all channels. In the local store as well as online," says Michael Schuld. "We ensure participation, in line with our new purpose: We create experience electronics to enrich people’s life.”

Emotional campaign with "evidence"

Three essential elements strengthen the new brand image. The emotional charge of the campaign, which also appears in a new look, activates and moves customers. At the same time, there is a focus on communicating the diverse services with which the company demonstrates its close customer orientation. The last and third component of the campaign is the promotion of products and offers, also on seasonal occasions such as Black Friday or Christmas. The claim "Let's go!" is the link between all marketing activities and forms the umbrella for all communication - not only externally but also internally.

The cross-media brand campaign will be launched in Germany on 1 October. There, it will start with a brand film, followed by three service spots from 8 October. After the start of the campaign in Germany, the launch will take place successively in all other countries where MediaMarkt is at home.

First employer branding campaign rolled out across the Group

The company's employer branding is also in line with the new brand identity. Under the claim "Let's go!", MediaMarktSaturn is launching an internationally uniform employer branding campaign for the first time in October. It will be rolled out step by step in all 13 European countries in which the company is active. Germany will be the first. Our employees are at the centre of the cross-media campaign. They stand for the diversity in the company and at the same time convey the range of the individual job profiles. Above all, they show what MediaMarktSaturn is all about: team spirit, customer orientation and enthusiasm for technology. "With this employer branding campaign, we are creating an international employer brand identity for the first time. That’s how we want to inspire people to join us in shaping the successful future of a great company," says Iris Prüfer, Chief Human Resources Officer of the group.

Gábor Szilágyi, MediaMarktSaturn’s CEO for Germany since February 2022, has decided to step down as CEO of the German national subsidiary and return to his native country Hungary for personal reasons. He will then take over responsibility for MediaMarktSaturn’s Hungarian national subsidiary on October 1, 2022, once again. Szilágyi’s successor at the helm of MediaMarktSaturn Germany (MMSD) will be Dr. Sascha Mager, previously Chief Digital Officer (CDO) and member of the Executive Committee of MediaMarktSaturn Retail Group (MMSRG), with effect from August 15, 2022.

“We respect Gábor Szilágyi's decision and are pleased that he will remain with our company with his talent and experience,” said Dr. Karsten Wildberger, CEO of CECONOMY and MediaMarktSaturn. “With Sascha Mager as our internal successor, we are ensuring a seamless transition in the management of MediaMarktSaturn Deutschland. As CDO for the entire Group, he has already played a key role in boosting the digital business in Germany in recent months in close cooperation with the MMSD management team, while also providing initial, important impetus for further strengthening the stationary business. Together with the team, Sascha Mager will continue to drive the further development of our largest national subsidiary.

“With this reorganization, we are also making even more targeted use of our existing internal expertise for the Group as a whole, without creating additional central structures – entirely in the spirit of a fast and lean company,” Wildberger added.

Sascha Mager will remain a member of the Executive Committee of the MediaMarktSaturn Retail Group in his new role.

In the Google Omnichannel Excellence Study (GOES), Google and the German Retail Federation (HDE) examined how successful retailers from different sectors are in offering an attractive customer experience across all sales channels. The result in Germany: 1st place for MediaMarkt, 4th place for Saturn.

"We are very pleased to have scored so well in this renowned study, this is a great confirmation for our team, which is doing a fantastic job," says Dr. Karsten Wildberger, CEO of CECONOMY and MediaMarktSaturn. "The result shows that we have made further progress on our way to becoming an end-to-end customer-oriented company. The future of retail is omnichannel. It is about the seamless linking of all sales channels. The aim is to offer customers a uniform and attractive shopping experience - both online and offline. We are consistently pursuing this path at MediaMarktSaturn. At the same time, the award from Google and the HDE is a motivation for us to improve even further."

Based on 43 individual criteria, the experts of the Omnichannel Excellence Study evaluated the customer experience of 52 retail companies from all over Germany.  Thereby, the focus was on five basic principles: "Flexible", " Unified", "Informative", "Convenient“, and "Personalized". In addition, 2,000 customers from Germany were asked about their expectations when shopping in a representative survey.

MediaMarkt and Saturn scored particularly well with the experts from Google and the HDE on the following topics: flexibility in delivery processing, including express and drive-in options for Click & Collect, a clear store layout with a separate Click & Collect area, and the integration of smartphones as a bridge between online and offline. In addition, the organizers of the study emphasized the role of the web shop as the "most important information hub" for customers.

MediaMarktSaturn will continue to consistently implement its omnichannel strategy and will start the company-wide roll-out of the so-called "Omnichannel Spine" initiative in the Netherlands in April. This program represents the backbone for further improving, centralizing, and simplifying the logistics, IT, and ordering processes. The company is thus linking and synchronizing its operations for the shopping basket, ordering, stock, and delivery across all channels.

"Based on Omnichannel Spine and the digitalization of our stores, we will offer our customers an even more consistent, simple, and attractive shopping and service experience, regardless of where our customers come into contact with us - in the web shop, via our app or in the brick-and-mortar store," explains Andreas Blase, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at MediaMarktSaturn.

After the launch in the Netherlands, the company will continue to roll out its Omnichannel Spine initiative to all countries.

How 44,000 smartphones at MediaMarktSaturn increase productivity as well as service and consultation quality. Introduced as a pilot project in Germany, MediaMarktSaturn's employee smartphones have become a successful business model within two years. Around 44,000 devices, including the "MyStore" and "Pick'n'Pack" apps developed in-house, are now in use by almost all store associates in all of the approximately 1,000 stores in Europe. Thanks to digital support, productivity has improved significantly. This leaves employees more time for customer consultation and service. A particularly attractive feature is the 30-minute pick-up guarantee.

"Our employee smartphones and, above all, the apps that we have developed ourselves and digitalization of core processes offer significant added value for our customers and employees," says Marius Lückemeyer, Managing Director MediaMarktSaturn Technology and Vice President Omnichannel at MediaMarktSaturn Retail Group. "With this solution, we are leading the retail industry in this area. We are increasing our productivity, improving internal employee communication and, above all, increasing customer satisfaction."

At the heart of the employee smartphones is the "MyStore" app. With this digital sales assistant, the employees can call up all the product information online directly at the store shelf when they receive customer inquiries. It can also be used to compare products and check product availability – online, on site, or in nearby stores – as well as to compare prices. If desired, coupons and customer club data can be retrieved. Even online orders can be placed directly at the store shelf thanks to the app. And all of this can be done in the shortest possible time, because what now takes 45 seconds for new orders used to take up to four minutes – without a smartphone and app. With around one million orders in November 2021 alone in Germany, this is an enormous time saving that employees can use to provide even better and more intensive customer consultation. Across the group, more than 3 billion euros in order volume was already processed last year via the digital companion of the store consultants.

Ordered online, picked up at the store - in just 30 minutes

As an important component of the omnichannel strategy – the availability of products, services and advice online and offline across all channels – this new form of work enables even closer integration of all distribution channels. The specially developed "Pick'n'Pack" app digitizes and accelerates the processing of orders in so-called "Pick Up" and "Ship From Store" processes. In both cases, customers can order their product both online and offline and arrange for it to be delivered to their home or picked up at the store as they wish. Thanks to the time saved with the "Pick'n'Pack" app, MediaMarktSaturn guarantees its customers that the goods ordered online will be ready for pick-up in the store within just 30 minutes. With a pick-up rate of about 40 percent, this option is very popular. And the reverse is also possible: In around 20 percent of cases, store employees initiate an online order for customers during the sales talk.

At the same time, smartphones are significantly improving internal communication. Employees have access to various communication apps and internal platforms anytime and anywhere. The internal social media network in particular has shown itself to be an important communication tool here in recent months. Appropriately prepared content, such as explanatory videos, provides employees with information quickly and easily. There is also a lively exchange of experiences on this platform. The tech colleagues and developers can also count on the "swarm intelligence" and feedback of the store employees in order to continuously improve the existing apps, digitalizations and processes.

As Europe's leading consumer electronics retailer, MediaMarktSaturn and CECONOMY AG also want to be a role model in the industry when it comes to sustainability - CEO Dr. Karsten Wildberger: "It is our responsibility as a company to make a relevant social contribution to sustainability." Sustainability is one of the most important building blocks of corporate strategy for the MediaMarktSaturn Retail Group and CECONOMY AG. All offers and activities in this area are now being bundled under the "BetterWay" logo. An initial review shows: MediaMarktSaturn is well on its way to enabling all its customers to live more sustainably with its offers and, at the same time, to making its business processes even more environmentally friendly, step by step.

"Sustainability is non-negotiable for us. We see our commitment as a corporate obligation to make a relevant contribution to society. At the same time, it is also a business opportunity," explains Dr. Karsten Wildberger, CEO of CECONOMY and MediaMarktSaturn. "We are well on the way here and have already set a number of things in place, for example with our private labels." For example, 97 percent of the production sites of MediaMarktSaturn's own brands have been audited in accordance with compliance with human and labor rights. The company also works very closely with suppliers and partners on sustainability issues.

MediaMarktSaturn is also making further progress in the environmental compatibility of its own business activities: the company already obtains over 80 percent of the electricity it uses from renewable energies. The aim is to achieve 100 percent by 2023.

"Sustainability is an increasingly important purchasing argument for our customers, and we are consistently gearing our offerings to this," says Wildberger. The company already offers a wide range of services that extend the service life of products. In addition, the company currently already has more than 1,200 sustainable products in its range. This number will grow continuously.

Products and services for more sustainability

Customers are able to recognize the sustainable products by the new green "BetterWay" logo. They can obtain detailed information on energy efficiency labels, disposal options for old appliances, or the resource-saving use of appliances online and from the specialist advisors in the stores. In Germany, the "BetterWay" logo can already be seen in the online stores of MediaMarkt and Saturn. All other countries where MediaMarktSaturn is represented will follow in the coming weeks.

MediaMarktSaturn and CECONOMY AG are increasingly focusing on sustainability not only in their product range, but also in the wider circular economy - for example, in repairs. In the past 2020/21 fiscal year alone, around million 2,6 appliances were repaired in repair shops across the group. A further 480,000 appliances with minor defects were quickly and competently restored at the SmartBars in the stores and taken away directly by customers. In total, around 11,000 tons of electronic waste were avoided.

And what if a device really has had its day? In addition to the smart phone buyback machines, MediaMarktSaturn also offers its customers a suitable service for exchanging devices for a voucher, for example. In 2020/21, over 30,000 devices were purchased and either refurbished or recycled. To ensure that customers can also use the sustainable electronics products with renewable energies, the company offers contracts for green electricity. Almost contracts 190.000 for green electricity were brokered in the past fiscal year.

Diversity as a success factor

Diversity is also part of the sustainability strategy of CECONOMY and MediaMarktSaturn. Diversity, as well as the targeted development and promotion of the around 52,000 employees across the Group, is a prerequisite for the company's success. The more diverse the competencies of employees, the more comprehensive the skills and knowledge within the company. At the end of the 2020/21 financial year, there were employees from 135 nations across the Group (2019/20: 128), while the share of women in the overall workforce was over 39 percent and is to be further increased, among other things through the "Women in Retail" initiative.

Further goals already defined

CECONOMY AG was one of the first European retail companies to join the "Green Consumption Pledge Initiative" in 2021. It is part of the European Climate Pact, in which companies pledge to participate in climate protection measures and make their contribution to a "green transformation". What this contribution looks like is specifically defined: MediaMarktSaturn, for example, will double the number of sustainable products in its range to over 2,000 by 2023. In addition, the company will continuously reduce its CO2 emissions and packaging waste and further optimize its circular economy (repairing, remanufacturing, recycling). MediaMarktSaturn will also expand the information and advice it offers its customers.

All progress made by the Group in the area of sustainability is published transparently in CECONOMY AG's annual non-financial statement.

Further information about the "BetterWay" measures and initiatives can be found on the MediaMarktSaturn website or the CECONOMY AG website.