Frank Hasselmann is Managing Director of Galaxus Germany
The Swiss online department store Galaxus is expanding into Germany this year. Frank Hasselmann recently took over as Managing Director of the Galaxus Germany subsidiary. He and his team are working flat out on the launch of Galaxus.de.
Hasselmann, who was born in Bremen, joins the Swiss online retailer from the international industrial group Linde. Hasselmann spent the last five years as a manager at Linde. Most recently, as Head of Retail for the Central Europe region, he was responsible for building up the retail business.
"We are delighted to have Frank on board as Managing Director for our German start-up," said Florian Teuteberg, CEO of Digitec Galaxus. "His expertise in expansion and business development, commerce and digitalization, as well as his winning personality, are a great fit for us and our growth plans in Germany."
Website and logistics on the home stretch
Meanwhile, the German expansion of Switzerland's largest online retailer is making rapid progress: the construction of the office and logistics infrastructure and the recruitment of the team are well advanced. "In a few weeks, we will move into our headquarters in the Ottensen district of Hamburg - and then the countdown will start," says Frank Hasselmann. The website is also largely ready for launch, he adds.
Frank Hasselmann studied business administration and philosophy in Tübingen and at Yale University. He launched his career as a management consultant at A.T. Kearney and McKinsey & Company, focusing on mobile communications, consumer electronics and IT. The 39-year-old German is married and the father of three children.
"My goal is for us to become the most vibrant online department store in Germany"
Note: Questions and answers come directly from Digitec Galaxus, this is not an interview by Werbewoche.
When will customers in Germany be able to shop at Galaxus.de?
Frank Hasselmann: We have not yet set an exact start date. But it won't take much longer: The webshop is largely finished, and now we're working on fine-tuning the supply chain. We will be ready in the fourth quarter. Then we will deliberately go live with a manageable range of electronics. Only gradually will we open up our online department store to other product segments. Although we have ambitious plans for the German market, we are starting small and want to understand what German customers think of our offering as a first step.
What does Galaxus do better than the competition in Germany?
Our customers never shop with us alone: We help them find the right product for them. That sounds obvious, but it's not in the German online market. There, consumers get lost in the flood of products. Galaxus, on the other hand, is more than just a product search engine with clever filters and comparison tools: Our experts focus on the items that suit our customers - for example, with personalized recommendations or snappy daily promotions. In addition, our editorial team creates an informative and inspiring shopping environment with independent test reports, guides and reports from trade shows. That's why we also have the most active shopping community in Switzerland: 70 percent of all technical questions on our online stores are answered by our community within three hours. Every month, more than 10,000 questions and answers are posted in this small market alone. And don't forget our multilingualism: German, English, French and Italian-speaking customers will feel right at home at Galaxus.de. My goal is for us to also become Germany's liveliest online department store.
Will Galaxus have a warehouse in Germany?
Yes, we will serve our customers from our own warehouse. We will communicate more about this in the coming weeks.
How will Galaxus position itself in terms of price?
We will position ourselves similarly to Switzerland, i.e. on a par with the relevant competitors. Since we buy our product range directly from retailers and manufacturers in Germany, there will be price differences compared to our Swiss stores.
Will Swiss customers also benefit from the move to Germany?
Absolutely. German retailers can also export their ranges to Switzerland via our EU hub in Weil am Rhein. Swiss customers thus benefit from a wider range of products and lower prices.
Will Galaxus.de also launch as a marketplace?
Not for the time being - we are making a start with our own range. In the future, however, we will also open up to external suppliers, as we do in Switzerland.
