Strong growth in online supermarkets

Since online food supplier LeShop started working with Migros, things have been looking up. In the 2005 financial year, sales increased by 45 percent and reached the CHF 47.1 million mark. If the trend continues, the company will be in the black for the first time in a quarter, the communiqué reports. This would give Switzerland a second profitable online supermarket in Europe after the British Tesco. Coop also reported a 50 percent increase in online sales to 25 million Swiss francs. As the NZZ am Sonntag reported, Switzerland is one of the most dynamic markets for online shopping. Although only in fifth place in an international comparison, growth is the fastest. The UK, the leader in Internet shopping, has a market share of 1.3 percent (Switzerland 0.2 percent). LeShop is focusing on the development of the Internet and is slowly mutating from an online supermarket to an online shopping center: clothing, perfumery, jewelry and Do It + Garden items are already on offer. The former pioneering company LeShop now employs around 100 people and has achieved strategic importance for Migros. The opening of a second logistics center in western Switzerland is planned for summer 2006.