Fashion offensive: Galaxus blows the whistle on Zalando and Amazon
Galaxus goes on the fashion offensive and continues to expand its range. While Coop subsidiary Siroop closed up store, Migros online retailer Digitec Galaxus is still on the upswing.
Through cooperations with the German shoe retailer Surf4shoes and Vögele Shoes, Galaxus is expanding further: The existing shoe range is thus joined by 600 models from the Swiss shoe company and a considerable 10,000 shoes from Germany. Galaxus now offers around 19,000 pairs of shoes, as CEO Florian Teuteberg told Schweiz am Wochenende. And he lets slip: In the coming months, more fashion providers are to be connected to Galaxus.
The two shoe retailers sell in their own name and for their own account. Galaxus acts as an intermediary and provides the shop window, so to speak, says Teuteberg.
By the middle of the year, the online department store should offer two million products - today it offers 1.6 million.
Arms race against competition from abroad
Digitec Galaxus is thus attacking the fashion leader Zalando. And it is expanding its position in Switzerland before the most powerful online retailer, Amazon, has really established itself in this country. The US giant recently signed a contract with Swiss Post to facilitate the shipment of Amazon parcels.
The chances that Digitec Galaxus will be able to hold its own in the future against powerful German, American and Chinese online retail competition seem intact. The company generated sales of around CHF 860 million last year. According to industry insiders, it is not yet profitable, but at least it is established and anchored among the Swiss population. An advantage that Ricardo.ch, for example, can still claim over the US auction giant Ebay. While Ebay is the undisputed number one in Germany, the company has never managed to knock Ricardo.ch off its throne here.
Germany expansion and German logistics center
The question of how and whether the expansion of Galaxus in Germany will succeed remains exciting. This is to take place before the end of 2018. The company is entering a market in which Zalando and above all Amazon hold dominant positions - and presumably did not wait for competition from Switzerland.
The Migros subsidiary also recently opened a logistics center in Weil am Rhein in southern Germany. This is intended to facilitate cooperation with foreign trading partners and, thanks to a logistics solution developed in-house, enable parcel delivery within 24 hours - without additional customs or VAT charges. (hae)
