"Coop is not a Corona winner".
In an interview with the SonnntagsZeitung, Coop CEO Joos Sutter talks about the current crisis. Despite the hoarding, the retailer is suffering. Coop wants to cope with the huge online onslaught with a mini range.
Will Coop emerge from the crisis as a "corona winner" despite the lockdown? No, says CEO Sutter: "The crisis will have a negative impact on Coop." The reasons for this are many closed stores that are currently not making any sales and the wholesale business Transgourmet, which is also experiencing a slump in sales figures. "It's not just the non-food business that is closed, the food service business is also closed."
According to Sutter, it is "impossible" to make up for these losses by increasing sales in bricks-and-mortar retail. "We would have to make high profits in the supermarkets. But that's not the case, because we don't keep staff in short supply, we use them to relieve the burden on supermarket employees."
Recommendations instead of bans
According to Sutter, we are always "on pins and needles" when the Federal Council makes new announcements. Nevertheless, Coop is prepared should further tightening measures be decided and is able to guarantee supply. It will have to accept cutbacks in the product range, for example because pasta producers are currently producing the main varieties in large quantities.
Hamster purchases are proving to be a problem. Nevertheless, Sutter does not want to take concrete action against it, Coop reacts with recommendations on posters that encourage household-sized purchases. He doesn't have the heart to let the sales staff play policeman, says the head of the retail giant.
Mini range to solve capacity bottlenecks
Coop now wants to invest in online sales. Coop@home has doubled its turnover, but it would increase many times over if it had the capacity, says Sutter. The reason for the bottlenecks is therefore not a lack of goods, but logistics centers that are too small. Because it is impossible to build a new building now, the company is planning a reduced online range of 100 items, which should be available to customers by the end of next week. Only by reducing the product range in this way will it be possible to increase capacity, says the Coop boss in the interview. The result will be shorter delivery times for customers compared to the normal online range of 11,00 items, which can take up to ten days.
