Cooperative Retailing, including Leisure Facilities

Price reductions totalling CHF 600 million resulted in an average negative inflation of –3.9%. The biggest reductions were made in the fruit and vegetables area at 9.8%. Prices at specialist markets were reduced by 4.4% on average; at Melectronics, this figure stood at 6.4%. 

 

Sales at the ten cooperatives stood at CHF 14.5 billion in Switzerland, which means a fall on 2010 of CHF 505 million or –3.4%. However, taking into account negative inflation, this corresponds to real sales growth of 0.5%. In terms of volume, Migros therefore again sold more in 2011 than in the previous year. Footfall also increased slightly on the previous year (+0.2%). 

 

Migros' shos network had 623 locations as at the end of last year, 13 more than in 2010. The sales area in supermarkets/hypermarkets, specialist markets and in gastronomy grew in total by 39'193 m2 (+3.0%) to 1'332'397 m2 (previous year 1'293'204 m2). Particularly noteworthy among the new openings are the Panorama-Center Thun with the OBI DIY store, the Zürisee-Center in Wädenswil and the Rossfeld-Center in Sierre.

 

Products with social and ecological value added were hugely popular amongst customers in 2011. Accordingly, sales of all sustainable labels rose by 6.5%. At about 7%, demand for organic produce was above average. Sales of labelled products make up CHF 2.3 billion (15.8% of the entire range). In terms of quantity, the increase on the previous year stood at 10%, which resulted in an expansion of market shares. Sales with products bearing the Migros Bio Cotton label rose by 69%. MSC products (sustainable fishing) posted sales growth of 16.5%.

 

It is also pleasing to note that more than 90% of the entire coffee range had already been switched to UTZ-certified products by the end of 2011. Migros won the Swiss Ethics Awards from the School of Business and Engineering Vaud (HEIG-VD) in 2011 for its commitment in accordance with the international UTZ Certified standard criteria.

 

The joint commitment of Migros and IP-Suisse for man, animal and nature resulted in pasture milk being rolled out in 2011. It comes from cows which are fed farms' own pasture feed and hardly any concentrate. 

 

More than 250 000 cooperative members and customers benefited in the year under review from Green Gourmet, a cookery book for everyone who likes to cook and eat seasonal, healthy and sustainably grown food. The cookery book was created in cooperation with the WWF environmental organisation, with which Migros maintains a strategic partnership. It is now also used as a basic cookery book in Migros Club Schools.

 

Since last year, Migros has published the carbon footprint of some 500 products on its customer platform migipedia.ch. It maps the entire life cycle of an item. This shows how much greenhouse gas is produced by the product and what percentage of this occurs during production, distribution (transport and logistics), use and disposal.

 

Nanomania, a promotional campaign with colourful little figures, triggered a hype in 2011. The Nanos were used to play and craft and were traded in exchanges. Facebook users swapped them avidly, and they were also virtually omnipresent on Twitter and YouTube as well as in blogs and virtually all media.

 

The migipedia.ch community platform launched in 2010 was consistently enhanced last year by calling on customers to develop ideas for new products. Some of these ideas were implemented with Migros Industry and successfully brought to market.

 

Migros continues to expect subdued consumer sentiment and similar retail sales for the current year as in 2011. As a tendency, the price and the fight for market shares is likely to heat up in the internet market and in stationary retailing. The company will continue in 2012 to consistently pass on efficiency gains and lower procurement costs in the form of lower prices, expand the connection between stationary and digital retailing, surprise its customers with new services, and at the same time widen its social and ecological commitment. As such, Migros will continue to offer its customers the best price-performance ratio in the future.
 

In a hectic world, we need places to relax, where it is possible to care for body and mind. With its leisure facilities, Migros has been fulfilling this need since the 1970s, establishing itself as the leader in the leisure market long before the spa trend.

 

Migros is the biggest provider in the Swiss fitness and spa market. Its 47 facilities have in common their varied combination of fitness, spa and course offerings. The Intercity Card grants free admission to all fitness, spa and aqua parks of Migros. With the «season ticket for more exercise and health», it is now possible to train in 47 facilities.

 

In October 2011 the Migros Fitnessparks published the «Mehr vom Leben» guide. It is based on the «go» health campaign conducted at the Migros Fitnessparks from 2007 to 2010 and presents scientifically well-founded strategies in relation to exercise, relaxation, nutrition and body management.

 

As a premium provider of fitness and spa offerings, the Migros Cooperative Zurich is expanding to Germany. In a first step, 8 facilities are to be opened by 2014 under the Elements brand name in southern Germany. To implement this expansion, Migros Freizeit Deutschland GmbH, which is based in Munich, was established.

 

183 holes – Migros is also the biggest provider of public golf in Switzerland. Under the golf for all motto, it operates 6 golf parks and 2 golf campuses. 10 000 golfers hold the ASG GolfCard Migros, which is 1900 active golfers more than in the previous year.

 

In July 2011 the Migros Golftrophy, Switzerland's biggest golf tournament, was held for the third time. This year, the focus was on team spirit: not the best player, but the best flight was awarded a prize. The first Grouponing event of the Migros Golfparks was quickly sold out and the trial course was a major success with the public. 
 

Under the new sponsoring concept, additional sponsors were won for the Golfparks in 2011 on top of the existing six premium partners: Jaguar Land Rover Switzerland, Scout 24 Switzerland und Cornèr Bank.