Commerce

 

Business operations focused on expanding and defending the leading market positions of Denner, Globus, migrolino, Migrol and m-way/sharoo. At the same time, the cross-channel business models of Le Shop, Probike, OWiba (Office World and Iba) and Ex Libris were consistently developed towards market and competence leadership in light of the growing importance of e-commerce. To increase the competitiveness of migrolino and Depot on a sustained basis, specific measures to improve efficiency were successfully implemented after years of intensive growth. With a substantial increase in market share of more than 10%, good progress could also be made with the restructuring of the Interio furniture stores.

Expansion and defence of the market position

Denner was able to defend its position as Switzerland's leading discounter with a 1.4% increase in sales to CHF 2‘913 million. This was achieved in particular by streamlining the store portfolio and converting the first 120 stores as part of the "Fokus" project (discount-oriented revision of the product mix strategy).

By acquiring the fashion house Schild, Globus is now in a position to establish itself as the number one high-end retailer on the Swiss fashion market. Due to the first-time consolidation of Schild, total sales of the Globus Group rose by 20.5% to CHF 961 million.

The dynamic growth of migrolino seen over the past two years continued. Successful integration of the former Esso shops as part of the master franchise agreement with Socar, combined with further new store openings, increased the number of migrolino locations to 254 and boosted efficiency.

Like all international petrol station operators and mineral oil dealers, Migrol was affected by the sharp drop in oil prices and the consequences of CO2 tax in the heating oil market, with sales falling by CHF 241 million (-12.9%). On a positive note, the 34 acquired Amag petrol stations were integrated quickly and a systematic programme to safeguard profitability was introduced.

In 2014, m-way strengthened its position as the market leader and a centre of excellence for electromobility. It now has 18 locations throughout Switzerland. By establishing sharoo, the first ever peer-to-peer vehicle-sharing platform for Switzerland, Migros reinforced its commitment to entrepreneurship and sustainability together with the strategic partners "Die Mobiliar" and "Mobility".

Sustainable increase in competitiveness

With a total of 414 shops and consistent concept implementation at point of sale, Depot generated sales of CHF 464.3 million (+11.4% adjusted for currency effects). By commissioning the new logistics centre in Niedernberg (DE), Depot also boosted its profitability.

Ex Libris continues to struggle in a declining market with major structural changes. In like-for-like terms, sales fell by a minimal 0.5%. Including the seven closures, sales in 2014 were down by 9.9% to CHF 127.9 million. The leading position in online and cross-channel retailing was strengthened. Cross-channel sales of the branches rose by 12%, and purchases made using mobile devices increased by a considerable 60%. Ex Libris thereby confirmed its clear market and innovation leadership in the online book, music, film and games business.

At CHF 179 million, sales at OWiba (Office World and iba) were 1.9% above the previous year's total.

Interio managed to grow by 10%, strongly outperforming the market, which declined by almost 1%. With sales of CHF 187 million (+9.7%), the reorganisation showed substantial progress.

Sales by the online supermarket Le Shop increased by 4.4% to CHF 165 million.

The pure online retailer Probikeshop increased its sales by 44.5% to CHF 47.2 million.

Investment in sustainable development

To improve competitiveness and strengthen the company's market position on a sustained basis, net investments of around CHF 186 million were made in the reporting year. As in the previous year, the majority of these (CHF 158 million) came in the Swiss market. The investment activities focused primarily on sales area expansions and renovations to increase the attractiveness of Denner and Globus stores (delicatessa Bahnhostrasse), as well as sustainability throughout the whole portfolio.

Fulfilment of the basic social and ecological requirements is consistently encouraged and monitored in the companies of the Commerce Department. Other commitments to environmental and energy management by the Commerce strategic business unit, along with the contributions to the Engagement Migros development fund can be found on the website of Engagement Migros.