Commerce

Due to the successful transformation of the retail portfolio over the past few years, with a particular focus on Convenience, Discount and Online Retail, the Commerce Department achieved a further surge in growth in the reporting year. The companies Digitec Galaxus and Ex Libris again responded flexibly to strong growth in online demand and significantly extended their positions as online market leaders. The discounter Denner also increased its market share, while migrolino and Migrol made significant strides forward in the Convenience sub-segment.

At CHF 162 million, earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) exceeded the previous year’s posted result of CHF 127 million by a considerable margin.

Long-term profitable growth in Online Retail

Due to the portfolio optimisation measures, the Migros Group’s dependency on in-store non-food business was greatly reduced. It is now driving growth in the online business.

Digitec Galaxus increased its platform sales by 16% to CHF 2’122 million. The company grew much faster than its competitors and gained market share in all areas. By intensifying its activities in the German market, Galaxus Germany generated platform sales of more than EUR 100 million and thereby reached an important milestone in the development of the business. The Digitec Galaxus group’s net sales came in at CHF 2’054 million, compared with CHF 1’745 million in the previous year.

Ex Libris completed its successful transformation from brick-and-mortar retailer to online retailer. Due to continued strong online growth and the positive development of in-store business, sales increased by 10.3% to CHF 134 million. Ex Libris has thus again extended its position as Switzerland’s leading online book retailer.

Strong performance in Discount and Convenience

Denner posted sales of CHF 3’808 million (+1.2%) in a generally declining food retail market. Due to its strengths as a local discounter with a dense network of branches, Denner was able to capitalise on changes in consumer behaviour during the Covid-19 pandemic. In addition, it also managed to retain the customers acquired in the previous year. With a net increase of twelve branches, the branch network grew to 850 locations, further increasing proximity to customers.

Migrolino increased its sales by 4.3% to CHF 747 million. Footfall in the branches remained at the high levels of the previous year. The wholesale business also saw significant growth, due to the acquisition of new business partners. migrolino AG expanded its network of migrolino, mio by migrolino and gooods shops to 337 (previous year: 323).

Migrol recorded a significant rise in sales to CHF 1’450 million (+18.3%) in the reporting year, after a fall in revenues in the previous year, due in part to lower fuel and heating oil prices and reduced use of private vehicles. Sales volumes in the petrol station business in 2021 did not quite recover to pre-pandemic levels.