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Tag: metro china

  • Tim Hortons China to open coffee shops in Metro’s China stores

    Tim Hortons China to open coffee shops in Metro’s China stores

    Tim Hortons China (Tims China) is ready to further expand its presence in the Chinese market by entering a strategic partnership with Metro China, a joint venture of Wumart and Metro.

    Under the terms of the partnership, Tims China will become the exclusive coffee shop brand in Metro stores across the country.

    Tims China CEO Yongchen Lu said: “Through this agreement, we can reach millions of new customers to share our welcoming guest experience and extensive high-quality product offerings.

    “Over the next few years, we plan to strategically open Tims Go coffee shops in Metro China stores across 60 cities, growing our brand, revenue, and margins.”

    To mark the beginning of this partnership, Tims China opened seven Tims Go coffee shops across four cities using Tims China’s compact-store model.

    By next January, the partners intend to open at least nine Tims Go shops across six Chinese cities, namely Shanghai, Chengdu, Qingdao, Nanjing, Langfang, and Dalian.

    Additionally, the partnership will benefit Tims China with preferred site selection, delivery services, and complimentary marketing initiatives.

    With the new openings, Tims China will operate more than 335 stores across the country.

    Metro China deputy CEO Chen Zhiyu said: “We are delighted for Tims China to become one of our anchor tenants as we believe the brand will bring convenience and quality coffee products at great value to our members.

    “Our partnership will also create a strong link between daily shopping and coffee consumption in our stores that will greatly improve the overall shopping experience for our middle-class customers.”

    In March, Tims China secured funds in a financing round that was led by Sequoia Capital China and Tencent Holdings.

  • Alibaba’s Ant Financial buys WorldFirst for $700m

    Alibaba’s Ant Financial buys WorldFirst for $700m

    Alibaba subsidiary Ant Financial says it plans to buy UK-headquartered money-transfer company WorldFirst. And in separate news, the Chinese e-commerce behemoth is in discussions over investing in the Metro China wholesale retail business.

    The WorldFirst deal will allow Ant Financial to gain market share in Europe’s fintech and payments industries and will give it an established retail network of currency-exchange stores covering cities including Sydney, Australia; London and Amsterdam, as well as throughout Asia. It has 600 employees in seven international offices and claims to have exchanged more than US$67 billion for 130,000 customers since its launch in 2004.

    The company also had outlets in the US but has reportedly closed these to avoid potential regulatory hurdles with the sale to a Chinese-owned business.

    Ant Financial last year unsuccessfully tried to acquire US-based money-transfer company MoneyGram, largely due to opposition from US lawmakers.

    Metro move

    Meanwhile, Alibaba is in talks to buy a share of German wholesaler Metro AG’s Chinese business.

    Neither company has confirmed or denied the talks are underway and they are at an early stage and may break down.

    Metro China operates 95 stores and struggled to achieve profitability in the market until recently. Metro sales in Asia rose 7 per cent to US$1.17 billion in the December quarter.  Most of the Metro China stores are in tier 1 cities, including Beijing and Shanghai.

    Metro is holding talks with other parties as well ahead of an official sale process.

    Olaf Koch, Metro’s CEO, confirmed this week that the company was considering potential partnerships with Chinese companies. Metro and Alibaba have already cooperated online.

    “We are growing continually and we are profitable [in China],” Koch said at the time Metro released its first-quarter results.

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  • Metro China launches chain’s first green store

    Metro China launches chain’s first green store

    German retail and trading giant Metro China has launched its first global green store in the Pearl River delta city of Dongguan.

    It aims to upgrade its sustainable development in the Chinese market, where it had double-digit growth in its latest fiscal year.

    Metro China president Jeroen de Groot says the green renovation of its Dongguan Wanjiang store is estimated to help it cut its annual energy consumption by as much as 50 per cent. It makes full use of clean energy, namely solar and wind power.

    The renovation cost more than 5 million yuan (US$75,700), and Metro plans to convert all its mainland stores to become green.

    “Innovation and change have always been the driving forces for sustainable growth at Metro, and the green renovation of the Dongguan Wanjiang store is our new endeavour in the field of energy conservation and environment protection, aiming to promote long-term social sustainability,” says de Groot.

    Metro opened its first mainland store in Shanghai in 1996 and now has 84 stores employing more than 11,000 people in 58 Chinese cities. Its annual sales volume reached €2.66 billion (US$3 billion) during the fiscal year to September 30 last year, up 17.4 per cent.

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  • Private-label deal for E-mart Korea

    Private-label deal for E-mart Korea

    Discount seller E-mart Korea has signed an agreement to supply its private-label items to Metro China.

    It is introducing four items from its No Brand range, to be sold from next month. It is the first time for E-mart to export to an overseas offline store.

    E-mart’s private-label products already sell in Mongolia and Vietnam. Sales of its No Brand range at its Ulaanbaatar branch, which opened last month, have already reached 600 million won (US$533,000), accounting for about 7 per cent of total sales. No Brand contributed 3 per cent of sales at its Vietnamese outlet, which opened in December.

    Introduced in April last year with nine items, No Brand now has more than 300 products, from butter cookies to car window wipers, and posted 63.8 billion won turnover in the first half of this year.

    Metro is a German retailer that is the third-largest franchise globally following Walmart and Carrefour. It has more than 2200 outlets in 33 countries, with 88 in China.

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  • German Retailer Metro to Open its First Two MyMart Stores in Shanghai

    German Retailer Metro to Open its First Two MyMart Stores in Shanghai

    Germany’s Metro Group has opened two My-Mart convenience shops in Shanghai, revealing its new concept.

    My Mart convinient store- Metro Group China 1

    Both stores opened the same day in Putuo district, where Metro China has its headquarters and flagship stores. One is about 110 sqm, near a subway station, and the other about 70 sqm. Both shops offer Metro’s exclusive imported products, private label lines and traceable fresh fruits, as well as about 100 ready-to-eat items.

    My Mart convinient store- Metro Group China 4

    My Mart convinient store- Metro Group China 3

    My Mart convinient store- Metro Group China 2

    Metro China plans to make the My-Mart convenience shops the offline self-pick-up spots for goods ordered at the group’s online shop.

    More My-Marts will open in Shanghai and it is planned to roll out the concept to other cities in China through franchise.

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  • Metro China expands into Deyang

    Metro China expands into Deyang

    Metro China has opened its eighth wholesale store in West China.

    The new outlet is located in Deyang, Sichuan, described as the “Heavy Duty Equipment Capital” of China.

    “Deyang is a center for manufacturing, and the local economy has seen phenomenal growth in the past few years.” said Jeroen de Groot, president of Metro China.

    “Aiming to be the Champion for Independent Business, Metro China is well positioned to support Deyang’s growing number of small and medium-sized businesses by providing high-quality and safe products, as well as professional solutions and excellent services.”

    Metro entered West China in 2001 by opening two stores in Chongqing and Chengdu. The company opened its second store in Chongqing in 2013, which is also the wholesaler’s 750th store worldwide. With the opening of the Deyang store, Metro will introduce its Cash & Carry new store concept, meanwhile its online store will also open to local customers on the same day to better meet their needs.

    True to the wholesaler’s commitment to local sourcing, Metro has built close relationships with local suppliers through deep roots established in Sichuan over the past years. Hengdu Beef and Luzhou Langjiu Liquor are among the best-selling products in Metro stores throughout the year. Local vegetables and fruits in Sichuan, including kiwifruit, lemon and mango, are purchased and distributed to Metro stores nationwide through Metro’s professional logistics system to provide authentic Sichuan flavor to the customers.

    The new store has a sales area of nearly 5500 sqm, offering more than 19,200 items.

    A feature of Metro Deyang is the coldness in food related display areas, reflecting the importance of the cold chain to food freshness and high quality. The store has multi-temperature areas to meet the demand of different products, such as 0 Celsius – 4 Celsius for fresh meat, 5 Celsius – 7 Celsius for dairy products, etc. If customers want to walk into the cold storage areas to select products, they may borrow clean cotton-padded jackets, considerately prepared by the store for customers’ convenience.

    The store also sells a wide range of non-food products, including Seasonal, Kitchen, Cooking & Table, Apparel, Office & Media, and Business & Home Care, satisfying customers’ various needs.

    To meet expectations of the customers, especially small and independent businesses, Metro Deyang store adopts a wholesale pricing scheme. On top of the already competitive shelf prices, customers receive five per cent off if they buy three of the same item, and up to 20 per cent off on six of the same on selected items, truly buying more with better prices.

    The new store features a Metro Cafe, Welfare & Gifting Showroom, Express Delivery, scan pole, information counter and complimentary in-store WiFi.

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  • Metro China upgrades e-commerce platform to offer seamless buyer expertise

    Metro China upgrades e-commerce platform to offer seamless buyer expertise

    Metro China has improve its e-commerce platform metromall.cn – which integrates on-line, offline and cellular channels for a seamless buyer expertise, the wholesaler stated on Tuesday.

    With an optimized consumer interface and location-based providers, Metromall synchronizes with the wholesaler’s offline shops, overlaying over 20,000 merchandise. Metro delivers all on-line orders instantly from native wholesale shops, not solely shortening supply time but in addition making certain product high quality. The platform gives clients handy and environment friendly decisions of products receiving, similar to residence supply or in-store pick-up.

    Ever since Metro entered China market in 1996, the wholesaler has adopted a membership system, and picked up knowledge from over four million shopping for clients with a purpose to present custom-made options and providers. By tapping into this wealthy database, the upgraded e-commerce platform will additional strengthen Metro’s buyer relationship administration.

    The Metro e-commerce platform at present covers 39 shops in 21 cities in China, and can unroll throughout all Metro shops in China by the top of 2015.

    “E-commerce is certainly one of our strategic channels to drive for progress in China market. We’re decided to reinforce buyer expertise and additional broaden enterprise by means of leveraging the facility of e-commerce,” stated Jeroen de Groot, President of METRO China.

    “Our Metromall not solely integrates online-to-offline, but in addition incorporates an revolutionary cellular perform. We’re assured this platform will allow us to offer extra thrilling options and seamless buying expertise to our core goal skilled clients, serving to them to be extra profitable out there.”

    The cellular app for Metromall permits clients to scan barcodes and determine product options, construct purchasing carts, place orders, and check-out. The app’s highly effective database consists of product barcodes of all articles in offline shops apart from recent and ultra-fresh merchandise. Clients also can comply with Metro’s WeChat to acquire promotional info of Metromall and place orders on their cell telephones.

    Leveraging its international procurement community, Metro Group is about to enter the free-trade zone this yr, partnering with China’s famend cross-border e-commerce platforms, to offer shoppers with a broader vary of high-quality imported items.

    Metro China is dedicated to offering protected and high-quality merchandise, and is the one wholesaler in China with all shops to function in accordance with Hazard Evaluation and Essential Management Factors requirements to make sure that the processes of receiving, processing, storing and promoting items are hazard-free.

    Additional illustrating the wholesaler’s dedication to meals security, Metro has developed an business main traceability system, which data all course of particulars from farm to market. Just by scanning product barcodes, clients can view the whole product lifecycle, together with the place it was grown, the way it was licensed, and the logistics concerned.

    The newly-upgraded e-commerce platform has enabled Metro to create a closed, online-to-offline loop for protected and traceable meals.

    Metro opened its first wholesale retailer in Shanghai in 1996. It was among the many first to realize permission from the China to arrange chain operations in all main cities within the nation. During the last decade, the corporate has set its foot in 56 cities with 80 retailers in operation in China. With a headcount of over 12,000 staff, the wholesaler is serving greater than three.eight million shopping for clients throughout the nation.

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  • Metro China builds eCommerce reach

    Metro China builds eCommerce reach

    Metro China has upgraded its eCommerce platform metromall.cn, which it says integrates online, offline and mobile channels for “a seamless customer experience”.

    “eCommerce is one of our strategic channels to drive for growth in China market,” said Jeroen de Groot, president of Metro China at a launch function.

    “We are determined to enhance customer experience and further expand business through leveraging the power of e-commerce.

    “Our Metromall not only integrates online-to-offline, but also incorporates an innovative mobile function. We are confident this platform will enable us to provide more exciting solutions and seamless purchasing experience to our core target professional customers, helping them to be more successful in the market.”

    With an optimised user interface and location-based services, Metromall synchronises with the wholesaler’s offline stores, covering over 20,000 products. Metro delivers all online orders directly from local wholesale stores, shortening delivery time and ensuring product quality. The platform offers customers convenient and efficient choices of goods receiving, such as home delivery or in-store pick-up.

    When it first entered China back in 1996, Metro adopted a membership system, and has since collected data from over 4 million shoppers in order to offer them customised solutions and services. Today, by tapping into this rich database, the upgraded e-commerce platform will further strengthen Metro’s customer relationship management.

    The Metro eCommerce platform currently covers 39 stores in 21 cities in China, and will unroll across all Metro stores in China by the end of 2015.

    Taking advantage of the rapid development of mobile communications and popularity of smartphones, Metromall also features an accompanying mobile app. Customers can use the app to scan barcodes and identify product features, build shopping carts, place orders, and check-out. The app’s database includes product barcodes of all articles in offline stores except for fresh and ultra-fresh products. Customers can also follow Metro’s WeChat to obtain promotional information of Metromall and place orders on their cell phones.

    Leveraging its global procurement network, Metro Group is set to enter the free-trade zone this year, partnering with China’s renowned cross-border e-commerce platforms, to provide consumers with an even broader range of high-quality imported goods.

    Metro China is committed to providing safe and high-quality products, and is the only wholesaler inChina with all stores to operate in accordance with HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) standards to ensure that the processes of receiving, processing, storing and selling goods are hazard-free.

    Metro has also developed a complex traceability system, which records all processes from farm to market. Simply by scanning product barcodes, customers can view the entire product lifecycle, including where it was grown, how it was certified, and the logistics involved.

    The newly-upgraded eCommerce platform has enabled Metro to create a closed, online-to-offline loop for safe and traceable food, making Metro truly a multi-channel specialist.

    Metro Cash & Carry operates in 26 countries with over 750 self-service wholesale stores. Metro China has 80 outlets in 56 cities.

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