Head of MediaMarktSaturn
“What’s the point of opening branches on Sunday, Mr. Wildberger?”
January 17, 2024, 7:14 p.m
Listen to article
This audio version was artificially generated. More info | Send feedback
The head of the electronics retail chain MediaMarktSaturn, Karsten Wildberger, has spoken out in favor of allowing retailers in Germany to open regularly on Sundays. In an interview with ntv.de, he tells us what he hopes to achieve and why he won’t force anyone to work on Sundays.
ntv.de: Sunday rest in retail is a thorn in your side. What do you hope to achieve if MediaMarktSaturn branches are also allowed to open on Sundays?
Karsten Wildberger: Many customers would like to go shopping more flexibly on the weekend – that includes Sundays. We want to offer our customers the most attractive opening times possible. This does not mean that every MediaMarktSaturn branch across the board should be open on Sundays. But where the customers accept the offer, I can get a lot out of the concept.
Do you really think that more customers will shop in the store just because the store is open on Sundays?
MediaMarktSaturn is a so-called omnichannel provider. That means we are active online and offline. Our customers can also order online and pick up their goods in the market within 30 minutes if they are available there. I’m sure many customers would like to go shopping on a Sunday when it might be a little quieter.
Karsten Wildberger is also CEO of the parent company Ceconomy.
(Photo: IMAGO/Funke Photo Services)
Especially during the corona pandemic, people ordered like crazy online. Why should customers forego a large selection and home delivery?
I think diversity makes the difference. Many customers in retail like to be advised and to touch things before they buy them. People also long for personal exchange. We see that sales from pure brick-and-mortar retail are increasing significantly again, while the high online numbers from the pandemic are returning to normal.
Is there also a desire for more sales behind the idea?
It’s also about the question: How can we make inner cities more attractive? Retail makes a significant contribution to this. At the end of the day, the models that can offer customers a high degree of flexibility and a good range of services will prevail.
They are convinced that stationary retail will remain the anchor of city centers. Hasn’t this assumption long since been overtaken by reality?
After Corona, stationary demand and customer frequency at MediaMarktSaturn experienced an enormous increase. I am convinced that our omnichannel offering brings great advantages for the customer. The trend is very clear: retail must be accessible to customers at as many points of contact as possible. This is absolutely the model of the future. Even in difficult times for retail, the numbers prove us right.
The shortage of skilled workers is also affecting the retail sector. Some stores have already reduced their opening hours. Would you be able to cope with longer opening hours?
We work with flexible deployment planning in order to be able to respond to customer requests accordingly.
How do you want to make the proposal attractive to your employees?
We have always managed to map peak and off-peak times very well for customers through flexible and voluntary scheduling. We could do that on Sundays too.
Juliane Kipper spoke to Karsten Wildberger