Industriequartier - Technopark - digitec 2015-07-02 16-28-50

Digitec Galaxus AG is the biggest online retailer in

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. It operates the digitec and Galaxus online shops as well as ten stores in the German and French speaking parts of Switzerland.

Revenue

In January 2020, Digitec Galaxus AG reported a revenue growth of 16%, increasing it to 1.146 billion

Swiss franc The Swiss franc is the currency and legal tender of Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It is also legal tender in the Italian exclave of Campione d'Italia which is surrounded by Swiss territory. The Swiss National Bank (SNB) issues banknotes and the f ...

s. (2018, 992 million Swiss francs. 2017: 861 million Swiss francs, 2016: 725 million Swiss francs.)

Product range

Digitec Galaxus AG showcased more than a million products in its range (in January 2018). While the Galaxus online platform stocks the full Digitec Galaxus AG range, Digitec specializes in

consumer electronics Consumer electronics or home electronics are electronic (analog or digital) equipment intended for everyday use, typically in private homes. Consumer electronics include devices used for entertainment, communications and recreation. Usually r ...

. The Swiss online retailer operates the following categories: «Home», «Interior», «DIY + Garden», «Sports + Leisure», «Toys», «Pet Supplies», «Baby + Child», «Health + Beauty», «Watches + Jewelry», «Office», «Media and Digital». (in January 2018). Since October 2016, Galaxus has been using a

marketplace A marketplace or market place is a location where people regularly gather for the purchase and sale of provisions, livestock, and other goods. In different parts of the world, a marketplace may be described as a '' souk'' (from the Arabic), ' ...

model that allows external retailers to sell their products via galaxus.ch. External retailers include Qualipet and the Swiss department store

Globus Globus is Latin for ''sphere'' or ''globe''. It may also refer to: Business * Globus Medical, a medical device company in Audubon, PA * Globus (clothing retailer), an Indian clothing retail store * Globus (company), a Swiss department store chai ...

Stores and collection options

Digitec Galaxus AG has ten stores in German and French speaking parts of Switzerland. These stores act as showrooms, collection and return points for products as well as places to purchase and ask questions about them. Therefore, the company is not purely an online retailer. Digitec Galaxus AG follows an approach that is known as a multichannel or omnichannel strategy in the industry. The company has stores in

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...

Bern german: Berner(in)french: Bernois(e) it, bernese , neighboring_municipalities = Bremgarten bei Bern, Frauenkappelen, Ittigen, Kirchlindach, Köniz, Mühleberg, Muri bei Bern, Neuenegg, Ostermundigen, Wohlen bei Bern, Zollikofen , website ...

Dietikon Dietikon is the fifth biggest city of the canton of Zürich in Switzerland, after Zürich, Winterthur, Uster and Dübendorf. It is the capital of the same-named district of Dietikon and part of the Zürich metropolitan area. Geography The ind ...

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

Kriens Kriens is a city and a municipality in the district of Lucerne in the canton of Lucerne in Switzerland. The municipality lies at the foot of the mountain Pilatus, and is a western suburb of Lucerne. History In the oldest documents of the Bened ...

Lausanne , neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR-74), ...

St. Gallen , neighboring_municipalities = Eggersriet, Gaiserwald, Gossau, Herisau (AR), Mörschwil, Speicher (AR), Stein (AR), Teufen (AR), Untereggen, Wittenbach , twintowns = Liberec (Czech Republic) , website ...

Winterthur , neighboring_municipalities = Brütten, Dinhard, Elsau, Hettlingen, Illnau-Effretikon, Kyburg, Lindau, Neftenbach, Oberembrach, Pfungen, Rickenbach, Schlatt, Seuzach, Wiesendangen, Zell , twintowns = Hall in Tirol (Austria), La ...

, Wohlen (AG) and Zurich. The

Migros Migros () is Switzerland's largest retail company, its largest supermarket chain and largest employer. It is also one of the forty largest retailers in the world. It is structured in the form of a cooperative federation (the Federation of Mig ...

pickup-service PickMup with its hundreds of locations is also available for Digitec and Galaxus clients.

Logistics and delivery

Digitec Galaxus has its own warehouse in Wohlen (AG). The building was last expanded in September 2017 when it was also partly automated. It now spans 46,500 square meters. The warehouse hosts more than 100 kilometers of shelving for up to 1,5 million products. More than 300 members of staff work in the Digitec Galaxus

logistics Logistics is generally the detailed organization and implementation of a complex operation. In a general business sense, logistics manages the flow of goods between the point of origin and the point of consumption to meet the requirements of ...

department (as at September 2017). The company works with

Swiss Post Swiss Post (french: La Poste suisse, it, La Posta Svizzera, german: Die Schweizerische Post, rm, La Posta Svizra) is the national postal service of Switzerland. A public company owned by the Swiss Confederation, it is the country's second larg ...

to coordinate deliveries. Digitec Galaxus delivers to customers in

and

Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein (german: link=no, Fürstentum Liechtenstein), is a German-speaking microstate located in the Alps between Austria and Switzerland. Liechtenstein is a semi-constitutional monarchy ...

. When a customer places an order before 7 p.m. (Monday to Friday) for a product that is in stock at the Digitec Galaxus warehouse, it is sent out the same day. This means it should reach the customer the following morning (except on Sundays). The website shows availability for each product in real time.

History

Digitec was launched in April 2001 by the three young entrepreneurs Oliver Nägeli (now Oliver Herren), Florian Teuteberg and Marcel Dobler under the name ''Nägeli Trading & Co''. On 13 June 2005, they converted the company into an ''Aktiengesellschaft'' (

corporation A corporation is an organization—usually a group of people or a company—authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law "born out of statute"; a legal person in legal context) and r ...

). The business then traded under the name Digitec AG until 2014. (The official spelling is ''digitec AG'' with a lower-case 'd'.) Fast-forward to May 2012 and Digitec AG was taking its Galaxus

e-commerce E-commerce (electronic commerce) is the activity of electronically buying or selling of products on online services or over the Internet. E-commerce draws on technologies such as mobile commerce, electronic funds transfer, supply chain manageme ...

site online to expand its product range beyond consumer electronics. Extending their product line to include day-to-day items was the company's response to shrinking margins and meagre growth in the electronics trade. In June 2012,

acquired a 30% share in Digitec for an estimated 42 million Swiss francs. And since 2015, Migros has been a majority

shareholder A shareholder (in the United States often referred to as stockholder) of a corporation is an individual or legal entity (such as another corporation, a body politic, a trust or partnership) that is registered by the corporation as the legal own ...

in Galaxus AG with a stake of 70%. Meanwhile, August 2014 saw the relaunch of the company's website after going through a public test phase as Digitec beta. And the underlying ERP was developed in-house. There used to be a highly modified access database handling goods management. However, sheer growth stretched this to its limits. On 2 September 2014, Digitec AG changed its name to Galaxus (Schweiz) AG. And on 28 July 2015, Digitec Galaxus AG was born, thereby making a clear link between the two brands ''digitec'' and ''Galaxus''. In April 2017, Digitec Galaxus AG started focusing on

gamification Gamification is the strategic attempt to enhance systems, services, organizations, and activities by creating similar experiences to those experienced when playing games in order to motivate and engage users. This is generally accomplished thro ...

, making it the first Swiss

online retailer Online shopping is a form of electronic commerce which allows consumers to directly buy goods or services from a seller over the Internet using a web browser or a mobile app. Consumers find a product of interest by visiting the website of the r ...

to do so. As of August 2017, Digitec Galaxus AG extended the time customers have to return products from 14 to 30 days. Meanwhile, September 2017 saw Digitec Galaxus AG decide to expand its warehouse. October 2017 marked a milestone for the company when it was announced Galaxus would be expanding to

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

in 2018. The exact launch date has not yet been confirmed. This move ensures the company has access to the

Digital Single Market On 6 May 2015, the European Commission, led at the time by Jean-Claude Juncker, communicated the Digital Single Market strategy which intends to remove virtual borders, boost digital connectivity, and make it easier for consumers to access cross ...

. If Digitec Galaxus AG has success in Germany, it intends to expand to other countries. In November 2017, the company launched a

recommerce Recommerce or reverse commerce is the selling of previously owned, new or used products, mainly electronic devices or media such as books, through physical or online distribution channels to buyers who repair, if necessary, then reuse, recycle or re ...

feature. This allows customers to resell products purchased from Digitec Galaxus products through Digitec Galaxus. In January 2018, Galaxus.ch featured approximately 24,000

products on its e-commerce site. Thanks to the new Globus department, Galaxus now has exceeded the million mark in the number of products in its range. In November 2018, Galaxus announced the launch of its German online shop galaxus.de. In March 2019, the company announced that its digitec and Galaxus sites would now accept 10 different types of

cryptocurrency A cryptocurrency, crypto-currency, or crypto is a digital currency designed to work as a medium of exchange through a computer network that is not reliant on any central authority, such as a government or bank, to uphold or maintain it. It i ...

including

Bitcoin Bitcoin ( abbreviation: BTC; sign: ₿) is a decentralized digital currency that can be transferred on the peer-to-peer bitcoin network. Bitcoin transactions are verified by network nodes through cryptography and recorded in a public distr ...

Bitcoin Cash Bitcoin Cash is a cryptocurrency that is a fork of Bitcoin. Bitcoin Cash is a spin-off or altcoin that was created in 2017. In November 2018, Bitcoin Cash split further into two cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin SV. History Since i ...

Ethereum Ethereum is a decentralized, open-source blockchain with smart contract functionality. Ether (Abbreviation: ETH; sign: Ξ) is the native cryptocurrency of the platform. Among cryptocurrencies, ether is second only to bitcoin in market capita ...

and Bitcoin SV as payment for purchases totalling more than 200 Swiss francs. Co-founder Oliver Herren called cryptocurrencies "fascinating" and said Digitec Galaxus "want to support" the development of the new technology. 2021 Galaxus expanded to Austria, www.galaxus.at started in Novembe

In 2022, a new warehouse with almost four times the storage area is to be opened at the logistics site in Krefeld.

Awards

* Digital Commerce Champion 2018 *Swiss Poster Award 2017 in the category "Commercial National" * Digital Marketer of the Year 2018 * Swiss Marketing Society (GfM) marketing prize 2017 * Swiss E-Commerce Award 2017 ** Galaxus: Swiss E-Commerce Champion 2017 ** Galaxus: Winner of the B2C - Home & Living category ** Galaxus: Winner of the Curation, Social and Content Commerce category * Best of Swiss Web Award 2015: Swiss Web Award * Third place in the SVC enterprise award 2011 for Zurich * Swiss Economic Award 2008http://www.swisseconomic.ch/archiv/award/item/digitec-ag Porträtseite

References

External links

* digitec.ch * galaxus.ch {{Authority control Retail companies established in 2001 Retail companies of Switzerland Companies based in Zürich Migros Video game retailers Swiss companies established in 2001