French electronics retailer Fnac Darty has set up a purchase alliance with competitor MediaMarkt Saturn. Both companies will buy together when it comes to the European retail market.
Buy, innovate and share data together
This is an attempt to increase their efficiency and their competitiveness towards online challengers like Amazon and Alibaba. The alliance will cover four areas: joint strategic partnerships with main suppliers; joint private label purchases and deals; collaborations in the fields of innovations and even data.
The competing electronics chains have had ties for quite some time: Media Markt and Saturn’s parent company, Ceconomy, is also Fnac Darty’s largest shareholder, as it owns 24 %.