Suppliers
under pressure
Early June
German company Metro announced MediaSaturn had acquired the final 10% of
Redcoon and therefore was owner of the full 100 percent of the pure player that
was founded in 2003.
The company
immediately proclaimed it had big plans for expanding Redcoon and Metro said
the cooperation would be very profitable for suppliers. A while later a second
letter followed, says Lebensmittel Zeitung. In it the group from Ingolstadt
said it wants the same conditions for Redcoon as it is currently getting for
Media Markt and Saturn. Talks about that should follow shortly.
Loss in turnover
Suppliers
are not amused: on its own the online shop of Redcoon may be bigger than the
online parts of Media Markt and Saturn, but with 260,000 visitors each day and
online sales of about 180,000 products per months, Redcoon is not exactly a huge player – especially when compared to the physical locations of
Media Markt and Saturn.
Anonymous suppliers say they are
not only afraid that the loss in turnover will never be compensated by a higher
number in sales, but they realise that special treatment for Redcoon could also
affect the demands of other online players, which would put an even bigger pressure
on the profit margins.
Also big
questions at Media-Saturn
Not only
suppliers and the competition are following the negotiations with more than
average interest. At Media Markt and Saturn not everybody is happy with the way
things are going.
If Redcoon
does get the same prices as Media Markt and Saturn, the store supervisors fear
it would eat away at sales of their own online shops and their physical
locations.
