Ex Libris (Swiss company)
| Ex Libris AG
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| legal form | Corporation |
| founding | 1947 |
| Seat | Dietikon , Switzerland |
| management | Daniel Röthlin ( CEO ) Beat Zahnd ( Chairman of the Board ) |
| Number of employees | 182 (as of December 31, 2019) |
| sales | 99.5 million CHF (2019) |
| Branch | Media trading company |
| Website | www.exlibris.ch |
Ex Libris is a Swiss media provider and a subsidiary of the Migros retail group .
activity
The company operates 14 branches (as of January 2020) in German-speaking Switzerland as well as the largest online media shop in Switzerland with more than ten million articles (online sales continue to rise according to its own statements). Ex Libris employs 182 people and generated sales of CHF 99.5 million in 2019 . The Migros subsidiary is striving to further expand its cross-channel offering .
The product range mainly includes books , audio books , music , films , computer games , software as well as consumer electronics and accessories . Ex Libris also offers digital products such as music, audio book and e-book downloads via the online shop .
history
Book club
Ex Libris was founded as a book club in 1947 when it acquired the remainder of the German book community in Switzerland. But she struggled to assert herself against the Gutenberg Book Guild . In 1950 the founders of the book club turned to Migros boss Gottlieb Duttweiler and asked him for support. Migros contributed financially and helped with the book production. Under the leadership of Elsa Gasser , the range was expanded significantly. By 1955, the number of members rose almost twelve-fold to 65,000. In 1956, Migros took over the Ex Libris entirely.
The offer consisted of licensed editions from the most important publishers in German-speaking countries. In addition to literature, it also included art, history, sociology and youth literature. In addition, book series appeared at Ex Libris, which should serve the cultural exchange and strengthen the cohesion of the parts of the country. This included the ch series with titles by young Swiss authors and, from 1979 to 1983, the Spring of the Present series, overseen by Charles Linsmayer , with thirty new editions of Swiss novels and short stories from the period 1890–1950. The book club, which had more than 650,000 members in 1982, was active both in the book trade and as a publisher. He also published the members' magazine "ex libris". Due to a crisis in the mid-1980s, the company gave up its publishing activities. The large number of activities had long been supported by the Migros Culture Percentage .
Grammar Club
At Gasser's suggestion, Ex Libris also began selling music in 1952. At the same time, the era of vinyl records began , which replaced the fragile shellac record . In the first phase, the original records from England, France and the USA were put into sleeves produced by Ex Libris. Swiss graphic designers were responsible for the cover design. At first, the offer only included classical music in order to meet high demands on culture. Only over time were selected records with entertainment and dance music added, later jazz and pop - mostly with their own record sleeves. Around 1990 the last record stocks in front of the Ex Libris branches were sold out. The puppet theater , the first of which was released on vinyl in 1967, is still sold today .
Structural change since 2010
In the years around 2010, strong market changes impaired the course of business at Ex Libris. The structural change in the media trading market had made itself felt in three ways:
- After the launch of Amazon Germany in 1998, customers increasingly made online purchases or, thanks to the favorable euro exchange rate , went to other countries near the border.
- Films, music, software / games and books were increasingly sold and consumed in digital form.
- Spotify , Apple Music , Amazon Prime or Netflix created new usage concepts with the latest technology with a high level of convenience for their users. A single music CD often cost more than a monthly subscription to a streaming service.
Ex Libris opened an online shop in 1999, the first iOS app followed in 2010, the first smart TV app in 2012 and the mobile-optimized shop in 2013. The omni-channel strategy saw and provides for the integration of new channels. Over the years Ex Libris had strengthened the shift to online with digital offers and adapted the branch network to the changed consumer needs.
In October 2015, Ex Libris began offering video streaming as part of a cross-channel concept . International previews, new releases and TV series from the USA can be selected from the online library. In 2016 Ex Libris was named the best online shop in Switzerland at the Swiss E-Commerce Awards. Since March 20, 2018, Ex Libris has been offering around 600,000 of the best-selling items from its physical range in the Galaxus online department store . According to company director Daniel Röthlin, this is the further development of the omnichannel strategy launched in 2010. After Globus and M-Way, Ex Libris was the third Migros subsidiary to join the Galaxus dealer program.
Increased online sales were unable to compensate for the losses in stationary business; in general, sales fell from just under 190 million Swiss francs to a good 100 million between 2010 and 2019. In 2010 Ex Libris still had 114 branches, in January 2018 there were 57, which were reduced to 14 branches by the end of the year. In 2019 Ex Libris returned to profitability and completed the transformation from a stationary retailer with an online shop to an online shop with a stationary trade.
Web links
- Ex Libris website
- Andrea Weibel: Ex Libris. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Our branches near you. Ex Libris, 2019, accessed October 11, 2019 .
- ↑ Facts & Figures on Ex Libris. Ex Libris, 2019, accessed October 11, 2019 .
- ↑ Sergio Aiolfi: Radical remodeling of Ex Libris. Bookplate, January 10, 2018, accessed October 11, 2019 .
- ^ Alfred A. Häsler : The Migros Adventure. The 60 year old idea . Ed .: Federation of Migros Cooperatives. Migros Presse, Zurich 1985, p. 247 .
- ↑ Häsler: Gottlieb Duttweiler. Pp. 248-249.
- ↑ a b Rolf Kaminski: Ex Libris earns money again. Migros Magazine , February 14, 2020, accessed on March 22, 2020 .
- ↑ Notes on the history of Ex Libris. Ex Libris Records, accessed August 22, 2018 .
- ↑ Ulrich Rotzinger: Now the ex-libris boss is talking about the deforestation at the Migros subsidiary. Blick , January 18, 2018, accessed August 22, 2018 .
- ↑ Sergio Aiolfi, Christoph G. Schmutz: Ex Libris goes over the books. Neue Zürcher Zeitung , January 11, 2018, accessed on August 22, 2018 .
- ↑ ExLibris.ch is E-Commerce Champion 2016 and thus the successor to DeinDeal, PKZ, Zalando and Freitag (2015-2012). Digital Commerce Award, May 11, 2016, accessed August 22, 2018 .
- ↑ Video on Demand: watch films online. Bookplate, October 8, 2015, accessed August 22, 2018 .
- ↑ Ex Libris voted the best online shop in Switzerland. (PDF, 139 kB) Ex Libris, May 13, 2016, accessed on August 22, 2018 .
- ↑ Ex Libris range now also available from Digitec Galaxus. Bookplate, March 20, 2018, accessed August 22, 2018 .
- ↑ For a stronger future: Ex Libris has to restructure branch business. Federation of Migros Cooperatives, January 10, 2018, accessed on August 22, 2018 .