Trade Association Austria

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The trade association Austria (legally: Association of Austrian trading company ; English: Austrian Retail Association ) is the umbrella organization of retail trade in Austria with association offices in Vienna , Linz and Graz .

membership

The members of the Austrian Trade Association are retail companies with around 400,000 employees at 20,000 locations in Austria that generate annual sales of around 50 billion euros. In addition, more than 120 companies from various specializations are associated with the trade association as partners.

The Austrian Trade Association is itself a member of Ecommerce Europe , Direct Selling Europe (DSE) , the Federation of International Retail Associations (FIRA) and the European Multichannel Online Trade Association (EMOTA) .

history

The trade association was founded as an association of Austrian retail companies in the early 1920s . 20 department stores, including Meinl , Palmers and Kastner & Öhler , founded the community of interests with the aim of jointly building a solid retail structure in Austria. In 1934 the Association of Austrian Branch Companies merged under the new name of the Association of Commercial Companies in Austria and quickly gained public importance. The around 50 member companies represented around four fifths of the entire Austrian advertising budget. In 1937 the until then independent association was placed under the influence of the government and renamed the guild of large commercial enterprises in Austria and dissolved in 1938 without replacement. After the Second World War, the new interest group for the large forms of trade was re-established. The first board of directors consisted of representatives from large Austrian trading companies such as Palmers, Gerngross , Ankerbrot and Humanic and met for the first time in 1950. In 1974 the trade association got its current name and moved into the office at Alser Straße 45. Since then, the trade association has developed into a voluntary representation of the interests of all Austrian trading companies. He represents the concerns of the trade with political opinion leaders, employee associations or the media. In addition to services, the trade association offers its members a forum for the transfer of political, legal and technological information.

organization

The trade association is an association within the meaning of the Association Act 2002. Its organs are the general assembly, the presidium, the presidential council and the management. The General Assembly appoints the President and his four deputies, the Vice-Presidents, who together form the Presidium. The General Assembly also elects the members of the Presidential Council from among its members, who advise and control the President and the Presidium on important issues relating to the association.

The General Assembly

The general assembly is the assembly of all full members. It appoints the President and his deputies, the Vice-Presidents, who together form the Presidium. The General Assembly elects the members of the Presidential Council from among its members.

Bureau

The Presidium consists of the President and the Vice-Presidents. The term of office is three years. Stephan Mayer-Heinisch is currently the President of the trade association. The lawyer was u. a. Managing director and group spokesman at Leder & Schuh AG and is today also chairman of the ACSC (Austrian Council of Shopping Centers).

President: Stephan Mayer-Heinisch

Vice Presidents:

Presidential Council

The Presidential Council consists of 8 to 20 full members of the trade association, who advise and control the President and the Presidium on important issues relating to the association. The term of office is three years.

Managing directors

The management prepares strategic lines of action for the presidium, bears operational responsibility for the business, for the office, leads the team and the association in accordance with the rules of procedure and observes legislative and commercial developments. The association's work is carried out in close cooperation with the Presidium. The focus is on the dialogue with the members.

Rainer Will has been the managing director of the trade association since 2014 and thus also publisher of the industry magazine RETAIL. He is on the board of directors of the European trade association EMOTA and on the advisory board of the St. Pölten University of Applied Sciences, DMX Austria and the Swiss Import Promotion Program.

Events and publications

The association's portfolio includes four industry congresses, the [handels] zone discussion format, the Good Morning Retail networking breakfast, the retail magazine, the publication of studies and the Handelsverband Akademie. The online platform RETAIL 24/7 offers Austrian trading companies trade data and legal information.

The "Import Information Hub Austria" , jointly founded in 2016 by the trade association and the Austrian Development Agency (ADA), serves as a forum for Austrian importers and international exporters.

Awards

Austrian Trustmark Awards

Since 2015, the Austrian trade association has presented the Austrian Trustmark Awards once a year as part of the E-Commerce Day (formerly mail order day) for excellent performance in terms of consumer friendliness .

The award is given in the three categories "Best Online Shop", "Best Newcomer", "Best Mobile Shop / Best App". The award goes to those Trustmark holders who offer extra professionalism, quality, transparency and security.

Austrian Retail Innovation Awards

The Austrian Retail Innovation Awards , presented for the first time in 2016 by the trade association in cooperation with the largest student management consultancy ICONS , recognize retail companies operating in Austria for the use of innovative technology solutions. The winners are determined every year by a jury - consisting of the members of the trade association department "Innovation in Retail" chaired by Business Angel Werner Wutscher - and awarded at the tech conference "Technology drives trade" .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Austrian Trade Association. Retrieved March 3, 2017 .
  2. ↑ Memberships of the trade association
  3. ↑ [1] organizational structure
  4. ^ [2] Stephan Mayer-Heinisch
  5. ↑ Rainer Will
  6. ↑ Rainer Will new managing director . In: CASH - the trade magazine . ( cash.at [accessed on March 3, 2017]).
  7. ↑ Trade Association - issuu. Retrieved March 9, 2017 .
  8. ↑ RETAIL 24/7 membership. Retrieved March 3, 2017 .
  9. ^ Import Hub Austria
  10. ↑ Austrian Trustmark Awards
  11. ↑ Austrian Retail Innovation Awards