Mercury (Austria)
| MERKUR Warenhandels AG
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|---|---|
 |
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| legal form | Corporation |
| founding | 1969 |
| Seat |
Wiener Neudorf , Austria
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| management |
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| Number of employees | around 9,500 |
| Branch | Grocery retail |
| Website | www.merkurmarkt.at |
Merkur (spelling: MERKUR) is an Austrian consumer chain that belongs to the German Rewe International AG .
Company history
Merkur Warenhandels AG was founded in 1969 by Karl Wlaschek and has been part of Rewe International AG, one of the largest private employers in Austria, since 1996. Merkur has 130 stores throughout Austria and employs around 9,500 people. Merkur is considered the market leader in the consumer market segment. On September 1, 2009, the Magnet stores were taken over by Merkur. The company is also represented in the travel segment with “Merkur - your vacation” . Mobile payment is offered in cooperation with Blue Code .
In order to counter the predicted market saturation of Merkur stores, Rewe Austria started in 2017 with the opening of compact stores, which have an area of around 1000 m². Such markets were first set up in Kittsee and Hadersdorf , others followed, including in Gmünd and Wieselburg .
At the end of August 2018, Merkur decided to close its own online shop.
philosophy
Merkur sees itself as an adventure market with an integrated marketplace concept. On a sales area of around 2000 m², the stores offer a selection of products (around 20,000 items from regional suppliers, domestic and foreign specialties, up to 800 products from the entry-level segment) under one roof. The Merkur slogan is: "This is how you make friends."
Due to the increasing battle for market share in the Austrian food retail sector, Merkur has been reducing a number of own-brand and branded items, which are available at discounters like Hofer , to discounters' prices since 2017 . The reduced prices are titled as discount prices and advertised in the shops with additional signs on the shelf.
Architecture of the Merkur markets
The facade design of the Merkur markets is determined by the colors green and white and the use of a green apple as a key visual . This should visibly convey the quality criteria of freshness and cleanliness to the outside world. Merkur has received two awards for its design: in 1994 with an architecture prize for the Merkur market in Deutsch-Wagram , and in 2006 with the “Innovation Prize for Architecture” in New York .
range
Merkur offers a product range of more than 20,000 items, including numerous non-food products.
- Regional initiative: The company relies on local products when designing its range. Following the motto “From the region - for the region”, 40,200 Austrian farmers supply Merkur with meat, which is cut, portioned and packaged directly in the markets. Various delicatessen and cheese specialties as well as juices, honey and wine come directly from regional suppliers. In addition, in 2015 Rewe's own brand “Da komm 'ich her”, which specifically advertises fruit, vegetables and eggs from Austria, was introduced.
- In April 2009 Merkur started a cooperation with the AMA seal of approval in 53 markets in Vienna, Lower Austria and Burgenland , which is used as an additional quality feature for pork. The cooperation is to be expanded throughout Austria.
Own brands
- The discount price segment is cleverly served by Merkur's own brand , which was introduced in 1999. The brand was expanded from 40 to 550 items in the food and beverage, non-food and drugstore sectors. Clever is also available at Billa , ADEG , Sutterlüty and Bipa .
- The Merkur Immer Gut brand was introduced in order to have a suitable brand in the medium price segment. The products stand out from Clever products through higher prices and often added value (for example, the eggs in the Merkur Immer Gut Fleckerl are from Austrian free-range farming and the eggs in the Clever Fleckerl are from free-range farming). These products are primarily in direct competition with comparable branded articles.
- With yes! Of course , Rewe introduced its own organic brand in 1994 . Today around 1000 different products are represented in this organic range, there are also “Yes! Organic bakery shops, of course ”. All products of this brand have been palm oil-free since 2018.
- In the area of cleaning, washing and cleaning agents, Merkur offers products from its own brands Clever and Merkur Immer Gut as well as more environmentally friendly alternatives from Merkur Immer Grün . These products are certified with the Austrian Ecolabel .
- Other own brands, each of which only covers one product group and which are also sold in other sales channels by Rewe Austria:
- Hofstädter : Chicken , turkey , pork and beef from conventional rearing from Austria with the AMA seal of approval, as well as sausage and meat products that are made in Austria
- Full Speed : own brand for energy drinks , positioned higher than the Clever energy drinks
- Maximum G: Another own-label energy drink, which originally comes from Germany
- Landgraf : Discount beer from Austria
- Wegenstein : own brand for wines, most of which come from Austria
- I come from there! : Eggs, fruits and vegetables from Austria
- Ready meals and ready-to-cook ingredients under the Chef Menu brands (traditional dishes such as goulash with spaetzle) and Simply Good (healthy ready meals, pre-cut vegetables and fresh pasta)
- BABYWELL : Products for babies and toddlers, such as diapers
- Vegavita : Vegan substitute products, which are often organic quality
- today : own brand for cosmetic products, replaced the MY brand and the cosmetics division of clever in 2018 ; originally comes from the discounter Penny
- ZooRoyal (and its sub-brands): own brand for pet food and pet supplies ; At the beginning of 2020, replaced the pet food and pet supplies division of Merkur Immer Gut and the BILLA own brand ; the products are of higher quality than the animal food from cleverly positioned and, compared to these, are characterized by higher prices and often added value (higher quality ingredients, increased meat content).
Friends of Mercury
In 1996 Merkur introduced a customer loyalty program with “Friends of Merkur” . Loyalty offers are made to participants in this program. For example, “Friends of Merkur” receive vouchers with the receipt, a 10 percent discount on their purchases on their birthday, or they are invited to events. Participants receive the customer magazine "friends" free of charge, which appears eight times a year with a circulation of 400,000.
Social responsibility
Merkur has been a sponsoring partner of the CliniClowns since 1997 , which has set itself the goal of promoting the recovery of children through laughter therapy. The company also supports the Vienna Cancer Aid and in particular cancer research. Merkur is also working intensively with Global 2000 to minimize pesticides in the producers of fruit and vegetables, uses energy-saving measures, for example in lighting technology or refrigeration units, and ensures that logistics are as efficient and low-pollutant as possible, for example by adding biodiesel to its own Trucks.
criticism
delicatessen
On August 13, 2019, the Vorarlberg Chamber of Labor announced in a broadcast that products from the delicatessen department, especially cheese with an expired best-before date , had been removed from the shelves, repackaged , the best-before date was extended by ten or more days and then again on Were offered for sale - with a new best-before date and at the same price. Breads that were no longer sold on Saturday were also frozen and thawed again on Monday and sold as fresh. This has been practiced since autumn 2018. Rewe confirmed the allegations on August 14 and speaks of misconduct by individual employees.
Informal
In 2013, the cartel court sentenced the grocer Rewe (including Billa, Merkur) to a fine of EUR 20.8 million for price fixing, imposing the second highest cartel fine ever imposed in Austria. In an initial reaction, Rewe described the judgment as a "mutually acceptable solution".
See also
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Merkur closes its online shop at the end of August - News. In: heute.at. August 23, 2018, accessed August 16, 2019 .
- ↑ Yes! Of course it is free of palm oil. In: http://www.janatuerlich.at . Yes! Of course, accessed April 22, 2018 .
- ^ ORF Vorarlberg: Chronicle: Supermarket chain confirms misleading. August 14, 2019, accessed on August 16, 2019 (Austrian German).
- ^ Label fraud: Mercury confirms deception. In: vol.at. Retrieved August 16, 2019 .
- ^ Cartel court: 20.8 million euro fine for Rewe. In: Wiener Zeitung. May 13, 2013. Retrieved January 25, 2017 .