News & Press

MediaMarktSaturn is using a GenAI-based voicebot to support its customer hotline. The voicebot uses the FAQs on the MediaMarktSaturn websites to provide relevant information quickly and around the clock, thus solving the most common customer queries. The voicebot has been successfully launched in Germany in September, the first test phase started in Austria and the Netherlands, and the rollout will continue in Spain in early 2025. 

MediaMarktSaturn is expanding its digital services and is now using an innovative AI solution to further improve its customer service. The new voicebot, which was developed in collaboration with Parloa, is based on generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) and makes it possible to answer customer queries on the hotline automatically and in natural language. If the caller generally does not want to speak to the voicebot or the voicebot cannot provide a solution to the request, callers are forwarded to a customer service employee.

"With the integration of the new voicebot, we are continuously improving our digital service offering," explains Henny Steiniger, Vice President Services & Solutions, Customer Experience & Care. "By using artificial intelligence, we are not only increasing efficiency, but also offering our customers a service that is available around the clock. This is in line with our vision of offering innovative and intuitive solutions that make our customers' everyday lives easier."

MediaMarktSaturn is evolving from a pure product seller into a customer-centric omnichannel service platform. Such a restructuring also means doing things differently. MediaMarktSaturn wants to make the customer's shopping experience even more pleasant and personal. One way to meet this challenge and introduce new processes or services is the service design method.

Ingolstadt, February 24, 2022: The pandemic, with its numerous lockdowns, has demonstrated that a perfectly tailored omnichannel offering – the availability of products, services, and advice both online and offline across all channels – is more important than ever. While MediaMarkt and Saturn's Click & Collect service was already popular and frequently used before the pandemic, it has experienced a significant boost since the first lockdown in spring 2020. Currently, around half of all products ordered from the MediaMarkt and Saturn online shops are picked up in-store. To accommodate this trend, the two electronics retailers have optimized their Click & Collect service so that all products available directly in-store can now be picked up within 30 minutes of ordering online – making online shopping even more enjoyable.

• MediaMarkt and Saturn are making their omnichannel offerings even more attractive.
• Many products can now be picked up in-store within 30 minutes of ordering online.
• All stores nationwide are now open to all customers again.

The mix is ​​key: Online shopping has become more popular than ever, especially since the pandemic – at the same time, many consumers still desire personal advice and additional services, such as repairs or picking up online orders in-store. The advantages of Click & Collect: Delivery fees are eliminated, and customers save time, as they can often pick up their products on the same day they order. Furthermore, the ordered products can be conveniently paid for in-store. For those who want their products even faster, Click & Collect Express is now available: Many products ordered at www.mediamarkt.de and www.saturn.de can now be picked up in-store within 30 minutes – provided the products are in stock at the selected store.

Click & Collect offers the convenience of in-store pickup. Click & Collect Express is primarily made possible by digital support: In-store employees use their company smartphones and a specially developed app to process orders. This significantly speeds up the process, and goods ordered online are ready for pickup in the store within a very short time.

It's this easy: Before ordering in the online shop, select your preferred store, and you'll immediately see if the desired product is ready for pickup. In your shopping cart, under "How would you like to receive your products?", click the "Ready for pickup" option and complete your order. You can also choose whether you prefer to pay online or in-store upon pickup. It couldn't be more convenient or faster.

Furthermore, MediaMarkt and Saturn are pleased that, thanks to the nationwide lifting of the 2G and 3G restrictions in retail, they can now welcome and advise all customers in-store again. The existing social distancing and hygiene rules will, of course, continue to be observed. Customers can find information about the currently applicable Corona regulations in the individual stores at www.mediamarkt.de/de/service/coronainfos and https://www.saturn.de/de/service/coronainfos.

MediaMarktSaturn is making steady progress in expanding the marketplace: In the third quarter 2023/24, the gross merchandise value (GMV) more than doubled compared to the prior-year quarter and more than 1.6 million products from around 1,470 sellers are now available on the platform. With the launch in Italy, the introduction of financing services for marketplace products and the expansion of refurbished products, the company has already laid further important cornerstones to achieve its target of €750 million GMV by 2025/26.

The strong growth of the Marketplace is due, among other things, to an expanded product portfolio, the completed rollout in five countries - Germany, Austria, Spain, the Netherlands and, most recently, Italy in July - as well as the expansion of refurbished products and the ongoing optimization of the integration of the Marketplace with the online stores. Other important cornerstones of the Marketplace strategy, which will ensure continued growth in the future, have already been implemented or are in the process of being implemented.

"With the integration of Space-as-a-Service offerings in the stationary market, the financing service for Marketplace products and the expansion of our refurbished offerings, we are making our Marketplace even more attractive - for customers and partners alike. With the expansion of new verticals such as DYI, sports and health, we want to reach new target groups in the long term. The roll-out of the Marketplace in three additional countries in the coming calendar year will also be a strong growth driver in order to achieve our declared goals by 2025/26," explains Christian Kollesch, Managing Director of MediaMarktSaturn Marketplace.

Refurbished products - new online store experience

The refurbished product offering has been further enhanced with the introduction of a new user experience design. The redesign provides customers with a clearer, more intuitive shopping experience and access to an even wider selection of refurbished products from marketplace sellers. Products are now categorized into three easy-to-understand quality levels based on availability: “Excellent”, “Very Good” and “Good”. These grades are based primarily on external signs of use and battery life, and guarantee full functionality. When products are available, customers can now find alternative refurbished offers from the Marketplace directly on the product detail page of the new device. 

However, the topic of refurbishment is not only receiving more attention online, but also in stores. In May, a pop-up store on the topic of sustainability opened in Tübingen, Germany, bringing the company's marketplace, sustainable product range and refurbishment to the brick-and-mortar stores for the first time.

Financing Service for Marketplace Products

At the end of July, MediaMarktSaturn also introduced the popular financing service for Marketplace products in Germany and will roll it out to other countries. As a result, customers benefit from an additional payment option in the Marketplace that enables them to set up individual financing plans and make larger purchases without having to pay the full amount immediately. Marketplace sellers can use an established financing option at MediaMarktSaturn and further increase the attractiveness of their offers and their sales potential.

Expansion of the Space-as-a-Service offering 

MediaMarktSaturn is continuing to expand its Space-as-a-Service offerings for marketplace sellers. In Germany, Spain and the Netherlands, the first spaces have already been rented by Marketplace sellers in the stores to present their products live on site. This offering allows sellers to tap into the company's extensive network of more than 1,000 stores and showcase their products to a broad audience in Experience Zones. In the future, customers will also be able to experience and test Marketplace products in their local stores, benefiting from an even wider range of products.

MediaMarktSaturn is expanding its service offerings and integrating parcel shops into nearly all 400 Media Markt and Saturn stores in Germany. Following a successful pilot project in approximately 50 selected stores, customers can now conveniently pick up and send parcels from the parcel services DPD Germany and GLS Germany at an increasing number of locations.

Successful pilot project as a foundation: In the test phase, which began in mid-2023, customers had the option of picking up and sending their parcels at over 50 stores. This service has already been used more than 160,000 times and has been considered a success by all project participants. Based on the positive feedback and high customer demand, the service is being gradually expanded to almost all German stores in cooperation with DPD and GLS.

The national rollout has already begun, and approximately 30 more stores will integrate the parcel services of DPD and GLS in February – bringing the total number of stores in Germany offering this customer-friendly service to over 80. The rollout will continue gradually. Customers can send and collect their parcels either via the online pick-up area or at designated collection zones within the store. The DPD and GLS store locators make it easy to find the nearest store offering parcel shops.

KOENIC, the own brand of MediaMarktSaturn, receives an exclusive addition. Together with star chef Tim Raue, a high-quality product line for small kitchen appliances was developed, which is now celebrating its launch.

MediaMarktSaturn and the renowned 2-star chef Tim Raue have joined forces and are launching the new product line "Tim Raue by KOENIC" on the market. From now on, cooking enthusiasts can expect the first three products of an exclusive kitchen collection in all MediaMarkt and Saturn stores in Germany and successively in Austria as well as online. In the spirit of MediaMarktSaturn's Experience Electronics strategy, the series with exquisite products that clearly bear the signature of the top chef makes home cooking an experience. There are also special recipes.

Freely according to the motto "Cook like the king with KOENIC", MediaMarkt-Saturn launches the cooperation with Tim Raue and starts with the introduction of three kitchen products of a total of a nine-part series: A 2in1 high-performance chopper with two stainless steel vessels and titanium-coated blades, a versatile vacuum sealer, suitable for sous-vide cooking and a high-precision kitchen scale made of high-quality stainless steel with a load capacity of 10kg and tare function. From smoothie maker to a meat grinder to the air fryer - until summer 2024, the range will be gradually supplemented by six other products that will raise the cooking experience in Germany and Austria to a new level.

Michael Schuld, Chief Commercial & Marketing Officer of the MediaMarktSaturn Retail Group, sums up the importance of this partnership: "We are showing with this cooperation that own brands can certainly be premium. At the same time, this cooperation is the epitome of what we mean by Experience Electronics. Together with Tim Raue, we create unique experiences for our customers and combine the best of KOENIC with the top-class culinary craftsmanship of Tim Raue.” The two-time star chef says about the partnership: "For me, cooking means passion, perfection, creativity and quality. I am proud to combine these principles together with KOENIC in the products."

Both the design of the packaging and the unique design of each product were developed in close cooperation with Tim Raue. So each device is equipped with a striking Prussian-blue plug, a loving tribute to Raue's grandparents. In addition, each product in the series bears the signature of the star chef, which gives it a personal touch and contributes to the enhancement in addition to the high-quality features. Customers also receive exclusive recipes with each product purchased, specially created by Tim Raue for the respective device, which invite them to cook, try out and experience.

More information can be found here:
MediaMarkt: https://www.mediamarkt.de/en/special/tim-raue-edition
Saturn: https://www.saturn.de/en/special/tim-raue-edition

MediaMarktSaturn is driving forward the realignment and modernization of its store formats across Europe with the opening of new "Lighthouse" stores. Following successful launches in Milan, Rotterdam, and Rome, Europe's largest consumer electronics retailer will open its first "Lighthouse" store in Germany on September 1st with "Tech Village Berlin" at Alexanderplatz. Further openings will follow at the end of September in Madrid and in October in Vienna. This will bring MediaMarktSaturn's total number of these stores to six. More are planned to open throughout Europe in the coming years.

"In implementing our omnichannel strategy, we are also specifically strengthening our brick-and-mortar business as the core of our activities. We are modernizing existing stores and introducing new formats to offer our customers the most attractive shopping experience possible," said Dr. Karsten Wildberger, CEO of CECONOMY and MediaMarktSaturn. "The Lighthouse concept is the flagship of the new store formats. Working closely with our partners, we are setting new standards in brick-and-mortar retail."

The experience with the existing "Lighthouse" stores has been consistently positive. "Our customers have embraced the concept very well; it's a commercial success. We will be opening two new stores of this type in Madrid and Vienna this year, and more are planned for the coming years."

The new MediaMarkt "Tech Village Berlin" is a technology experience of superlatives: Designed by the renowned Italian architect Fabio Novembre, MediaMarktSaturn presents its customers with the most important innovations and most popular electronics products from a wide range of segments across four floors and a total area of ​​8,000 square meters.

Architecturally modeled after an Italian marketplace, each floor features a central piazza showcasing an extensive selection of technology products.

Partner boutiques, where the industry's top brands present their latest highlights, are arranged around the central marketplace. MediaMarktSaturn has secured more than 30 renowned manufacturers as partners for its "Tech Village Berlin," including Apple, Samsung, Microsoft, Sonos, Sony, Philips, Logitech, Xiaomi, Miele, and Dyson.

Spread across all floors are six so-called Experience Zones – areas where customers can directly try out and experience innovations and the latest products. Regular events will also be held here. Another highlight is the "Barista Club," a coffee bar that invites customers to enjoy the finest coffee specialties.

In a spacious service area, MediaMarktSaturn offers its customers a comprehensive range of services. And, of course, "Tech Village Berlin" is also closely integrated with the company's online services, giving customers convenient access to all of MediaMarktSaturn's omnichannel offerings.

"Tech Village Berlin is like a trade fair all year round. Our customers can get an overview of the hottest trends in the industry here every day," explained Jörg Bauer, COO of MediaMarktSaturn Germany. "With the boutiques of our most renowned industry partners, great products, an innovative architectural concept, plenty of service and our own café, we make shopping here a real experience."