In figures
The company
The business concept
Within METRO Group, Saturn embodies the concept of consumer electronics stores established mostly in central downtown locations with an extraordinarily wide assortment.
The offer comprises up to 100,000 products from the fields of consumer electronics, household appliances, new media, telecommunications, computers and photography. Permanently low prices in all assortment areas represent an additional competitive advantage of the Saturn stores. Other Saturn quality characteristics are the competent customer advice provided by qualified expert staff and a comprehensive range of services. Saturn stores distinguish themselves on account of their innovative organisational structure: The managing director is at the same time also co-owner of the store and thus assumes part of the responsibility for the assortment, pricing and marketing.
| Saturn | |
|---|---|
| Locations 2 | 238 |
| Number of countries 2 | 12 |
| Sales Media Markt and Saturn 1 | € 19.0 bn |
| Total selling space Media Markt and Saturn 1 | 2.4 mn sqm |
| Headcount Media Markt and Saturn (full-time equivalents at reporting date) 1 |
57,158 |
| Articles, overall assortment 1 | up to around 100.000 |
1 Status 31 December 2008
2 Status 30 September 2009
The first Saturn consumer electronics store opened its gates on Hansaring in Cologne in 1961. In the early sixties, the company took a pioneering role in the introduction of hi-fi stereo systems. At the beginning of the seventies, Saturn was the first retailer in Germany to offer a large selection of records for self-service at prices well below the market average. Still today, Saturn is famous for its comprehensive assortment of consumer electronics: The Cologne store features one of the largest CD ranges in Europe with more than 300,000 different titles.
Expansion across Germany started with the opening of a Saturn store in Frankfurt in 1985. This was followed by a rapid growth. After the reunification the store network soon spanned the whole of Germany. Today, Saturn ranks among the major companies in this sector.
The merger with Media Markt in 1990 and 1993 led to the founding of Media-Saturn-Holding GmbH as part of Kaufhof Holding AG. Since that time the two brands have been managed independently under the umbrella of Media-Saturn-Holding GmbH. In 1996, the Kaufhof holding was integrated into METRO Group. The company is now represented in 12 countries with more than 238 stores.
One of the key success factors of Saturn lies in the participation of the managing directors of the individual Saturn consumer electronics stores. They are at the same time also co-owners of their establishment and thus directly involved in the store’s success. Therefore, important decisions are taken locally by entrepreneurs acting largely under their own responsibility. This independence allows adjusting the assortment and pricing policy to the specific needs of the local customers. Marketing and human resources, too, fall within the responsibilities of the local store manager. The Saturn systems headquarter in Ingolstadt supports the stores in particular with a permanent further development of the specialty store concept and a cost-efficient handling of administration tasks. In addition, it is also responsible for the expansion to new locations.
Within the METRO Group, Saturn belongs to the Media-Saturn sales division.
With its broad product range Saturn is a specialist for all areas of consumer electronics. Saturn’s claim is to take the pole position in the respective area among all potential suppliers and to always offer its customers the latest product innovations. This claim to leadership in terms of assortment and competence is usually implemented on a selling space in the range of 2,500 and 10,000 square meters. With its store on Hamburg’s Mönckebergstraße, Saturn even took the position of the world’s largest consumer electronics store with a selling space of around 18,000 square meters and a correspondingly unique range of products on offer.
Services of all types have always played an important role at Saturn. Qualified advice from specially trained expert staff as well as comprehensive customer service mark the cornerstones of the specialty store concept. A repair and delivery service is available at every store to also provide the installation of electrical appliances on the customer’s premises, upon request. Computers are customized and configurated to the needs of the individual customer and used devices are disposed off professionally and environmentally friendly.
Every day, several thousand customers frequent each Saturn store. This high acceptance on the part of consumers in addition to the broad assortment is also attributable to Saturn’s proactive price policy, which targets permanently low prices. Small prices come with size: Thanks to its purchasing volume Saturn can buy at relatively favourable conditions. The lean administration of each specialty store supports this principle. Established in conveniently accessible downtown locations, Saturn stores can be found as both stand-alone stores or in shopping malls. Sometimes the Saturn stores have also been integrated into Kaufhof department stores. Saturn consumer electronics stores always attract a large custom base, which in turn benefits local retailers.
The employees, their creativity and initiative are at the center of Saturn’s management philosophy. They participate in continuous training programs in order to ensure a high level of competent services and advice at the stores. Their readiness to take on responsibility and their capacity for teamwork are intensively promoted. The training program covers a broad range of product and service trainings through to individual career advancement programs.
