Company news
Range grows to 6.3 million products and counting
by Tobias Billeter
Digitec Galaxus smashes the 100-million-order mark
23.11.2023
Translation: Veronica Bielawski
Digitec Galaxus reached a new milestone during Black Friday week: 100,000,000 orders since the company’s start in 2001. The massive expansion of logistics and product range paved the way for this achievement. The customer who placed the one hundred millionth order can expect a surprise in her mailbox.
On Tuesday morning of Black Friday week 2023, the Customer Service Team dropped the news that a customer had just placed the one hundred millionth order. When you look at the cold, hard figures, it's even more impressive: that’s a whopping 100,000,000 orders stemming from Switzerland and Liechtenstein! In the 8,200 days since the launch of Digitec, this comes out to an average of more than 12,000 orders per day.
«That’s a huge volume. I’m proud that in a small country like Switzerland, we’ve been able to serve our customers 100 million times,» says Florian Teuteberg, CEO of Digitec Galaxus.
Logistics and product range are key
Processing this large number of orders was made possible by the continuous expansion of our logistics and product range. «Over the last 22 years, we’ve continuously expanded our capacities,» says Michael Stolle, Chief Operations Officer at Digitec Galaxus and the man responsible for logistics. «Needless to say, we had to keep pace with the growing demand.» Having your own warehouses is essential for making the core range rapidly available to customers. «If you can deliver tomorrow instead of next week, you have a clear leg-up on the competition.»
Digitec Galaxus operates its largest warehouse site in Wohlen, Canton of Aargau, where more than 1,000 employees are employed during the peak times in November and December. «Since first moving in back in 2009, we’ve invested several hundred million francs in this site,» says Michael. In sight of the planned expansion over the next two years, the warehouse, located on the site of the former steelworks, is reaching its physical limits. «We hope to receive the required building permits for our planned construction projects in Switzerland soon.»
Too many products for purely manual labour
The product range has also changed a lot in recent years. «In 2012, we had 10,000 IT and electronics items on offer at Digitec,» recalls Hendrik Bljidenstein, Chief Commercial Officer and head buyer at Digitec Galaxus. «Back then, we still entered products, their specifications and accompanying images into our online shop by hand.»
With the launch of the online department store Galaxus in summer 2012 and the launch of the marketplace in 2016, the product range exploded. Today, Galaxus offers over six million products. «We have our consistent focus on automation to thank for the massive expansion of our product range,» says Hendrik. Even so, a team of 70 remains tasked with supplementing and perfecting product data so that customers can find what they’re looking for.
The customer who placed the one hundred millionth order (her order: a pair of gloves) will receive a surprise in the mailbox: a 100-franc voucher, a bottle of Prosecco and a hand-signed card from the founders.
What’s your take on our milestone of one hundred million orders? What are we doing right? And what can we improve? Let us know in the comments!
Alex Hämmerli
Senior Public Relations Manager
Alex.Haemmerli@digitecgalaxus.chAt Digitec and Galaxus, I’m in charge of communication with journalists and bloggers. Good stories are my passion – I am always up to date.
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