Footfall in Manor stores is up compared to 2021, but the average customer basket is down a bit. ‘Inflation will have an effect (…), particularly in the food sector’, notes the CEO of the group Jérôme Gilg in an interview with Le Matin Dimanche.
“The Covid has made digital business progress enormously”, underlines Mr. Gilg. Digital is complementary to the strategy to strengthen the physical presence in stores. Many customers who shop online do so from inside stores.
‘10% of the turnover of our website is made from physical stores, thanks to the online ordering of our advisers on their iPads’, observes the CEO. This share has doubled in two years.
‘The site offers a lot more choices. Manor.ch offers half a million items, compared to around 100,000 in a traditional store,’ underlines Jérôme Gilg.
Regarding the Covid, the CEO believes that the group “has come out of this crisis rather well (…). In recent weeks, the figures are rather in the right direction,’ he says. “Compared to 2021, on non-Covid phases, I see an increase in the number of customers in stores of 5 to 10%, but I also note that the average basket purchased (on site) is falling somewhat”, notes Mr. Gilg .
The group will invest heavily in digital technology over the next few years. It will also continue its momentum of welcoming brands (such as Sephora, Decathlon, Fnac, Aeschbach) within its walls, with dedicated spaces. Click & collect is also growing: 40% of online purchases at Manor are picked up in store.
On the cost side, the rise in energy prices will increase the corresponding bill by ’20 to 30%’ this year, specifies the group’s boss. This is why Manor, like many other brands, will notably lower the maximum temperature in its stores.
The group celebrates its 120th anniversary this year. It employs some 80,000 people in 59 department stores, 27 supermarkets and 24 Manora restaurants in Switzerland.
/ATS