SHANGHAI, May 19, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- METRO China today celebrated the upgrade of its e-commerce platform metromall.cn, which integrates online, offline and mobile channels for a seamless customer experience.
"E-commerce is one of our strategic channels to drive for growth in China market. We are determined to enhance customer experience and further expand business through leveraging the power of e-commerce," said Jeroen de Groot, President of METRO China. "Our Metromall not only integrates online-to-offline, but also incorporates an innovative mobile function. We are confident this platform will enable us to provide more exciting solutions and seamless purchasing experience to our core target professional customers, helping them to be more successful in the market."
A Seamless Online-to-Offline Purchasing Experience
With an optimized user interface and location-based services, Metromall synchronizes with the wholesaler's offline stores, covering over 20,000 products. METRO delivers all online orders directly from local wholesale stores, not only shortening delivery time but also ensuring product quality. The platform offers customers convenient and efficient choices of goods receiving, such as home delivery or in-store pick-up.
As early as entering China market in 1996, METRO adopted a membership system, and has since collected data from over 4 million buying customers in order to offer them customized solutions and services. Today, by tapping into this rich database, the upgraded e-commerce platform will further strengthen METRO's customer relationship management.
The METRO e-commerce platform currently covers 39 stores in 21 cities in China, and will unroll across all METRO stores in China by the end of 2015.
Expanded Digital Channels and Services
Taking advantage of the rapid development of mobile communications and popularity of smartphones, Metromall also features an accompanying mobile app. Customers can use the app to scan barcodes and identify product features, build shopping carts, place orders, and check-out. The app's powerful database includes product barcodes of all articles in offline stores except for fresh and ultra-fresh products. Customers can also follow METRO's WeChat to obtain promotional information of Metromall and place orders on their cell phones.
Leveraging its global procurement network, METRO GROUP is set to enter the free-trade zone this year, partnering with China's renowned cross-border e-commerce platforms, to provide consumers with an even broader range of high-quality imported goods.
A Commitment to Food Safety and Traceability
METRO China is committed to providing safe and high-quality products, and is the only wholesaler in China with all stores to operate in accordance with HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) standards to ensure that the processes of receiving, processing, storing and selling goods are hazard-free.
Further illustrating the wholesaler's dedication to food safety, METRO has developed an industry leading traceability system, which records all process details from farm to market. Simply by scanning product barcodes, customers can view the entire product lifecycle, including where it was grown, how it was certified, and the logistics involved.
The newly-upgraded e-commerce platform has enabled METRO to create a closed, online-to-offline loop for safe and traceable food, making METRO truly a multi-channel specialist.
About METRO Cash & Carry
METRO Cash & Carry is represented in 26 countries with over 750 self-service wholesale stores. With a headcount of about 117,000 employees worldwide, the wholesale company achieved sales of about EUR 31 billion in the financial year 2013/2014. METRO Cash & Carry is a sales division of METRO GROUP. METRO GROUP is one of the largest and most important international retailing companies. In the financial year 2013/14 it generated sales of around EUR 63 billion. The company operates around 2,200 stores in 30 countries and has a headcount of around 250,000 employees. The performance of METRO GROUP is based on the strength of its sales brands that operate independently in their respective market segments: METRO/MAKRO Cash & Carry - the international leader in self-service wholesale - Media Markt and Saturn - the European market leader in consumer electronics retailing - Real hypermarkets and Galeria Kaufhof department stores.
More information at: www.metrogroup.de
Profile of METRO China
In 1996, METRO Cash & Carry, the international leader in self-service wholesale, opened its first wholesale store in the international metropolis of Shanghai. The company was among the first to gain permission from the China Central Government to set up chain operations in all major cities in China. Over the last decade, the company has set its foot already in 56 cities with 80 outlets in operation in China. With a headcount of over 12,000 employees, the wholesaler is serving more than 3.8 million buying customers across the country.
More information at: www.metro.com.cn
Photo - http://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20150519/0861504281-a
Photo - http://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20150519/0861504281-b
