Despite a total area of about 6,000 square meters, the Globus market hall in Wesel is one of the smallest markets of the large hypermarket chain, Matthias Immesberger, division manager and assortment manager of GLOBUS Markthallen Holding GmbH & Co. KG, tells us on site. "But the fruit and vegetable area is also small at about 450 sqm, compared to the largest department, which is about 700 sqm. It can definitely be expanded," Immesberger said.
Matthias Immesberger at the Globus market hall in Wesel.
"Anyway, the goal should be that customers buy more fruits and vegetables. After all, people who buy fruit and vegetables are also loyal customers, which includes our primary personas in particular, i.e. families with children." According to current discussions and demands from politicians, it could also be the case in the future that fruit and vegetables will be one of the few market segments in which advertisements for children may still be implemented.
Fruits and vegetables will always be in line with the trend. Within this megatrend, the topic of snacking will increase, which is why products such as flat peaches or snack apples like Rockit will also become more and more established," Immesberger states. "At the same time, we must not forget items aimed at children. We actually have too few products focused on children, which in turn also means that there is still a lot of potential."
The largest range of regional products
The fruit and vegetable assortment alone consists of 350 to 400 items that are permanently on offer. "At the Wesel location, we cooperate with the Rosenbaum company. Via a joint platform solution, we receive up to 60 products from 22 producers from all over NRW, depending on seasonal availability. Overall, we have the highest proportion of regional products in the entire food retail sector. Of particular note is a regional apple supplier located about 3 km from us," he explains. "In addition, all of our departments are certified organic. In the course of this, we are not allowed to easily place conventional goods next to organic goods."
While he's not a fan of too many legal regulations, he says he would welcome it if it were clearly defined at what point a product could be called regional. "Products that come from all over Germany are not automatically regional, but national. Regional for us means that the goods must either come from the same state or within a 40 km radius of the market." Globus also offers the widest range of exotic products in the food retail sector, says Immesberger. "One of the trending items right now is pitayaha, also known as dragon fruit. What's also becoming more of a trend is Instagram-ability of products."
Vedat Samal, Werner Schug, Sarah Grün, Matthias Immesberger and Thomas Helmes accepted for Globus Markthallen St. Wendel GmbH & Co. KG the Retail Award in the hypermarket category, in the presence of laudator Kerstin Sobottka from Rijk Zwaan.
Trained specialists in the fruit and vegetable department
According to Immesberger, another special feature of the hypermarket chain is its IHK-certified workforce. "All managers, team leaders or general first employees are certified fruit and vegetable specialists. This means that they can not only present the produce in an appealing way, but also pass on in-depth knowledge about the products. The training lasts several months and is concluded with an examination. In addition, we also hold many in-house training courses on topics such as merchandise knowledge, placement, sales, etc. This is the lifeblood of sales. This is what sales is all about. In addition to presentation and advice, the disposition of the goods is of course also important, meaning: as a salesperson, you have to have a feeling for when, certain products, in which way, etc. run. In addition to the bakery department, the fruit and vegetable area is also the category with the highest markdown percentage in terms of net sales in the overall market."
Immesberger emphasizes that hypermarkets are used primarily for weekly shopping. "When customers shop with us, they also want the products to last at least a week. That's why we also aim to generate the fastest possible turnover rates. Of course, we also have a warehouse at our disposal, although there is a risk that if you have too large a warehouse, you will keep the goods too long. After all, the goods are supposed to turn and not stand still."
From exotic fruits...
...To regional, seasonal vegetables, Globus offers a wide assortment.
High turnover rates for weekly groceries
Another goal, he said, is to provide a good shopping experience for as many target groups as possible. For example, fruits such as pitayaha may also be of interest to older people, provided they are given the opportunity to sample the produce. "Proxy shopping should also not be forgotten in this context, which means when a parent is shopping for the children, for example. As a shopper, you ultimately decide what goes into the shopping basket. When it comes to shopping, my own children are already fixated on products that have an appropriate children's look. For instance, if I tell them to buy apples, I can bet they will come back with Pink Lady and Pink Kids. You can see this trend for other product groups as well."
At least two internal tastings are held each week at each Globus store. "There is a central tasting schedule that is coordinated with me. A colleague is in charge of this. This involves tasting certain items in all stores on a weekly basis, mostly on Thursdays and Fridays. We have four pineapple experts who usually stay in each market for a week, so that each market is served several times. There are many items that would not have been purchased if we had not tasted them ourselves first. The numbers show that it's worth it."
For more information:
Matthias Immesberger
GLOBUS Markthallen Holding GmbH & Co. KG
Rudolf-Diesel-Straße 7
D-46485 Wesel
https://www.globus.de