Olaf Koch, board chief at the German trade group Metro AG, expects that the Euro crisis will affect the buying behaviour of consumers: "The Euro crisis is spoiling the Germans willingness to buy. We're hoping for a best case scenario of a small increase in consumption. This will clearly affect our company", said Koch recently to the German newspaper 'BILD am Sonntag'. "We're assuming that the situation in the Euro zone will stabilise. The Euro is still a blessing for Europe," according to Koch.
According to estimates by the manager the prices could increase more due to the higher energy prices: "We're busy making our company even more energy efficient. But in the end higher energy costs could mean that the whole trade will have to adapt the prices and that for instance food and other products become more expensive, even for us."
According to estimates by the manager the prices could increase more due to the higher energy prices: "We're busy making our company even more energy efficient. But in the end higher energy costs could mean that the whole trade will have to adapt the prices and that for instance food and other products become more expensive, even for us."
But Koch sees potential in the online trade, something Metro hasn't been doing for very long: "We were late starting the online sales, but still see huge potential. We are convinced that with our two online shops Saturn.de and Mediamarkt.de we will be able to make a three figure million number on turnover."
