Business principle and success factors

Internationalization is a core element of the METRO Cash & Carry strategy. It has played a decisive role in the company’s rise to become the worldwide market leader in self-service wholesale.

In advance of market entry

METRO Cash & Carry examines potential market entries with great care. Before setting foot in a new country, an intensive advance assessment is carried out. Should this scoring yield positive results, it is then followed by a comprehensive feasibility study. This includes thorough on-site research along with an assessment of all modalities involved in doing business at the proposed location. A team of specialists analyzes all aspects relevant to operations, such as purchasing, sales and marketing, laws, human resources and logistics. The decisions on market entry and on the actual location, type and size of the planned outlets are based on the results of this study.

Local staff a priority

The objective is to staff a new store as quickly as possible with local employees, and to qualify them in the company’s own intensive training programs. The people who call the region home have the advantage of knowing the professional customers. They are able to perfectly adapt the service offering to the national or regional culture. By hiring local staff, from salespeople to managers, the company also contributes to the country’s job market. In many nations, METRO Cash & Carry has grown to become one of the largest private employers within just a few years.

Expanding the business concept in Europe

The sales concept of METRO Cash & Carry is not only successful in Germany. In 1968, the partnership with the SHV Group led to the establishment of Makro Zelfbedienigsgroothandel – the first step beyond German borders. Up to 1972, METRO and MAKRO Cash & Carry continued to expand in Southern and Western Europe.

A leap across the Mediterranean

In the 1990s, the jump across the Mediterranean was successfully carried out with stores in Turkey and Morocco. After around  30 years in business, the company was present in a dozen countries with more than 200 outlets. This made METRO Cash & Carry the most widely represented international food trading company worldwide.

Development in Eastern Europe

The next important step was the entry into the emerging markets of Eastern Europe. Within a few years, wholesale outlets were opened in Hungary, Poland, Romania, Czech Republic, Bulgaria and Slovakia. The company was established at an early stage in many of the countries that became members of the European Union in May 2005. “Wherever the euro goes, we’re already there,” says an advertising slogan of the METRO Group.

Expansion into the Far East

In the mid-90s, METRO Cash & Carry moved further eastward: it became the first international wholesaling company to receive a license for nationwide expansion in China. In 1996, the first wholesale outlet opened for business in Shanghai. At a time when hardly any other Western trader or manufacturer dared to make the leap into the country, METRO Cash & Carry again displayed perfect instincts. Today, after less than ten years, METRO Cash & Carry already operates 24 wholesale stores in China.

Sails set for further emerging markets

The METRO Cash & Carry concept has great potential. Over three billion people, or about half of the world’s population, live in countries where the company is already present. Every year, new stores are opened and new markets entered. The main focus has been on Eastern Europe and Asia. Two thirds of all new business locations are established in these growth regions, with special concentration on expansion in China and Russia.