Mercator Takes it to the Max in Sloveni

October 1, 2009

Mercator, a runner up in the first International Convenience Retailer of the Year Award, has launched a premium convenience format in its Maxi department store.

Stylish Maxi branding

Slovenian retailer Mercator has launched an upscale convenience store in the basement of its Maxi department store in the capital, Ljubljana. The convenience store is designed to complement the offerings in other Maxi departments and is aimed at affluent, health-conscious customers, professionals and tourists.

According to the company, special emphasis has been given to product range, service, new technology and store ambience.

The store layout, for example, has been carefully thought through.

The free-flowing design enables shoppers to move around the store with a basket or trolley and to make purchases at one of four cash register positions. The store is zoned into three distinct areas: sub-stores featuring newsagent, convenience corner, organic food, herbal cosmetics and supplements; a fresh department featuring a market-style fruit and vegetable offer; and core groceries including Slovenian and international wines and spirits.

Mercator reports the concept of an upscale convenience store was developed in co-operation with the Jos de Vines agency.

Large wine department

“The main objective was to create an attractive, pleasant, colourful and varied shopping environment, complemented by modern, interior design. In this manner, the cultural heritage of the store’s creator, the renowned Slovenian architect Edvard Ravnikar, can also be preserved,” it says.

The new convenience store design preserves the store’s original architecture and materials and intertwines tradition and cultural heritage with innovation and contemporary styling. The store features the Maxi logo and attractive graphics, which are carried across all marketing materials and communications.

The range has been developed by focusing on four key pillars: innovation and creativity; being different; a touch of prestige and providing ideas to customers.

It comprises fruit and vegetables, offering a wide assortment of products including exotic fruits, fresh herbs and organic products. The store even has a fruit and vegetable island where staff prepare fruit salads and yogurts with fresh fruit in front of the customers. Fruit and vegetable platters and gift baskets are also available.

The delicatessen and fresh meat departments feature a selection of world-famous cheeses, salami, game, terrines, deli salads and platters to order. There is a wide selection of fresh and pre-packed meat and sea food. The deli offer is refreshed on a monthly basis to feature French or Italian or Spanish dishes, for instance.

Mercator claims the store also boasts the biggest selection of Slovenian and international wines and spirits.

The bakery department offers a wide selection of bread and pastries, cakes, roulades, biscuits and muffins plus a range of pralines and chocolates.

There is a dedicated display for organic and wellness products, while the convenience corner range offers snacks such as sandwiches, pizzas, burek, pastry, tramezzini, packaged fruit and vegetable salads, a wide assortment of beverages, take away coffee and sweets.

Key services include deli platter ordering; a loyalty scheme called Club Maxi, which rewards customers with discounts and other promotional benefits; recipe of the week, including in-store cooking events; offer of the week; tastings and promotions; and special focus, a monthly feature highlighting products from a particular region or season.

Extensive delicatessen department

Vibrant market-style fresh produce department

New technologies go hand in hand with the comprehensive range and service-led offering. The store features four self-checkouts, accounting for 20% of all purchases. It also features information kiosks for three key categories: wines and spirits, fruit and vegetables and fresh meat. The kiosks provide information on products, recipe ideas (printing and sending recipes by email) and price checkers and feature 700 Slovenian and international wines and spirits, 100 types of fresh produce and 400 recipe ideas.

In addition, Maxi provides electronic scales with LCD monitors, LCD screens in departments selling bread and pastry, fruit and veg and health food plus in-store television, which broadcasts Mercator’s corporate news, current projects and special promotions.

In terms of CSR activity, Mercator reports the renovation of the Maxi department store has contributed to the preservation of Ljubljana’s cultural heritage. The range of organics, meanwhile, is supported by events promoting local producers and the store offers a range of Fairtrade lines. Environmental benefits come from a cooling and hot gas defrost system, which preserves product quality and reduces energy costs. In addition, the refrigeration units are cooled with filtered water from the Ljubljanica River, which reduces energy use. There are no condensing units either, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and noise pollution in store.

The results? Between October to May 2008 versus October to May 2007 the store has reported improvements in turnover, margin, basket size and, critically, profit.

As a consequence, Mercator plans to expand the convenience store concept to new locations in major towns and cities where it already has a presence including Zagreb, Belgrade and Sarajevo.

It has a target for 20 convenience stores in 2010, three upmarket grocery stores in 2010 and 60 convenience stores by 2012.

It is currently building deli units for ready-to-eat food to support the development of convenience stores.