GERMANY: Real to acquire Hitmeister online marketplace | Progresiv
German retailer Real, part of Metro group, grows stronger by acquiring the shopping portal Hitmeister. The Real supermarket chain buys the Hitmeister shopping site from Cologne. The value of the deal remains undisclosed and the transaction is subject to approval by the Federal Cartel Office. If there’s a green light to the acquisition, Real wants to take over 100 percent of shares in the company that was started in 2007. 
The Metro retail group, which also includes Media Markt and Saturn chains, intends to reinforce with Hitmeister its digitization efforts. The shop is a "perfect match", says Jan-Philipp Blome, the multichannel and e-marketing responsible at Real. Hitmeister with its range of more than ten million products in over 5,000 categories that, claiming that "typically Real customers generally enjoy a wide range of diversity".
The Hitmeister online department store has long positioned itself as a German counterpart to Amazon. Similar to the US giant, many of the products are sent by Hitmeister itself, furthermore encompass over 5,000 more dealers who distribute their products through the Hitmeister marketplace. The company has 2.5 million customers by its own account. Against Amazon, Hitmeister will arrive with cheaper prices, other payment options, more transparency and a more personalized service, as founder Gerald Schönbucher said in a recent interview. (www.gruenderszene.de)
