JD.com Makes Landmark €2.2 Billion Acquisition of Europe’s Electronics Giant CECONOMY

In a bold move to expand its global footprint, JD.com has announced its largest international acquisition to date—a €2.2 billion deal to acquire Germany-based CECONOMY AG, the powerhouse behind Europe’s top consumer electronics chains, MediaMarkt and Saturn.

CECONOMY operates over 1,000 stores across 12 European countries and reported €22.4 billion in annual sales for 2024, making it a dominant force in the region’s retail landscape. This strategic takeover marks a pivotal moment for JD.com, positioning the Chinese e-commerce titan to integrate its advanced supply chain and logistics capabilities with CECONOMY’s vast brick-and-mortar network.

The acquisition not only signals JD.com’s intent to challenge global rivals like Amazon and Alibaba, but also underscores its commitment to blending online efficiency with offline reach—reshaping the future of retail across continents.

MediaMarkt delivers on the same day

MediaMarktSaturn  is expanding its same-day delivery service for large household appliances. The German market leader has long offered delivery within 90 minutes for packages weighing up to 23 kg (thanks to a partnership with Uber). In some cities in the regions of Cologne, Koblenz and Dortmund, delivery of household appliances such as refrigerators, washing machines or televisions of 42 inches and above is now also available. Pilot projects offer same-day and next-day delivery with three selectable service levels for installation and assembly of the product at the customer’s home.

Mediamarkt grows +7.4% in the first 9 months

Ceconomy , the financial company that controls the Mediamarkt Saturn brand, has published the data relating to its third quarter (April-June) in which it sold 4.52 billion in its 1,026 stores with 43,000 collaborators and 2.5 million square meters of surface area of sale.

The weakness of the German and Eastern European markets meant that the figure was 2.8% lower than that of the third quarter of 2022 but considering the first 9 months of the year, the increase is 2.2%, which becomes 7.4% on a like-for-like basis and at hedged exchange rates.Great satisfaction comes from online sales which have increased by 41% in one year and now represent 21% of sales, reaching almost one billion euros in the quarter. In its Marketplace Mediamarkt offers, in addition to its assortment, the products of a thousand third-party companiesThe weak point of the group, which belongs to the same reference shareholders as Metro , is profitability. Gross margin has not changed at 17.6%, but net margin is 1%. An improvement comes from the cash flow which improved thanks to the reduction in inventory which was 3.38 billion at the end of June 2022 and 2.9 billion in the middle of this year, i.e. from 10.5 to 9.4 weeks of sales. Between now and 2026-27 Mediamarkt has undertaken to increase the share of private label products sold from 2.3 to 5%, to increase its already considerable online market share to 30% (currently 25%) and to bring from 24 to 50 million loyalty card holders.
Mediamrkt also expects growth in profits from the rental of branded space in its stores and from retail media, i.e. the sale to brands and third parties of space on its e-commerce platforms, which should go from the 5 million euro last year to 45 million