Buyers at MediaMarktSaturn, Currys, and Fnac are already filtering range additions by criteria that did not exist two years ago. The brands losing ground are those with fragmented strategies. The ones gaining it have built the infrastructure.
The online vs. offline debate is resolved. Consumers do not observe the distinction, and neither do winning brands. What the market now rewards is structural: unified commerce execution, physical retail treated as a brand investment, data brought to every buyer meeting, sustainability credentials that satisfy listing criteria, and an outsourced operating model that scales without proportional fixed costs.
Five trends are shaping the competitive landscape in 2025. What follows is what each one demands — and what it costs to ignore it.
1. Omnichannel is No Longer Optional — It's Survival
The old "brick-and-mortar vs. online" debate is officially dead. Shoppers today don't care about channels — they care about convenience. They might discover a product on Instagram, research it on Google, check reviews on Amazon, visit a store to see it in person, and then buy it online. They expect their basket to transfer from app to store without re-entering it. They expect the store price to match the app price. They expect delivery options to be visible at the shelf.
Yet many brands still operate with fragmented retail strategies. The winners in 2025 will be the brands that create a genuinely unified commerce experience — where D2C, marketplace, and physical retail work together instead of against each other.
2. Physical Retail is Becoming a Brand Asset, Not Just a Sales Channel
The most forward-thinking CE brands are treating their retail presence as a marketing investment, not just a distribution channel. In-store experiences, demo stations, and brand experience zones drive awareness, trust, and online conversion — not just direct sales.
Brands investing in quality physical presence at MediaMarktSaturn, Currys, and Fnac are seeing the downstream effects in their e-commerce numbers. The store is the brand's most credible media channel.
3. Data is the New Currency of Retail Relationships
Retailers increasingly expect brands to show up with data — sell-through analytics, category intelligence, and consumer insights. Brands that can walk into a buyer meeting with clear performance data and a forward-looking plan are winning the shelf space and co-op marketing budgets.
Investing in retail data infrastructure is no longer a "nice to have" — it's the price of entry for serious EMEA retail partnerships.
4. Sustainability is Reshaping Product Listings
Across Europe, sustainability credentials are shifting from differentiator to requirement. MediaMarktSaturn's BetterWay programme, Currys' green product ranges, and national regulations on energy efficiency and repairability are creating new listing criteria.
CE brands that have invested in sustainability certifications (EPEAT, Blue Angel, repairability scores) will have a structural advantage in EMEA retail negotiations for years to come.
5. The RaaS Model is Accelerating
Retail-as-a-Service — the full outsourcing of European retail operations to a specialist partner like nonplusultra — is gaining momentum as brands realize the speed, cost-efficiency, and expertise advantage it offers over building in-house teams.
We launched Starlink across major European CE retailers in four months using this model. Building the same infrastructure in-house typically takes 12–18 months. For brands that want to scale across EMEA without the complexity and fixed costs of local offices, distributor negotiations, and field teams in 10+ countries, that gap is the case for RaaS.
MediaMarktSaturn is already filtering range additions by BetterWay qualification. Currys is doing the same with green product tiers. Brands that arrive without sustainability documentation are removed from consideration before the commercial conversation starts.
nonplusultra helps consumer electronics brands navigate every one of these trends — from omnichannel strategy to retail data infrastructure, from sustainability positioning to full RaaS delivery. Talk to us about your EMEA build.