Background information
From motorised suitcases to dog massagers: the wackiest gadgets at this year’s IFA
by Stefanie Lechthaler
Is this where the next Galaxus product will come from? Our visit to a showroom in China
24.7.2025
The Mu Group in Ningbo, China, has everything you could ever want across six floors. However, as a «normal» customer, I can’t buy anything. The showroom’s for potential merchants and corporate customers only.
Bruce Guo doesn’t fit the mould of the bosses we’ve met so far on our trip to China. They were Chinese men in suits who welcomed us into their offices at low, dark wooden tables with tea and fruit. Usually, there was a heavy ashtray, and we were offered cigarettes from elegant, red and gold packs. Our Galaxus team’s looking for potential partnerships in China.
Bruce, on the other hand, welcomes us to a meeting room that could be found at any startup in Berlin, Zurich or Silicon Valley with its bright colours and simple table. Instead of tea and ashtrays, there are water bottles and Starbucks coffee. The boss is wearing a polo shirt embroidered with his company’s logo.
And he gets straight to the point: «We can supply you with everything. The question is whether we’re pursuing the same strategy…» In perfect English, he talks about supply chains, minimum order quantities and distribution partners. He quickly clicks through a PowerPoint presentation. Almost two billion dollars in sales. 10,000 suppliers. 3,700 employees. But what exactly does MU Group do?
Everything for everyone, except Galaxus
And here’s the major issue: as Digitec Galaxus, we want to have as much control as possible over products that carry our brand. For a square grater, that would mean our own packaging, our own quality benchmark and our own design with the Galaxus logo. And we also want a small minimum order of a few hundred units so we’re not stuck with a huge volume of the product if sales are low.
In contrast, the Mu Group thinks bigger and wants to sell as much as possible. We’d have to store containers full of products at our own risk. If we’d made a mistake in Zurich and failed to hit the mark with our customers, they wouldn’t sell – and we’d be left with a mountain of unsellable goods.
But Bruce Guo still wants to do business with us. We explain the merchant programme, which allows companies to connect directly to the shop under certain conditions. One of the conditions is fast delivery from a warehouse in Europe. «We’re not currently planning to expand with our own warehouses in Europe,» Bruce tells us. The subtext: we don’t depend on you. Galaxus is too small a fish.
Right. No deal then.
As we leave, we’re given a gift: a table sign celebrating the company’s 20th anniversary, and a friendly lady escorts us out of the massive building.
We actually wanted to do a video report in one of the multi-storey showrooms about how we find the next own-brand product. Instead, we ended up with this less serious report.
By the way, you might see a product from the video (or at least a very similar one) in our shop. This is because many brands purchase from showrooms like this, bring the products to Europe and then sell them under their own name. We noticed some items in the showroom that already bore the label of a large Swedish furniture store or a major Japanese chain.
Simon Balissat
Teamleader Editorial
Simon.Balissat@digitecgalaxus.chWhen I flew the family nest over 15 years ago, I suddenly had to cook for myself. But it wasn’t long until this necessity became a virtue. Today, rattling those pots and pans is a fundamental part of my life. I’m a true foodie and devour everything from junk food to star-awarded cuisine. Literally. I eat way too fast.
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