Who we are

Securing the future of local retail.

Purchasing group, marketing association, competence network – EK delivers a broad range of services to its roughly 4,000 retail partners throughout Europe. As a buying association with around 560 employees, we are focused on guiding mid-sized, owner-operated retail companies into the digital future. 

We negotiate attractive purchasing conditions for our dealers, support them with professional offline and online marketing, optimal purchasing and ordering processes, and organise a comprehensive network of service providers that supports individual business owners with services they cannot perform themselves.

As the link between retail, industry, and external service providers, we also serve as a networking hub, facilitating interactions and discussions between many different players. We work to ensure everyone understands each other’s needs better, and we help initiate changes that everyone can benefit from.

Added value through interdisciplinarity
Our retail partners sell many different product ranges – as specialist companies or across a variety of different sectors. We are structured as a cross-sector buying association, in order to provide individual retailers with the best possible support. Therefore our business model is focused on the six strategic business segments EK Home, EK Fashion, EK Living, EK DIY, EK Sport and EK Books.

The goods we sell range from home living to household appliances, furnishings, kitchen, lighting, electrical installations and DIY products to toys, books, and stationery, baby gear, fashion, home textiles, sporting goods, leather goods, and jewellery.

Outstanding market position
This makes us the only buying association in Europe that can offer these product ranges from a single source. The advantages speak for themselves: Our retailers profit from significant cost advantages and streamlined processes and a range of services that we are continuously developing - just as the permanent changes in the retail sector require.