Anyone wanting to shop in a METRO wholesale store needs a customer card. Small business owners can obtain it by presenting their certificate of incorporation. It’s different with the digital METRO Marketplace, which is also accessible to private individuals without a METRO card.
What’s it all about?
- What is a customer card?
- What is the METRO card?
- How do you apply for a METRO card?
- What benefits do METRO customers enjoy?
What is a customer card?
Under certain conditions, customers get a customer card from a company. With the card, they enjoy certain benefits, such as discounts, rebates, bonuses or participation in prize draws. Sometimes, however, customer cards are a prerequisite for claiming benefits from the company, for example being allowed to shop there. In this way, they support customer retention and are part of the marketing strategy. Customer cards also hold customer-specific data that the company uses to better classify the target group.
What is the METRO card?
The METRO card – as a typical physical card or in its digital version on the METRO app – entitles customers to shop in METRO wholesale stores. Only cardholders are entitled to enter the wholesale store and purchase goods there. If a customer forgets their card and is also not carrying the digital customer card, they can get a day pass from employees at the customer entrance to the wholesale store.
How do you apply for a METRO card?
Anyone who is self-employed can apply for a METRO card. It doesn’t matter which sector the applicant works in. They can operate a hospitality business or be an independent grocery store. The important thing is that they can prove their independence with a certificate of incorporation that’s no more than a year old. If this evidence is more than a year old, an official document from the last year and/or digital tax records from the last three months are also required to show that the business is still in good standing. After the application form is completed, whether in the wholesale store or on the METRO website , and the certificate of incorporation and personal identification have been presented, employees in the store check the application. After approval, they issue a temporary card to enable the applicant to go shopping right away. Holders of the METRO card can set up temporary and permanent purchasing authorisations, for example so that their employees can shop on their behalf at METRO. In exceptional cases, it’s also possible for a third person not connected to the business to be authorised to make purchases.
Although making purchases in METRO wholesale stores is only available to cardholders, this isn’t the case online. In the METRO Marketplace , which is likewise tailored to the HoReCa sector, private individuals without their own business or a METRO card can also make purchases.
What benefits do METRO customers enjoy?
METRO customers benefit from a product range optimised for their needs at attractive, permanently affordable prices. In the METRO Marketplace, they can find over 20,000 food items and over 30,000 non-food items. By registering with myMETRO, customers can set up a digital customer account, where they can manage their personal data and have access to the website and all other METRO applications. Alongside important customer data, the digital customer card is also stored in the digital account in the METRO App. Via the personal account, they also receive newsletters and information on current promotions. Last but not least, invoices can be paid and accessed digitally in the METRO app to save you time. Furthermore, METRO customers have a personal point of contact at their side at all times. Every METRO customer has their own personal customer manager from the sales force – in person, by email or by telephone. Knowledgeable employees are likewise available in every wholesale store to support customers as they shop.
When a METRO customer recruits new customers and they sign up successfully, the original customer receives a goods voucher worth €50.