In November, Galaxus Deutschland celebrated its third birthday – thanks to an amazing, ever-growing Community and a dedicated team. The sites in Krefeld and Hamburg have grown massively. Galaxus Deutschland started with an empty hall and a handful of employees and now employs around 100 people in Germany. Many of the original team members are still on board today. They look back at the early days and tell us what’s changed.
The bare figures are impressive: from zero to roughly 600,000 products in three years. Add to that 100 employees. Not only have we already delivered to over 500,000 customers in Germany, we’ve also added Austria to our list of recipients. How did our colleagues from the early days experience the first three years?
Even though the first months were very exciting, I don’t miss much about those times. Being alone here in Krefeld wasn’t nearly as fun as it is now with this amazing team. Those days were always a bit overshadowed by uncertainty. Nobody knew if Galaxus Deutschland would be a success. Meanwhile, I’ve no doubt about it and look forward to the next years and challenges.»
*Do you want to join us in Krefeld or Hamburg and help stir up online retail? View all vacancies here.
A soft spot for good series, loud music, science fiction and (second division) football. As PR Manager, I am available to answer journalists' questions about Galaxus and honest e-commerce.
Behind the scenes
News about features in our shop, information from marketing and logistics, and much more.
Steffen Beniers, Leader Logistics: «The difference between now and 2018 is incredible. At the time, it was just me and my dog Marshall in the office. After lunch, I’d quickly pop down to pack all the parcels and post the goods receipt. There were no forklifts or other employees around, so Marshall would run around freely. The DHL driver would put the parcels on the passenger seat. Today, six reach trucks drive through the aisles downstairs, 30 to 40 employees have defined processes and work together and we’re looking at several trucks full of parcels leaving the warehouse each day. This difference is mind-boggling, and it’s hard to imagine I was here alone just three years ago.
Steffen (on the right) had the entire warehouse to himself back in 2018
Stephanie Oelmann, Group Leader Logistics: «During those first few days and months, we were six people at most in the entire warehouse. It was all new and exciting, and we were faced with a new challenge every day. Be it understanding the processes or implementing them in Krefeld. All in all, it was a big adventure, and I’m still very grateful for the support we got from our colleagues in Switzerland. Personally, I never felt I was getting on anyone’s nerves with my questions – and still don’t. That helped me a lot.»
Parcel number 10,000 was celebrated both in Krefeld and...
Rasmus Harm, Senior Category Development Manager: «The difference between Hamburg in 2018 and Hamburg in 2021 is that everything is much more professional and regulated now. In the beginning, we just got stuck in without thinking about who was responsible for which areas. Plus, there was much more to do on the side – furnishing the office, for example. Back then it all felt like a big game and a bit of an experiment. Now, we’ve long reached the stage of real work 😉.
If there’s one thing I miss about the old days, it’s that family feel. We just weren’t many people back then, so you had a lot more dealings with everyone. Not least because our roles weren’t fully defined and everyone was in the office, too. At the time, we also all had our say in discussions about strategic matters. Obviously, that wouldn’t be possible today with the number of staff. But it was a lot of fun and a real enrichment to the daily work routine. At the start, everyone had a much broader responsibility for all areas.»
...in Hamburg
Sabine Fillmann, After Sales Operator: «Galaxus in Germany has developed and grown on such a galactic scale! Both in terms of staff and range. When I think back to the beginning, we still had Doner Thursdays 😊, when we’d all drive down to Ali Döner in just two cars. There’s no way we’d still be able to do that. We’d block all of Willich with our cars. Plus, there probably wouldn’t be enough seats to take everyone. When I first started, the warehouse was pretty much empty. These days, every nook and cranny is either a storage or workspace. The work is the same, it’s just more distributed and extensive. It’s nice to grow with the company.»
