Migros is closing down its “social shopping” platform, claiming that while it was a valuable experiment it had failed to achieve its objectives.
The supermarket chain, which is the largest retailer in Switzerland, said the AMIGOS platform had attracted interest from customers and rising demand. Launched in 2018, it allows customers to do shopping for other customers in their neighbourhood.
The customer enters their postcode and then post their shopping list on the www.amigos.ch website. A designated shopper then accepts the order, completes the purchase at a Migros store and brings it to the customer’s home.
The test, which will come to an end on 10 December, took place in Bern and Zurich.
Migros said that it had been looking for ways to enhance the platform since April 2019, but had found for unspecified reasons that further development would have turned AMIGOS into an ordinary commercial shopping platform and contradicted the original social idea.
“Migros would like to thank all customers and carriers for using AMIGOS and bringing it to life during the test phase,” the company said in a statement. “Migros will continue to test innovative projects such as AMIGOS, or currently “mymigros”, in order to be able to offer shopping options tailored to the needs of its customers.”
Matthias Wunderlin, head of marketing at the Federation of Migros Cooperatives, said: “Although AMIGOS is not introduced after the test phase, the project was not in vain for us.
“We have gained experience that is very valuable to us in terms of future projects.”
