Alpha Tonträger Vertriebs GmbH, based on Kletthamer Feld in Erding, is expanding its business field considerably and will in future also be selling toys, sporting goods and merchandise products, i.e. international licensed products such as fan equipment, among other things.
Erding - Because this goes hand in hand with stronger internationalization, Alpha, which was founded as a family company 49 years ago, is now trading as Alpha trading solutions.
For this, the executive suite is being expanded.
Tim Mörtl joins the owner Pierre Pfeiffer and managing director Rainer Laufs as the third managing director, who most recently worked as an authorized signatory.
There is also a new logo.
The trigger for the realignment at Alpha was the “ongoing digitization in the entertainment industry,” reports Pfeiffer: “Over the past five decades, we have established a profitable business model in the sale of games, video and audio carriers.
But we were aware at all times that our business model had to develop consistently. ”You are faced with“ challenges due to the megatrend of digitization that are hard to beat in terms of speed and intensity ”.
According to Pfeiffer, the core competence remains the sale of non-food products and the provision of individual services, for example in retail.
Now there are further service offers from the areas of sales, logistics and online trading.
Examples are the operation of online shops, warehousing or the pure transport of non-food products on behalf of Alpha customers.
Another aspect is the so-called drop shipping.
For this purpose, Alpha has existing connections to numerous high-turnover online shops in Germany.
This means that the products that are stored at Alpha are available for sale in the major online shops and are sent to end customers on behalf of the online retailer when the order is received.
Alpha also wants to become more flexible in its current business.
The company is known because it offers complete solutions for supermarkets and drugstores, but also specialist stores for entertainment electronics, for example equipping entire departments with CDs, DVDs and games.
Alpha is thus reacting to the changed customer behavior.
“In times when we are constantly online, make spontaneous decisions and can place orders via smartphone at any time of the day, traditional bulk shopping is no longer up to date.
Today we consume in small units, but are more frequented.
We see additional business potential here and have therefore further developed our business model according to this principle, ”explains Mörtl.
This means that Alpha no longer has to commission the entire complete solution, but the company can be commissioned for individual services such as warehousing or the transport of goods.
Pfeiffer also recognizes new potentials and opportunities beyond the image and sound carrier market, which has become volatile due to the wide range of streaming services.
Who will buy a CD when the entire album can be downloaded in seconds with a few clicks?
That is why the product portfolio will be supplemented “strategically and generalistically”, the company announced.
Alpha currently also sells toys, digital children's audio boxes, sporting goods and international licensed products.
To this end, they want to continue working with start-ups.
In the 2019/2020 financial year, Alpha said it delivered around 13 million products from German and international manufacturers and placed them in retail chains.
The company achieved a turnover of around 100 million euros.
Alpha employs around 300 people.
Until a few years ago, Alpha operated its own stores - in Erding-West and in the city center.
But digitization has made this business area increasingly uneconomical.
Logisticians are not without controversy in Erding.
They (also) have a reputation in the city council for generating cheap jobs and a lot of traffic.
The fact that the established company Alpha is also included is often overlooked in the debate.
Incidentally, even Erdinger Weißbräu is a logistician in the city - with hundreds of employees and high trade tax payments.
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