Karstadt's employees are to receive a special payment as the German department store group reportedly achieved a profit of €1.4 million last year. The retailer had been unprofitable since 2007 but it went through a restructuring program launched after the takeover of a majority stake by Signa Holding in 2014. Stephan Fanderl told the Lebensmittel Zeitung that the group's sales decline has come to an end as well, but he added that the retailer remained under pressure this year, due to the competition from online retailers as well as unfavorable shifts in bank holidays that reduce the number of open days for Karstadt. The retailer is working on stabilizing the business with a tighter integration of physical and online retail operations. About 7 to 8 percent of its sales are generated from online sales, but the German publication reports that the target is to raise that to 10 percent. Karstadt could take advantage of synergies with online retail entities owned by Signa Holding, such as Hood.de and Dressforless. Karstadt has been investing in digitalization with its Experience Store in Düsseldorf, and a partnership that has led to the installation of Amazon self-service kiosks at 15 stores. Products ordered online may be delivered directly from 30 Karstadt stores, and that number should rise to 79 by the end of the year, Fanderl added. Karstadt is planning an opening in Berlin and studying several other locations. The physical stores could turn into marketplaces, as Karstadt has started teaming up with other retailers to fill up its stores, such as Aldi or Apollo Optik.

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