Oliver Merckens

  • German (mother tongue)
  • French (mother tongue)
  • English (business fluent)
  • Spanish (basics)
  • Retail (mother tongue)
  • Person certified Trainer, Coach and Consultant New Work
    (MESH ACADEMY Wien / Frankfurt), 2021
  • Professional Leadership within zooplus
    (Proaktiv Management AG, München), 2018
  • Excellence in Leadership
    (Haniel Akademie, Duisburg), 2016
  • Advanced Negotiation Skills
    (Scotwork, Düsseldorf), 2014
  • Positive Power & Influence
    (METRO School of Development, Paris), 2013

Study of business administration, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster

Partners

“If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.”
Henry Ford

Growing up in the Aachen region as the son of a French mother and a German father, I got it early in the cradle – the savoir vivre paired with discipline and thoroughness. Curiosity and interest in other people and cultures have driven me out into the world, both professionally and privately.

Nevertheless, I have remained true to the Rhineland. Today I live here with my family close to Düsseldorf. In my free time I like to be active: hiking, tennis, golf, skiing and recently gravel biking.

With almost 20 years of professional experience in retail, 15 of them at METRO, I can justifiably claim to have learned retail from the bottom up. I have successfully revised and rebuilt assortments, conducted countless purchasing negotiations. And how many shelves I have personally stocked in recent years as part of new concepts or store remodels!

But I am far from being operationally blind.

Numerous national and international projects, as well as my time within the Category Management & Procurement department at zooplus, the No. 1 European e-commerce company for pet food, have provided me with the necessary perspective.

2.500

Negotiations led

1.500

Contracts concluded

15

Years of purchasing experience

5.000

Articles managed

I speak retail, I live retail.

With my intuition for retail and the people behind it, I know exactly where the shoe pinches. The passion for retail is anchored in my DNA.

Despite my pragmatism and entrepreneurial mindset, I never lose sight of the details without getting lost in them. As a consultant, my approach is based on coaching and process support. I am firmly convinced that real change must come from within – from within the organization.

Change starts in the mind.

With my view of the big picture, I manage to connect employees in the team and topics and thus raise unused potentials.

My approach is not that of a classic management consultant who comes into a company from the outside as a rationalizer. The additional training to become a Coach, Trainer and Consultant New Work has strengthened my conviction that in an increasingly complex working world, employees need to be involved in a completely different way.

With a strong team you lay the milestone for a healthy growth of your company. Together with you, I would like to create individual solutions that will steer your company into a long-term and sustainable competitive future

Feel free to contact me without obligation for a first meeting