Consumers in Germany, according to retail giant Rewe, are still reluctant to order fresh food on the internet. “The area is growing more slowly than many experts assumed,” said Jan Kunath, responsible for the digital business at the Cologne Group, on Wednesday. The development is not as dynamic as it was years ago about book orders on the Internet, Rewe boss Lionel Souque added: “The demand does not come by itself.”
Rewe will continue to invest in digitization and online commerce
“We are ready – if it accelerates, it was there,” said Soupue. Rewe is in Germany in the online trade in fresh food the number one and wants to be in ten years.
Souque Rewe is not seriously threatened by Internet startups
“90 percent of the pure online grocers in Europe have gone bankrupt.” The new competitors are banking on rapid sales growth, but would have the same costs when shopping as traditional traders, he said. It will show whether the newcomers could also write profits. Rewe, with a turnover of more than 60 billion euros and rising profits behind it, could afford experiments with new technologies. “We have to test the topics – they’ll come” Kunath said.
Specific cases
In 2017, online sales of food and delicacies were 1.6 billion euros, according to figures from the HDE trade association in Germany. That was not even one percent of total food sales. Nevertheless, the dealers invest heavily in the new field – especially since the US Internet giant Amazon has entered the business in Germany.
Last year, Rewe opened a distribution center for about 80 million euros near Cologne. The Group is currently also integrating its independent dealers into its online activities – customers should be able to order food via the Internet as well.
Also published on Medium.