Frank Hensel, CEO of Rewe Austria, is convinced that eventually there will be less grocery stores and a strong grocery e-commerce instead, reports Austrian ORF.
In order to secure stable market shares for the Austrian retail group Hensel plans on extending its online shops and grocery delivery services.
Rewe Group subsidiaries Billa and Bipa already do have online stores, which Rewe plans to extend greatly.
Billa's overall online turnover increased by almost 50 per cent in the last year, says Hensel, but is still relatively small when compared to other retailer's online stores, according to Austrian newspaper Wiener Zeitung.
Additionally the Group's supermarket chain Merkur will launch its grocery delivery service for all customers today that will offer home delivery services in seven out of the nine Austrian states. Up until now Merkur only offered online deliveries to corporate clients.
However, Hensel points out that the primary focus lies solely on securing existing market shares and not so much on growing overall online-shares.
Spar, which is the Rewe's biggest competitor in Austria, has not launched an online shop yet. Hensel sees an advantages here, saying that Rewe has to be "participating right form the start."
© 2015 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news.
