German supermarket group Rewe is preparing itself for Amazon's expansion of its food delivery services to Germany.
The second-biggest German food retailer has said that it does not expect to make a profit from online e-commerce immediately, but rather wants to be prepared for when online retail giant Amazon enters the market.
"We know that we will still not work profitable for several years, but it is not blowing money," Rewe chief executive Alain Caparros told Reuters in an interview.
He said that the customer is changing, adding that, "They want to have it easy and we have to prepare ourselves for that. The online customer is our opportunity to become the number one in Germany. The train is leaving the station and I want to be on it."
Grocery e-commerce has moved slowly so far in Germany due to the fact that there is a very high density of supermarkets and discounters like Aldi and Lidl across the country.However, it is growing.
As report by Reuters, a recent survey, carried out by management consulting firm AT Kearney, showed that 38 per cent of Germans had tried online food retailing in 2014. In 2013 it was only 27 per cent and just 18 per cent in 2011.
According to Caparros Amazon - which already delivers groceries to several US cities - has recently secured logistic sites in Germany in order to expand its grocery delivery services to its second biggest market after the USA. "When they come, they will come with a big bang" he said.
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