REWE - The Future of Retail
The rewe Group is Germany's second largest supermarket chain and the brand of a diversified retail and tourism cooperative founded in 1927. The name rewe is an abbreviation of the German "Revisionsverband der Westkaufgenossenschaften" (Audit Union for Western Buying Cooperatives). Today, the company with its 3,300 stores offers customers in Germany a wide range of modern sales formats and brands that turn shopping into an experience. The company also has an international presence.
REWE is committed to the future of retail, and the company's nahkauf local convenience stores are at the forefront of innovation. REWE's trailblazing plant-based store in Berlin, Germany - called REWE Voll Pflanzlich or "REWE completely plant-based" - is the first of its kind. The store is a great example of REWE's commitment to sustainability and the company's vision for the future of food.
The store features a subdued design based on the principle that less is more, which helps to highlight the products and creates an emotional shopping experience. It is divided into a central fresh square and a number of product groups such as dairy and beverages that guide customers through the store. The store also has a wide selection of organic goods, which is a growing segment in the retail industry.
rewe also operates REWE City, REWE CENTER, nahkauf and TEMMA convenience stores, as well as the REWE To Go ordering service. The Group's second core business – travel and tourism - is operated under the umbrella of DER Touristik Group, one of Europe's leading tour operators.
As part of its commitment to the future of food, REWE is focusing on innovation in the areas of organic and sustainable production. The company has a long-standing partnership with Naturland, and its stores feature a broad range of organic fruits and vegetables. This partnership creates sales opportunities for companies that produce or distribute organic products.
REWE is also focused on automation in the supply chain and is experimenting with autonomous retail stores. The company has partnered with a number of technology companies to develop innovative solutions, including Cimcorp and Trigo. These partnerships create potential sales opportunities for tech companies that provide solutions in the fields of intralogistics and retail analytics.
The company is also working to reduce the amount of plastic it uses, and has a goal of eliminating all single-use plastic by 2025. This is an ambitious goal, but one that the company believes is necessary in order to be a responsible and sustainable retailer.
The company has already made some significant progress in this area, and its partnership with Einride demonstrates the potential for intelligent electric freight as an alternative to traditional transportation methods. The company has plans to implement electric transport in all of its logistics centers by 2025, and it hopes to eventually expand this concept to all its stores. The expansion of this initiative will create additional sales opportunities for companies that offer smart electric vehicle technologies and software.