Hofer, supermarket
The discount grocery store Hofer is relying on a digital offensive. But there is also a lot planned in analogue.
As reported, the Aldi-Süd Group, to which the local discounter Hofer belongs, is investing 1.5 billion euros in a digital offensive. Supermarket checkouts or price tags as we know them will soon be a thing of the past ( “Today” reported). But it should also work analogously.
The redesign of the markets is planned. The main topic here: more space, wider aisles and even more choice.
The aim is to increasingly focus on customer needs such as regionality, organic or vegetarian / vegan product lines. Fresh articles should also be given a “very, very high priority” and move directly to the entrances. According to Hofer General Director Horst Leitner, this is an assortment that cannot easily be replaced by online trading.
With “Hofer delivers” customers can already order a large number of non-food products, such as e-bikes or garden houses, online and have them delivered directly to their homes. According to Leitner, the time is not yet ripe for their own online shop, which the competition is already running successfully.
More than 90 percent of Austrians can already reach a branch in less than 15 minutes, and further expansion is not that easy, according to the Hofer boss. Austria is one of the countries with the highest density of supermarkets. “It is difficult to be able to offer our customers the shopping experience they are used to from Hofer in an area of less than 600 square meters, which is why we do not focus on corresponding locations,” explains Leitner in an interview with the industry magazine “Regal”.
At the turn of the year there were 530 Hofer branches in Austria, including eleven former Zielpunkt stores.
