Just in time for the weekend, large numbers of brochures from German supermarkets are fluttering into mailboxes. However, retailers are slowly abandoning this tradition – for cost reasons and for the sake of the environment. The Rewe supermarket is also doing away with its paper brochures. Instead, the offers should come to customers via WhatsApp. Are other food retailers following suit?
In view of the climate crisis and advancing digitization, many companies are switching to digital solutions where everything was analog before. The same applies to Rewe. Previously, it was already possible to view the supermarket’s offers online. Now, however, the paper catalog is to be completely abolished. Rewe’s alternative is called WhatsApp.
Rewe prospectus will come via WhatsApp in the future
The flyers have existed at Rewe since the 1930s. Their abolition is therefore a big step for the company. The company announced last year that Rewe would like to abolish its printed catalogue. In July the time has come. Just in time for the start of the new month, the supermarket only distributes its offers online. In doing so, one would like to rely on new media in general and thus relieve the burden on the environment on the one hand, but also open up new marketing opportunities on the other. According to Rewe, the switch saves the printing of 25 million flyers every year and thus more than 73,000 tons of paper, 1.1 million tons of water and 70,000 tons of CO2 and 380 million kWh of electricity.
For years, Rewe has consistently committed itself to sustainability in its corporate strategy and has successively and successfully transformed processes and offers with this in mind. Above all, by means of digitalization – in places where there is added value for customers. With Meta and WhatsApp we have found another good way that offers our customers regional offers and relevant information in an easily accessible way.
Bastian Tassew, Head of CRM & Owned Media at Rewe
From now on, Rewe customers can have a corresponding offer sent to them via WhatsApp every Sunday. WhatsApp is the most popular messenger service in Germany. According to Rewe, tests in the past have been very positive. Both the interest of the customers and the simple handling of the digital offers are given. Initially, Rewe offered both the WhatsApp offer and the classic brochure in parallel. Now, however, the latter is finally gone.
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This is how you get the Rewe offers via WhatsApp
If you want to see what Rewe has to offer in the future, you can look both in the app and on the website. It is also possible to receive messages directly via WhatsApp on your mobile phone. Registration for this digital service takes place on a specially designed website. Rewe provides a QR code there that users can simply scan with their smartphone and open the displayed URL. Alternatively, you can also click on the “Start now” button.
In both cases, customers end up on a page with the Rewe logo and a button that says “Continue to chat”. If you click on it, the WhatsApp messenger opens – if installed – with the message prepared by Rewe: “Send and off you go! 🏷”
If you send the message, the Rewe chatbot asks you to enter your postcode in order to find the relevant Rewe stores nearby. If you want, you can find out about the supermarket’s data protection guidelines in the same breath, which are also sent. If there are several supermarkets to choose from in the catchment area of the postcode, customers can still select their favourites. By subsequently sending this data, you have registered for Rewe’s WhatsApp offers.
What about other supermarkets?
WhatsApp also rates the cooperation with Rewe positively. “We are delighted that our partner Rewe is the first food retailer in Germany to use WhatsApp Business Solutions to digitize its print brochure and reach new and existing customers via one of their preferred communication channels,” says Claudia Studtman, Meta Head of Retail in the DACH countries. If the customers accept the new offer positively, then this or a similar model could definitely also be used in other supermarkets.
Currently, most dealers still offer a paper brochure. The Obi hardware store, for example, did away with paper brochures in 2022 and has been using digital distribution channels ever since. In many supermarket chains, however, things are still traditional. Edeka, for example, is also increasingly using digital distribution channels, but they do not want to get rid of the paper brochure. “We know that many of our customers don’t want to do without the printed flyer, and we want to reach these people too,” said a spokesman for the supermarket. Edeka has been allowing its customers to view the offers both online and via the app for a while. The same applies to Kaufland and the discounters Netto, Lidl and Penny, although the individual design always looks a little different. Aldi expanded its digital range in December 2022 and can now also send this via WhatsApp if desired. Despite everything, you want to stick to the printed handouts. All chains argue with the explicit customer demand for the paper brochure.
TECHBOOK means
“Personally, I think it’s good that Rewe is doing away with paper brochures and will be focusing on digital distribution channels in the future. I was so annoyed by the huge stack of brochures that ended up in my paper box every week that I have now put a sticker on it that says “No advertising please”. In this way, I would like to avoid having to throw numerous brochures in the paper waste unread on a regular basis. If I want to find out about offers, I use the relevant apps or look on the internet. However, I can understand that some people are attached to the classic brochures. Not everyone is as digital as I am and doesn’t want to do without the usual browsing through the small catalogues. In the long term, however, I don’t think the analogue type of distribution has a chance. Eventually, supermarkets will save themselves the cost and hassle to remain profitable.” – Rita Deutschbein, Editor-in-Chief