The Rewe supermarket is getting rid of 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 now 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: WhatsApp.
Rewe prospectus will come via WhatsApp in the future
That Rewe its wants to get rid of the printed catalogue, the company has already announced. From July 2023, the supermarket will only distribute 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, this change saves over 70,000 tons of paper and CO2, as well as 1.1 million tons of water and 380 kWh of electricity every year.
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, the first tests in the past few weeks have been very positive. Both the interest of the customers and the simple handling of the digital offers are given.
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This is how you get the Rewe offers via WhatsApp
Registration for the new digital service is now possible. On the corresponding page Rewe provides a QR code. Users can simply scan this 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 supermarket chains still offer a paper brochure. At Edeka you can already view the offers online and via the app. The same or similar applies to Kaufland and the discounters Netto, Aldi, Lidl, Penny and Lidl, although the individual design always looks a little different. Although Aldi would like to expand its digital offering, it would also like to stick to the printed leaflets.
However, concrete steps to abolish the paper prospectus can already be derived in rudimentary form. For example, the Obi hardware store recently announced that it only wants to distribute offers digitally. So the first steps towards the paper-free prospectus have been taken.