Commercial fuel retail: fuel cards lead the way in Europe

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Rewe: success in the race for Extra

Having lost out to rival Edeka in the bidding war for the Plus discount chain, Germany's number two grocer Rewe reacted with the purchase of 245 Extra stores from Metro Group. The speedy transaction is a welcome development for both parties, as Metro has long been looking to divest its ailing neighborhood stores. Looking ahead, we expect more consolidation in the German retail market during 2008.

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Edeka: strong prospects

Against a slowly recovering German market, helped by shop opening hour liberalization driving consumers to its neighborhood outlets, Edeka delivered 4.5% growth to reach E31 billion in sales in 2007. Looking ahead, the group plans further expansion and the integration of the recently acquired Plus operation into its outperforming discount concept.

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Autogrill and Elior: driving into Germany

Italian retailer Autogrill and French-owned Elior have both announced new tenancy arrangements with the German motorway services provider Tank & Rast. Given that Tank & Rast holds 90% of all German motorway concessions, the partnership will strengthen Autogrill's and Elior's expansion potential in Europe's largest motorway services market.

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Rewe: renewed focus on convenience

There have been several recent developments at the convenience arm of German retail group Rewe. The company plans to reposition its neighborhood chain Nahkauf through a new and improved concept and store design. Meanwhile, in Austria, Rewe will expand its chain of Billa stop & shop convenience stores into every Jet petrol station in the country.

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Billa: grabbing a share of the food-to-go market

Billa, the Rewe-owned supermarket chain, has opened its first Billa Box convenience store in Vienna, Austria, which will offer food and drink to go. The concept will compete directly with existing food-to-go operators, allowing the retailer to capture a new demographic of customers. The originality of the format places Billa at the forefront of the small convenience store market in the country.

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Temma: organic growth in Germany

The Temma market and deli concept store, opened in Cologne, Germany by Rewe, will retail organic and locally produced food and have a large cafe area. Although the format follows the trend of other German grocers launching organic private label ranges due to increased consumer demand for such goods, higher prices and a niche target market mean potential rollouts will need to be assessed closely.

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Contactless payment technology: at service stations in France and Germany

Fuel retailer Orlen has begun rolling out contactless payment terminals at its service stations in Germany, while in France, Carrefour has announced that it will be deploying readers throughout its entire network. Contactless payments offer benefits such as reduced transaction times and higher convenience, which should give these players a significant competitive edge in the long term.

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Shell: aiming to surpass BP in Germany

Shell has reached an agreement to purchase 44 service stations from leading German grocer, Edeka. The acquisition would enhance Shell's position in Germany as it looks to fend off the threat of supermarket fuel retailers, and pull ahead of its main rival, BP-owned Aral. However, in such a concentrated market, doubts remain as to whether the deal will be approved by the competition authorities.

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OMV: focusing on value-added services to drive market share

Through a partnership with Western Union, fuel retailer OMV is set to offer international money transfer facilities across its network in eight Central and Eastern European countries. This is the second recent venture into the financial services space for OMV, and highlights its high focus on expanding and diversifying its service offering to drive customer satisfaction.

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