Real stands for a multifaceted range of food products offering a great price-performance ratio with a large share of fresh produce complemented by an attractive nonfood assortment. The selling space of the Real stores ranges from 5,000 to 15,000 square metres, with store assortments including up to 80,000 items.
cbi:///cms/236191"Real: one store, you won't need more"cbi:///cms/236192
This is the slogan being used in the new Real advertising campaign, and it succinctly sums up Real's unique profile. Real customers can easily navigate the store and find any everyday item - from food products through electronic equipment to clothes.
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A substantial strengthening of customer orientation represents a key component of the new Real strategy. For this reason, the company has conducted a thorough customer satisfaction analysis. This study has produced 10 key customer groups including "young families", "best agers", "smart budget family" and "traditional hoarder". Based on these insights, Real can now address all customers with a more compelling and targeted approach. Real is committed to ensuring that its customers find exactly what they require for their personal needs when they shop in a Real hypermarket. As this also includes an excellent price-performance ratio, Real has lowered the prices of its key customer groups’ preferred products.
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Real
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Locations 2
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422
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Number of countries 2
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5
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Real sales revenues 1
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€11.0 bn
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EBIT 1
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€102 mn
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Real employees 1
(full-time equivalents as of closing date 31 December)
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50,065
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Total number of articles in product line
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up to 80,000
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Starting in 1992, Real was created from the merger of 13 hypermarket operators with different sales concepts: Real-kauf, divi, Continent, massa, massa-Mobil, Meister, esbella, basar, BLV, Huma and Suma. In 1998, allkauf and Kriegbaum were added to the chain. Each of these companies had a very successful regional track record spanning several decades. In 1998, the chain was expanded by 94 hypermarkets of the Allkauf Group and 20 hypermarkets of the Kriegbaum Group. In May 1999, five stores of extra-Verbrauchermärkte GmbH were added to Real. In 2006, Real acquired Wal-Mart's hypermarkets in Germany, as well as the Polish stores of the French hypermarket chain, Géant.
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Brand articles and strong private labels guarantee a high-quality product line in both the food and non-food segments. Real places a high priority on quality and freshness in the food segment, which accounts for the bulk of sales. Food safety is the highest priority when selecting and buying products. For the first time, Real has been selling products under its own name since autumn 2008. The introduction of the new products is another key part of efforts to sharpen the profile of the Real family brand: Real Quality, Real Bio and Real Selection have successively been introduced at Real hypermarkets. The existing own brand TiP, which is well known across Germany, will remain the budget-priced label. A key focus will be on the Real Quality brand, which comprises products that are comparable to the leading brands of well-known manufacturers. While offering the same quality, they are noticeably less expensive. With a quality made from 100% organic produce or organic farming, the Real BIO products meet even the stringent EU ecological guidelines.
cbi:///cms/236209The brand Real Selection is synonym for products of special quality and extraordinary taste. Not only the ingredients are of excellent quality but also the design of the packaging is absolutely on par with that of well-known premium brands. With these three brands, Real is excellently positioned in the German hypermarket sector. The corresponding articles are not only available in the German hypermarkets but also in Poland, Russia, Romania, Turkey and the Ukraine.
cbi:///cms/236210The company also offers a large selection of electronics, books, sound storage devices, household goods, sports products, toys and leisure products, as well as clothing and shoes. Concepts such as "Beauty & More" (in the drugstore section), "Baby, Kids & Co." (products for children from birth to age 6) and the innovative shop-in-store program, "Best of Books", have demonstrated that Real is a pioneer in German retailing.
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Real places particular emphasis on presenting products in an attractive, well-considered format. An improved customer guidance system makes it easier for customers to navigate the store. The store layout is now easier to understand and satisfies customers’ demands for transparency and the right shopping atmosphere. The modern store layout and more attractive prices also improve the brand profile as a family-friendly company that offers good value for money. Real's balanced combination of self-service and service booths distinguishes it from discounters as well as competing hypermarket operators. Real stores place particular emphasis on providing skilled customer assistance. Accordingly, Real continually makes substantial investments in training for its employees.
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In addition to its attractive pricing, Real's market success can be attributed to a sophisticated logistics system: state-of-the-art processing of scheduling and invoicing, automated inventory management and computerised ordering systems facilitate on-time store deliveries.
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Real focuses on innovation and qualitycbi:///cms/236221
Real's self-image has traditionally emphasised a high degree of innovative ability. The company highlights its leadership position in this area by continually deploying new technologies in its stores. For example, Real continues to be the only German retailer that offers self-service check-outs - at more than 60 locations - in addition to traditional check-out counters. In such facilities, customers can scan their purchases themselves and therefore can determine how long the check-out process takes. In addition, all stores are already equipped with "smart" scales that automatically recognise different types of fruits and vegetables, thereby simplifying price labelling.
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Since November 2010 Real opened the first independent drive-in store and thereby once again underscores its role as an innovation driver in the retail sector. The easily accessible Real Drive pick-up station in Isernhagen-Altwarmbüchen near Hanover is the first test store. It operates independently from the neighbouring Real hypermarket and will exclusively cater to Drive customers. Next year, Real will decide whether the concept is to be extended to other cities in Germany.
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PAYBACK: Germany's most successful loyalty card systemcbi:///cms/236229
Real continues to use the Payback programme to foster customer loyalty. The programme offers customers preferred buying conditions at numerous German payback partner companies as well, including retailers, online platforms and insurance providers. Since the start of the programme in March 2000, Real has acquired 9 million of the total roughly 45 million Payback card holders. The Payback card is used in more than half of all check-out processes.
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