To provide an overview of the most important strategic topics, Stefan Görgens, COO PENNY, invited selected areas to the start of the year. Lionel Souque praised the development of PENNY.
Lionel Souque believes that REWE Group is well positioned and equipped.
What are the most important topics this year? And what were the most important milestones of the past year? Answers to these questions were provided at the PENNY annual kick-off, to which Stefan Görgens, COO PENNY, invited the CEO of the REWE Group, Lionel Souque, colleagues from the Human Resources, Controlling, Strategy, Corporate Communications, Merchandise, Logistics and Sales departments, the five regional management chairmen and other regional representatives to the Konventhaus at the Große Ledder seminar hotel in Wermelskirchen on 2 February.
"For me, it's about teamwork, focus and implementation quality," said Stefan Görgens, COO PENNY, introducing the event. "Our customers see PENNY as a whole and they don't care who is responsible for what in our organisation. That's why we must always see PENNY as a whole and work on improving our cross-functional collaboration." Stefan Görgens sees a further focus on concentrating on the essentials. The ongoing remodelling of the market hall concept is a top priority. In the meantime, PENNY has converted almost 800 stores to this unique and pioneering concept in the German discount sector in a major tour de force - the remodelling stores are closed for around a week. All eligible stores will be converted by the end of the year. Due to the heterogeneous network, an adapted model must be developed for locations with less than 700 square metres in order to utilise the full potential of the market hall concept there as well. Another concern of the COO: "We must continue to work on the quality of implementation: When we have finished with a topic in the administration and head offices, then the real work begins. A topic is only complete when it has been implemented 100 per cent in every store," said Stefan Görgens.
However, looking back is also part of taking stock. "If you look at the news, 2022 was another year of crisis. Nevertheless, we were able to further improve in the key economic indicators - revenue and earnings. I would like to expressly thank all my colleagues at the head offices, in Logistics and in the stores for this. We are strategically well positioned. We have the right concepts and product ranges. But despite our success, we must not let up. It won't get any easier," summarised Stefan Görgens. It is therefore all the better that PENNY can rely on continuity. "We have a clear goal and a long-term strategy. We will continue to pursue this in a focussed manner, there is no reason for operational hecticness," said the COO.
Lionel Souque: We are focussing on continuity at PENNY
Lionel Souque was happy to take up this idea: "At the beginning of the year, we expanded the Management Board to seven members, meaning that all of the most important overarching functions such as HR, Digital and Purchasing are now represented at Group level. We want to become even more dynamic, efficient and better." The first signs of easing can currently be observed - for example, electricity prices and commodity prices such as oil are falling again significantly. However, the consequences of the war in Ukraine, inflation and rising prices across the board for customers are likely to continue to impact consumer habits. "Price sensitivity for food remains high," emphasised Lionel Souque. Overall, however, the CEO believes that REWE Group is well equipped with its current strategy.
Gallery Walk on current topics, challenges and solutions
The afternoon Gallery Walk, where colleagues from the merchandise, sales, marketing, logistics and HR departments reported on current topics and strategic focal points, showed what this means in concrete terms for PENNY. The topics ranged from brand bikes to mobile emergency power generators for warehouse locations, tough negotiations with the industry on terms and conditions, own-brand architecture and targeted trainee recruitment. In lively discussions, it quickly became clear that PENNY is not experiencing a midlife crisis despite its 50th birthday.
This was confirmed by the five chairmen of the PENNY regions' management teams. However, in a panel discussion moderated by Head of Human Resources Nico Lehm, they all emphasised that the past few years had demanded a lot from the employees in the stores and that the mood among customers was sometimes very tense. This makes it all the more important to ease the burden on colleagues wherever possible.
Digital solutions to relieve employees in the stores
Digitalisation plays a central role at PENNY. Be it in the form of Scan&Go, apps or electronic price tags, which will be rolled out for the first product groups this year. In line with this, Lorenz Determann, Head of Analytics Transformation, ventured a look into the near future in his presentation and gave exciting insights into the practical possibilities that already exist today with regard to the use of artificial intelligence.
"We have a clear course for PENNY. If we continue to pursue this consistently, we will make PENNY even more successful together," stefan Görgens summarised the day.
