Aldi, Edeka and Co.: From photos to insurance: What grocery retailers offer

The major supermarket and discount chains in Germany have one thing in common: They don't just sell groceries like fruit, vegetables, sausage, cheese, dairy products, beverages, and frozen foods. Their product range is now significantly broader. Kaufland, for example, has also been offering insurance since this month. An overview of the retail giants' offerings:

Photo development is no longer limited to specialty stores or online retailers like Pixum or PosterXXL. Large retailers like Edeka, Lidl, Aldi , Rewe, and Kaufland also offer this service. Customers can order the photos online and then pick them up.

Mobile phone services have also become established: All chains – including Edeka , Netto, Rewe, Penny, Norma, Aldi, Lidl, and Kaufland – offer their own mobile phone plans. Vacation trips can also be booked through almost all major retailers – with the exception of Kaufland. Rewe goes one step further: It is the only company in the industry to operate its own tour operator. The group includes the tourism division Dertour, Germany's second-largest tour operator.

Marketing professor Stefan Rohrbach from the Stuttgart Media University explains: "Those who manage to be perceived as reliable providers for certain everyday needs, for example, with affordable mobile phone plans or travel planning, are more likely to be remembered."

Kaufland recently began offering insurance in collaboration with the online insurer DA Direkt – a subsidiary of the Zurich Group – initially for additional dental benefits and pets. This offering will be expanded in the future. Edeka operates its own direct bank, Edekabank.

There's also a fear of missing out in retail, said retail expert Carsten Kortum of the Baden-Württemberg Cooperative State University. "Naturally, competitors in an industry closely monitor each other." Many have already gained experience in the insurance business. New product categories or successful promotional items are therefore often quickly copied.

The supermarket chain Rewe offers a delivery service for fresh groceries – as does the online retailer Picnic, in which Edeka has a stake. In addition, some independent Edeka retailers deliver directly to their customers' homes. Discounters, on the other hand, have so far largely relied on delivery services: Aldi Süd is testing such services in selected regions of North Rhine-Westphalia. Other chains sell only non-perishable food in their online stores.

Alternatively, customers can pre-order their purchases online from some retailers and then pick them up in-store. Rewe offers Click & Collect in around 2,000 stores. Regionally, numerous Edeka stores also offer pickup.

In addition to the traditional range of everyday goods, the so-called non-food sector has also been established for some time. This includes product categories such as clothing, garden accessories, home textiles, toys and stationery, as well as household items such as pots and pans.

The discounters and department store Kaufland offer a wider selection here than the supermarkets Rewe and Edeka. More products are available in their online shops than in their stores. Lidl, Kaufland, Netto, and Norma, for example, sell furniture, bicycles, and kitchen appliances, among other things. Aldi Nord and Aldi Süd, however, will close their online shops at the end of September.

Marketing expert Rohrbach explains: "Discounters originally used non-food offers to attract customers to their stores more frequently with changing promotions." But now it's also about tapping into new revenue streams—for example, through mobile communications or insurance.

All major grocery retailers also offer cash withdrawals while shopping. In 2024, customers withdrew €13.57 billion across the entire German retail sector. According to the retail research institute EHI, this was a tenth more than the previous year. Banks are promoting this service while simultaneously removing ATMs.

Many grocery stores also offer gift cards for well-known brands such as Amazon, the streaming service Spotify or the online stores of well-known game console manufacturers.

Many offers depend on the season. For example, Edeka organizes a St. Nicholas promotion every year: Children who decorate their boot using a craft template and hand it in to the store receive it back filled with sweets on St. Nicholas Day. Last year, the discounter Aldi organized its own Christmas market in several German cities. In June 2025, a mobile ice cream parlor was on the road.

One thing is certain: Aldi, Rewe, and others are no longer just grocery retailers. Instead, they are "everyday companions and sources of inspiration for many areas of life," as Kortum emphasizes.

Drugstore chains like dm and Rossmann are also increasingly expanding their product ranges. Customers can now purchase significantly more groceries in their stores than just a few years ago.

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