The world of commerce is currently undergoing a period of upheaval. And the increasing pressure of international competition is accelerating the changes taking place in this sector. In order to ensure future success, retailers must optimize their concepts and reduce their costs. At the same time, companies must identify the individual requirements of consumers more quickly and with greater precision and react fast to change. Modern technologies are a great help in this.

Until now, only individual applications of new technologies and concepts have been employed in trading and retailing; within the framework of the METRO Group Future Store Initiative, companies are for the first time linking innovative technologies in a complex way. The objective is to increase efficiency along the entire supply chain. The various cooperating partners are also developing and testing applications which offer customers more service, more information and more convenience.