Current state of grocery delivery services in Germany and beyond

The market for grocery delivery services has clearly cooled and reorganized after the pandemic-driven boom. While numerous providers competed aggressively for market share at the peak, the picture today is far more consolidated: established grocery retailers have secured the strongest positions, while many independent rapid-delivery services have disappeared again.

Leading grocery retailers now clearly dominate the delivery business.

REWE, in particular, operates the largest and most stable nationwide full-range delivery service and continues to invest in modern delivery concepts such as low-emission vehicle fleets and pilot projects for autonomous delivery models. According to a PwC analysis from 2025, REWE also generates a substantial share of its online revenue via its store network, thereby optimizing its logistics structure.

EDEKA relies heavily on Picnic. The online-only supermarket works with fixed delivery rounds and predictable routes, resulting in more efficient capacity utilization. Industry reports indicate that this approach has allowed Picnic to secure a leading market position in many regions.

Amazon Fresh also remains a relevant provider in selected major cities.

The “rapid” delivery services that attracted significant attention during the pandemic were unable to sustain their business models in the long term. Providers such as Getir and Gorillas have withdrawn completely from the German market. According to industry analyses, this was primarily due to structurally unprofitable cost models.

The reasons are strikingly consistent:

• extremely high personnel costs relative to small basket sizes
• expensive inner-city micro-warehouses
• poorly predictable routes and therefore low utilization
• high marketing spend to stimulate spontaneous orders

In short: too little revenue per order met excessively high fixed and operating costs.

The only remaining player is Flink, which has streamlined its model and now cooperates closely with REWE – a clear indication that pure rapid-delivery services are hardly viable on their own.

The market is smaller today, but significantly more stable. Demand patterns have changed: customers order less spontaneously and more often place larger, planned weekly shops. Many retailers now offer delivery services and click & collect in parallel and actively promote both channels to reduce costs while remaining flexible in meeting different customer needs.

Key market trends:

• focus on predictable delivery time windows
• larger baskets instead of small spontaneous purchases
• combination of home delivery and pickup stations
• closer integration of brick-and-mortar retail and digital channels

This is giving rise to a hybrid, more sustainable model shaped primarily by large retailers.

Despite the stabilization, online grocery remains challenging. Last-mile costs are high, logistics are complex due to temperature-controlled supply chains, and grocery retail traditionally operates on thin margins.

Key challenges include:

• high personnel costs for picking and delivery
• strict temperature requirements across multiple cooling zones
• vehicle and energy costs combined with limited delivery areas
• efficiency pressure driven by rising customer expectations
• low margins per order

Retailers are responding with minimum order values, delivery fees, and optimized route planning. At the same time, investment in automation and digital route optimization is increasing.

Similar developments can be observed internationally. In France, the click-and-collect “drive” model is widespread, allowing customers to order online and load pre-picked groceries directly into their cars at pickup points. The UK is among the most mature e-food markets in Europe: providers such as Tesco, Sainsbury’s, and the online-only retailer Ocado operate highly automated logistics infrastructures and offer stable nationwide delivery coverage. In the US, platforms such as Instacart handle central logistics for numerous retailers and are tightly integrated into their processes.

Overall, these markets also show that strong positions are primarily held by large retail chains or closely affiliated service providers, while pure rapid-delivery services have rarely proven sustainable in the long term.

Developments in recent years clearly show that the market today lies firmly with traditional grocery retailers. REWE operates the largest delivery service itself, EDEKA uses Picnic as a financially stable partner model, and external providers such as Flink now play only a complementary role and are increasingly embedded within retail structures.

The German grocery delivery market has largely stabilized and is now retailer-driven. The phase of rapid delivery start-ups is over, as their business models proved unsustainable in the long run. Today, REWE, EDEKA/Picnic, and Amazon Fresh dominate with more realistic, predictable, and economically viable delivery structures. Despite ongoing challenges in logistics and margins, the sector now appears significantly more robust.