Tchibo is not only one of Germany’s most long-established companies, but also one of the country’s largest consumer goods and retail companies. Since its founding in 1949, the group has expanded its distribution network, setting itself apart from its competitors. In addition to local Tchibo stores and its own online shop, Tchibo now also operates Tchibo depots through depot partners such as grocery stores, drugstores, and bakeries. While the brick-and-mortar retailer provides the space for the shop-in-shop and handles product billing, Tchibo centrally manages and controls pricing. The connection required for this is enabled by M2M SIM cards from WhereverSIM.
“We currently operate just under 8,000 Tchibo locations in Germany—for example, in Edeka and Rewe stores—where we use digital price tags,” said Katharina Löffler, who oversaw the rollout at Tchibo IT. These digital price tags, also known as electronic shelf labels, are located on shelves in retail stores and allow product information—such as prices and product descriptions—to be displayed and updated digitally in real time. They enable retailers to manage pricing and products efficiently without manual labeling. And—as in the case of Tchibo—they enable remote, centralized control of prices across various retail locations.
The shop-in-shop systems on the sales floors of stationary retailers are among the most important sales platforms for Tchibo. The digital labels are controlled centrally via Tchibo's administrative site in Hamburg. To ensure that this works smoothly and that price adjustments, for example, can be transmitted immediately to a depot, they need a connection.
“We use an in-house IoT solution that incorporates an M2M SIM from WhereverSIM to communicate with our depots. The SIM card enables the devices to send and receive data via cellular networks,” Löffler continues. “WhereverSIM’s technical support team provided us with incredible assistance throughout the entire process, right up to the deployment of the hardware. That was truly outstanding service.”
In our collaboration with WhereverSIM, it wasn’t just the technical support that impressed us, but also the SIM card itself. Löffler: “During our analysis, we noticed that some devices were connected to Polish networks, even though the retail location is in Germany. At first we were puzzled, but then it became clear that the foreign network at that location had better reception than the German network. So those networks were used instead.” With a SIM from WhereverSIM, devices on the same plan can also use mobile networks from neighboring EU countries—in this case, Poland. In general, the SIM cards allow devices to access the strongest local network at any location, ensuring data transmission that is as seamless as possible everywhere.
