A successful distri­bution system

Demand determines supply, and this supply – i.e. products and services – should be available as quickly and conveniently as possible. Tchibo is a perfect example. Since its founding in 1949, this has been one of the company’s central guidelines.

Max Herz and Carl Tchilling-Hiryan deliberately chose mail order as their delivery system because it was faster, more convenient, and more efficient for customers. It quickly became clear that there was a great deal more potential waiting to be tapped. Over the next 60 years Tchibo not only extensively expanded both its Food and Non Food ranges, but also spread its distribution system to various reliable channels that have since proven enormously successful. As well as on the Internet via Tchibo direct and countless Tchibo online shops, our products are sold in high street shops such as bakeries, drugstores, and photo stores, in supermarkets and at Tchibo franchise shops.

Shops

The scent of ground coffee beans, the aroma of freshly brewed coffee, and Tchibo’s compelling product realms: the heart of the Tchibo experience beats in the Tchibo shops, where the fascination of coffee is brought to life. The first Tchibo shop opened its doors in downtown Hamburg in 1955 – six years after the company was founded. Today, Tchibo’s 900 or so shops are a familiar sight in German city centres. The Non Food, Coffee and Coffee Bar divisions form an up-to-date and harmonious three-in-one shop concept. A consistent layout helps customers to quickly locate “their” Tchibo product. There are now Tchibo shops in Austria, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, Hungary and Turkey. Regular training ensures our employees meet our knowledge and information standards. This is important, as helpful service should be informative as well as friendly.

Franchise

We are currently revising our franchise concept in order to offer our partners and our mutual customers even better service in future. For this reason, we will not be accepting any new partners for our franchise programme until 2010, and hope for your understanding in this matter. Please direct all questions to Franchise@tchibo.de.

Depots

The establishment of concessions, or depots, in bakeries in 1963 marked the start of the large-scale development of the Tchibo coffee roasting distribution network. Today, the customer will find Tchibo products and the Gala von Eduscho coffee assortment at Depot partners from various sectors such as food retail, bakeries and drugstores.

Tchibo direct: catalogue and online orders

Originally founded as a mail-order company in 1949, Tchibo completely reorganised its mail-order system in 1996. Non Food products could now be ordered through the mail-order magazine in addition to the coffee range. Published monthly, the mail-order magazine presents Tchibo’s coffee range along with four Non Food ranges.
From 1997, Tchibo is also available on the Internet after expanding its direct-to-customer business into the online realm. Customers can browse and order Tchibo roasted coffees, the Non Food range of the current week and the past three weeks, and attractive additional offers online at www.tchibo.de, www.tchibo.ch and www.eduscho.at. Residents of 18 other EU countries can order select Tchibo Non Food items at www.tchibo.eu. Customers can now conveniently book Tchibo travel or obtain information about other products such as Tchibo insurance, all via the Internet. Several times a year, Tchibo runs exclusive online promotions and special offers. Today, Tchibo is one of the most popular online vendors.