Screenshot 2025-03-28 at 15.48.27

- 41:46

Interview

or listen on

Where Retail Innovation Gets Real: Inside Schwarz Group with Mirko Saul

📍Cologne, Germany

At the heart of Schwarz Group’s technology strategy is a clear mission: innovate with purpose, scale with precision, and maintain full control over data and operations. As one of the largest retailers globally — operating brands like Lidl and Kaufland with over 14,000 stores — the group’s approach to innovation is anything but experimental. It’s rigorous, measured, and deeply integrated into the business strategy.

Innovation begins with a problem-first mindset. Rather than chasing the latest trends, the team at Schwarz Digital identifies pain points across the organization and actively scouts technologies that can solve them. Every potential solution is pressure-tested in a lab store — a fully operational replica of a retail environment, minus the customers. This allows teams to safely validate everything from AI-powered self-checkout to robotics, loss prevention, and computer vision tools before even considering real-world deployment.

What sets Schwarz Group apart is its long-term vision and commitment to sovereignty. Unlike most retailers who rely on third-party hyperscalers, the group has built its own cloud infrastructure, cybersecurity systems, and even partnered with AI providers like Aleph Alpha to ensure full compliance with European regulations. This vertical integration extends beyond tech — the company also owns its food production, ocean freight, and recycling operations, all in pursuit of operational independence.

True innovation at this scale isn’t just about technology — it’s about organizational buy-in. New tools must not only work but be adopted by employees across thousands of locations. Patience, change management, and strategic timing are just as critical as the tech itself. And while many ideas may never scale, the group treats every test as a learning opportunity — because knowing what not to scale can be just as valuable.

Listen more

Interview

Korea: How Lotte Group Rethinking Retail in the World’s Most Digitized Market

At the center of Lotte’s reinvention is a singular, unifying vision: to become the customer’s number one shopping destination, no matter the format or channel.

At the center of Lotte’s reinvention is a singular, unifying vision: to become the customer’s number one shopping destination, no matter the format or channel.

Interview

At the center of Lotte’s reinvention is a singular, unifying vision: to become the customer’s number one shopping destination, no matter the format or channel.

Korea: How Lotte Group Rethinking Retail in the World’s Most Digitized Market

At the center of Lotte’s reinvention is a singular, unifying vision: to become the customer’s number one shopping destination, no matter the format or channel.

Markets

What NRF APAC 2025 Revealed About the Future of Retail

Earlier this month, we attended NRF APAC 2025 in Singapore, and it was nothing short of extraordinary. With over 9,500 attendees from 72 countries gathered at the iconic Marina Bay Sands, the event was a true melting pot of ideas, cultures, and bold innovations that are shaping the future of retail in the Asia-Pacific region.

Earlier this month, we attended NRF APAC 2025 in Singapore, and it was nothing short of extraordinary. With over 9,500 attendees from 72 countries gathered at the iconic Marina Bay Sands, the event was a true melting pot of ideas, cultures, and bold innovations that are shaping the future of retail in the Asia-Pacific region.

Markets

Earlier this month, we attended NRF APAC 2025 in Singapore, and it was nothing short of extraordinary. With over 9,500 attendees from 72 countries gathered at the iconic Marina Bay Sands, the event was a true melting pot of ideas, cultures, and bold innovations that are shaping the future of retail in the Asia-Pacific region.

What NRF APAC 2025 Revealed About the Future of Retail

Earlier this month, we attended NRF APAC 2025 in Singapore, and it was nothing short of extraordinary. With over 9,500 attendees from 72 countries gathered at the iconic Marina Bay Sands, the event was a true melting pot of ideas, cultures, and bold innovations that are shaping the future of retail in the Asia-Pacific region.

Interview

Tony’s Chocolonely and the Future of Conscious Retail

What makes Tony’s especially compelling is its Open Chain model, a platform that invites other brands to adopt the same ethical sourcing practices.

What makes Tony’s especially compelling is its Open Chain model, a platform that invites other brands to adopt the same ethical sourcing practices.

Interview

What makes Tony’s especially compelling is its Open Chain model, a platform that invites other brands to adopt the same ethical sourcing practices.

Tony’s Chocolonely and the Future of Conscious Retail

What makes Tony’s especially compelling is its Open Chain model, a platform that invites other brands to adopt the same ethical sourcing practices.

Interview

You Don’t Need an AI Strategy, You Need a Business Strategy That Uses AI

Andrew Laudato is Vitamin Shoppe's COO and author of Fostering Innovation: How To Build Amazing IT Teams

Andrew Laudato is Vitamin Shoppe's COO and author of Fostering Innovation: How To Build Amazing IT Teams

Interview

Andrew Laudato is Vitamin Shoppe's COO and author of Fostering Innovation: How To Build Amazing IT Teams

You Don’t Need an AI Strategy, You Need a Business Strategy That Uses AI

Andrew Laudato is Vitamin Shoppe's COO and author of Fostering Innovation: How To Build Amazing IT Teams

Interview

From Teen Coder to E-Commerce Powerhouse: The Story of Tarek Müller and About You

Interview

From Teen Coder to E-Commerce Powerhouse: The Story of Tarek Müller and About You

Receive new exclusive episodes


Sign up for our newsletter now!

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.

3rd Party Cookies

This website uses Google Analytics to collect anonymous information such as the number of visitors to the site, and the most popular pages.

Keeping this cookie enabled helps us to improve our website.