The expansion of the fifth generation of mobile communications is opening new dimensions in the field of digitisation. Across Austria, A1 Telekom Austria Group supplies over 60% of the population with 5G capacity. On 30 November, SPAR Austria Board member Markus Kaser, SPAR ICS Managing Director Andreas Kranabitl, A1 CEO Marcus Grausam and A1 CCO Martin Resel put into operation Austria's 2,500 A1 5G transmitter situated on the roof of SPAR Austria’s central office in Salzburg. This transmission station supplies large parts of Salzburg with ultra-fast mobile Internet.

Embracing technology options

As market leader in Austria’s food sector, SPAR is focused on innovative, digital services for both customers and employees. Continuous optimisation of internal systems and processes enables well-thought-out stores, comprehensive and available product ranges, and excellent customer experience in stores nationwide. Markus Kaser commented on the importance of digitisation in retail: “With the rapid pace of technological progress, the requirements for product variety, shopping experience, and customer service in retail are changing. Digitisation offers us possibilities that were previously unthinkable. The potential of 5G accelerates this development. With innovations, promising solutions, and partners like A1, we are setting new standards in retail, beneficial to customers and employees.”

SPAR Austria’s IT company, SPAR ICS, and A1, have for many years worked together in various areas of digitisation. Pilot projects include 5G campus networks, offering the possibility of wirelessly networking IT systems to support the easy and flexible adaption of stores layouts to meet changing customer needs. SPAR Austria is also one of the first in the market to use 5G devices for team members to support mobility in an agile work environment.

Digitisation in retail

Andreas Kranabitl sees 5G as an important step into the future: “Smart retail is a topic that we have consistently been addressing for years. Digitisation is changing the retail landscape and new technologies, including machine learning, are helping us to make our applications smarter and more sophisticated. This enables us to react even more dynamically to change. With 5G, we gain additional flexibility, and at the same time we can rely on A1’s excellent security.”

Source: SPAR Austria

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About SPAR Austria

The origins of SPAR in Austria date back to 1954, but the current SPAR AG was created in 1970 when the original founding families joined with other regional wholesalers to form SPAR Austria AG – a 100% privately owned Austrian company.

With licences granted by SPAR International, ASPIAG (Austria SPAR International AG) has developed SPAR in Slovenia, Hungary, Croatia, and Northern Italy. With sales of €8.3 billion and impressive growth of 16%, SPAR Austria became the market leader in the Austrian grocery trade during 2020, after being a market growth leader for over a decade.