Hofer to Discontinue Its Grocery Delivery Service in Vienna on June 30, 2026

Two Competitors Have Already Dropped Out

As early as September 2025, Interspar had stopped its grocery delivery service, followed by Billa at the end of January 2026, which shifted its online business into a partnership with the delivery service Foodora. Industry observers see the trend as a clear signal that traditional supermarkets with their own delivery fleets can hardly operate economically in Vienna.

Hofer entered the home delivery segment in 2021 with considerable effort. An analysis from the STANDARD archive titled „Viel Aufwand, wenig Ertrag: Hartes Pflaster Lebensmittelzustellung" had already pointed out at the time the tight margins and the difficulty of scaling. The actual deliveries were handled by the external partner Roksh.

Specialized Delivery Services Shape the Vienna Market

Grocery retailing in Vienna is thus increasingly dominated by specialized online supermarkets. Providers such as Gurkerl, which also operates in Austria under the name Alfie, as well as the Czech player Rohlík, which is active in several European markets, serve the demand for deliveries through their own platforms and warehouses.

The picture remains divided on a regional level as well: while Graz and other locations are not directly affected by the discontinuation of the Vienna service, the example shows how differently grocery delivery functions in densely built major cities compared to more rural regions. Logistics costs in Vienna are considered particularly high, and the average shopping baskets are comparatively small.

In-Store Business Remains Unaffected

Hofer emphasizes that the in-store business and the other distribution channels remain unaffected by the closure. Customers in Vienna can continue to shop at Hofer branches. Whether and in what form the discounter will rely on external delivery services in the future, the company left open.

The closure also sheds light on the role of domestic grocery retailers in digital competition. While international platforms such as Rohlík invest heavily in logistics and marketing, Austrian chains have repeatedly attempted to build their own solutions – with varying degrees of success. The market remains in flux.