Bonial, Marktguru and Shopfully Team Up to Rescue Retail's Fading Leaflet
Three rival German offers apps — Bonial, Marktguru and Shopfully — have formed a joint industry body, the Initiative Digitale Handelskommunikation (IDH), to move retailers off the costly, declining printed leaflet and onto measurable, pull-based digital retail media.
Three Rivals, One Common Enemy: The Print Leaflet
The printed supermarket leaflet is in structural decline, squeezed by rising production costs and a distribution network that no longer reliably reaches letterboxes. In response, Bonial's Florian Reinartz, Marktguru founder Patrick Dainese and Shopfully Germany country manager Julian Klein have put competition aside to launch the Initiative Digitale Handelskommunikation.
Their pitch is a shift from push to pull. Where a print prospectus lands unsolicited, digital offers apps let shoppers actively seek deals — and, the executives argue, consumers now rate digital prospectuses ahead of print for relevance. Crucially for marketers, the digital model brings cost-per-click billing, geofencing, store-visit analysis and till-data integration, letting retailers measure the journey "from click to checkout" in a way paper never could.
Why Competitors Are Suddenly Cooperating
This is a textbook category-building move. Rather than fight over slices of a shrinking print-replacement market, the three are trying to grow the whole digital retail-communication category — a classic German 'Gattungsinitiative' where rivals pool credibility to shift budgets toward a new format.
"The right offer at the right moment beats pure branding," Reinartz argues, and that line is the whole thesis. Retail media's advantage over the leaflet isn't reach; it's accountability. If the initiative can standardise measurement and language across three of the biggest players, it makes the category far easier for retail marketers to buy with confidence.
The Sovereignty Subtext — and Its Catch
There is a European-independence angle too. The initiative cites research that around 90% of retailers feel heavily dependent on US platforms like Meta and Google — yet only 17% would pay a premium for a European alternative. That gap is the real challenge.
It tells you retailers want sovereignty in principle but not at a higher price. For any retail-media seller, the lesson is bracing: measurement alone won't win budgets away from the US duopoly. You have to prove enough incremental sales value to justify a premium — or match the duopoly on price. Building the category is step one; proving the ROI premium is the harder step two.
Quick FAQ
What is the Initiative Digitale Handelskommunikation (IDH)?
A joint German industry initiative launched by offers apps Bonial, Marktguru and Shopfully to promote measurable digital advertising for bricks-and-mortar retail as printed leaflets decline.
Why are Bonial, Marktguru and Shopfully cooperating?
To grow the whole digital retail-communication category rather than fight over a shrinking print market — pooling credibility to move retailer budgets toward digital, performance-based formats.
What do digital leaflets offer over print?
Pull-based reach where shoppers seek offers, plus cost-per-click billing, geofencing, store-visit analysis and till-data measurement — a full click-to-checkout view print cannot provide.
When direct competitors form an initiative like this, it's rarely charity — it's category-building. The print leaflet is dying, and no single app can convince retailers to switch alone. But measurement won't be enough. Retailers say they want a European alternative; only a fraction will pay more for one. That's the real test. — Daniel Nikolla, Founder of Merx Marketing
For retail-media sellers the message is blunt: proving you can measure isn't proving you're worth a premium. Category-building gets you on the plan — incremental sales value is what keeps you there.
Would your business pay more for a European retail-media alternative, or does price beat sovereignty every time?
If you would like to know more about this topic, please contact us on danieln@merxmarketing.co.uk
Sources: Meedia, turi2, Bonial and Horizont.
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Written by Daniel Nikolla, Founder of Merx Marketing Ltd and Marketing Minute
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