Tobias is the leader of our Retail Practice in EMEA. He also leads our consumer goods sector in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.
Tobias supports retailers and packaged goods clients on a wide range of transformative topics. He helps define strategies for success in new or changing environments; he leads commercial as well as operational transformations; and he supports his clients in organizational change.
Tobias specializes in helping retailers master the challenges of e-tailing (from different customer requirements to completely different operating models necessary to deliver e-services), and how to integrate big data and advanced analytics insights into day to day processes.
Examples of his most recent projects include:
- delivering a post-merger management program and securing synergies while simultaneously leveraging cross-country best practices for a Central European grocer
- designing a strategy to transform a top European DIY retailer into a leading omni-channel business focusing on their strategy, business, and organization models
- using big data to secure a completely new set of insights in customer needs for one of Europe’s leading grocers in order to run analytic-based assortment optimization and pricing decisions
- developing new format strategies in a discounter-dominated competitive arena for grocers in EMEA
Tobias is the author of many articles and founder and senior content manager of McKinsey’s journal Perspectives on retail and consumer goods.
Published work
“Building distinctive European powerhouse brands,” McKinsey & Company, July 2021
“A year like no other for European grocery retailers: The state of the industry post 2020,” McKinsey & Company, May 2021
“Rebooting retail: How technology will shape the future of retail,” McKinsey & Company, June 2020
“Becoming a regional powerhouse in food retailing,” McKinsey & Company, September 2015
“Is your company a value creator or a value destroyer?,” McKinsey & Company, August 2015
“Making stores matter in a multichannel world,” Perspectives on retail and consumer goods, March 2014
Education
University of British Columbia, Vancouver
Post PhD, English studies, comparative literature
Munich Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
PhD, English literature
Munich Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
MA, English literature
University of Oxford
MPhil, English literature
Munich Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
MA, German language