The landscape of roadside retail is undergoing a seismic transformation, evolving far beyond the traditional gas station model into a sophisticated convergence of energy, high-level gastronomy, and digital retail. At the center of this transition is The Retail Marketeers (TRM), a boutique consultancy founded by Christian Warning that serves as a vital link between global industry insights and localized, high-impact execution.
Founder and CEO of The Retail Marketeers (TRM)
Christian Warning
Christian Warning is the accomplished founder and CEO of The Retail Marketeers (TRM), a consulting boutique based in Hamburg, Germany, dedicated to the diverse realm of retail convenience. The Boutique Advantage: Senior Attention and Global Scale. Unlike large, sprawling firms, TRM operates on a model of „senior attention,“ ensuring that clients work directly with high-level experts rather than junior analysts.
As an alumnus of the University of Hamburg, Christian leverages nearly four decades of experience to pioneer innovative solutions within the convenience market, uniquely blending profound industry insight with a vast professional network.
Before establishing The Retail Marketeers, Christian spent 13 impactful years at Shell, where he ultimately directed its billion-dollar non-fuel retail operations in the German market. Subsequently he led the development of the largest convenience store franchise-system outside of fuel stations in Germany at Deutsche Bahn (German railway).
Why The Retail Marketeers are the Strategic Partner of Choice for …
… Roadside Retail Transformation
Across all stakeholder groups, TRM’s core differentiation lies in its ability to connect strategy, execution, and ecosystem. Through its proprietary Growth Flywheel—linking network, education, transformation, proof, and visibility—TRM does not operate as a one-off advisor, but as a long-term transformation partner. Its combination of thought leadership, data-driven insights, and hands-on implementation support ensures that clients move beyond PowerPoint strategies toward measurable business impact.
In a market where the central question is no longer “How do we sell more fuel?” but “How do we become a destination of choice?”, The Retail Marketeers provide the answer. They enable roadside retailers and their partners to transition from transactional retail models to high-value, experience-driven ecosystems—unlocking sustainable growth in an increasingly competitive and rapidly evolving landscape
… International Retailer
For international roadside retailers, TRM acts as both a market translator and a strategic accelerator. Germany, in particular, represents one of the most underpenetrated yet structurally attractive convenience markets globally, with a significant gap between current foodservice share and international benchmarks. However, the market’s complexity—ranging from fragmented operator models to strong wholesale dependencies and unique consumer behaviors—creates high barriers to entry. TRM bridges this gap by contextualizing global best practices within the German market reality, enabling international players to avoid costly missteps and accelerate time-to-market with locally adapted, high-impact value propositions.
… Single-Site Operators and Smaller Dealer Networks in Germany
For single-site operators and smaller dealer networks in Germany, TRM provides access to capabilities that would otherwise be reserved for large corporates. Through structured diagnostics, benchmark comparisons, and hands-on business coaching, TRM translates macro trends into tangible, site-level actions. This includes optimizing assortment strategies, improving pump-to-store conversion, elevating foodservice execution, and leveraging data-driven insights to better understand and serve core customer milieus. In doing so, TRM empowers independent operators to compete not on price, but on relevance, experience, and operational excellence—turning individual sites into high-performing destination assets rather than transactional fuel stops.
… Suppliers to Enter or Expand within the German Roadside Retail Market
For suppliers seeking to enter or expand within the German roadside retail market, TRM serves as a critical commercial enabler. The German market is characterized by complex buying structures, strong wholesaler influence, and limited direct access to decision-makers. TRM’s deep-rooted network across oil companies, dealer organizations, and key industry stakeholders provides suppliers with targeted market access that would otherwise take years to build. More importantly, TRM ensures that supplier propositions are not positioned as standalone products, but as integral components of a broader customer value proposition. This significantly increases listing success, accelerates rollout velocity, and enhances long-term commercial sustainability.
NACS Global Industry Liaison
Christian Warning is one out of 8 members of the NACS Global Industry Engagement Council where he represents Western Continental Europe including D-A-CH. It is a curated network of trusted professionals who serve as connectors between NACS and the global convenience and fuel retailing industry. Representing key markets worldwide, Council members bring deep local insight, market intelligence, and industry relationships to support NACS’ mission of advancing the global convenience and fuel retailing industry.
Thought Leadership & Innovation (GCVG)
Christian Warning is the Co-founder and Facilitator of the Global Convenience Vision Group (GCVG). An invitation-only group consisting of retailers and solution providers from around the globe. He acts as host, selects the participants and organizes quarterly virtual meetings with leaders from the convenience and mobility sectors across international markets.The Global Convenience Vision Group (GCVG) members will gather to discuss what works in their markets, learn about trends and innovations in other countries, and provide their perspectives on developing, and future, trends that may impact their businesses, and yours. These conversations will be shared with the public, through GCVG Vision reports, for free.
Market Research Studies
The Retail Marketeers’ representative market studies go far beyond conventional research—they are precision instruments designed to decode the rapidly evolving dynamics of mobility retail and foodvenience. Conducted on a regular basis and often in collaboration with globally leading consulting firms and specialized solution providers, these studies equipping C-level decision-makers with a fact-based foundation to navigate transformation.
Christian Warning — One of Europe’s Leading Voices in Convenience & Mobility Retail
Christian Warning is a sought-after keynote speaker at leading national and international industry conferences — including UNITI Expo, Handelsblatt Handel & Wandel, ForecourtTech, and World of Mobility (formerly Petroleum Istanbul) — as well as at company-internal events such as annual dealer conventions, franchisee meetings, and executive town halls. Drawing on decades of hands-on experience at the intersection of convenience retail, forecourt strategy, and the future of mobility, Christian delivers keynotes that challenge conventional thinking and equip audiences with a clear-eyed perspective on where the industry is heading. His presentations centre on the structural shift from fuel-first infrastructure to foodvenience-led destinations — exploring how operators can capture the enormous untapped opportunity in food, beverage, and consumer experience as fuel volumes decline and customer expectations evolve.
Beyond the main stage, Christian and The Retail Marketeers have developed their own signature conference format: the Hour of Power. Designed for organisations seeking more than a conventional speaker slot, the Hour of Power brings together industry icons and subject matter experts in a carefully curated leadership session, combining peer-to-peer dialogue with an impulse keynote from Christian Warning. The result is a high-impact, intellectually stimulating experience that sparks genuine strategic conversation — tailored for leadership teams, trade associations, and event organisers who want their audiences to leave not just informed, but transformed.
Whether addressing 50 senior executives or 500 petrol station lessees, Christian brings a rare combination of strategic depth, market intelligence, and compelling storytelling that consistently leaves audiences with both fresh insight and actionable direction.
Interested in booking Christian for your next conference or an Hour of Power session for your organisation? Get in touch at
Roadside Retail Report
Playbook for success
The Retail Marketeers Roadside Retail Report is a comprehensive, over 300-page strategic flagship publication that decodes the German petrol station market while positioning it within the broader international convenience retail landscape. Delivered in a fully bilingual German–English format, the report combines statistically robust, representative consumer surveys with real-world validation from hundreds of curated on-site visits across leading global markets. This dual-lens methodology ensures both analytical rigor and operational relevance. Enriched with best-in-class case studies, granular market data, and cross-market benchmarks, the report integrates behavioral insights and proprietary consumer milieu segmentation to translate complex market dynamics into clear, actionable implications. The result is a fact-based decision framework that equips C-level executives to navigate the mobility and consumption shift, unlock new profit pools, and systematically transform their networks from transactional fuel stops into differentiated, high-value destination ecosystems.
Kundenmagazin
The Retail Marketeer
The Retail Marketeer is an exclusive premium print magazine not available in retail. Each issue is sent directly to 1,000 selected decision makers, executives and industry experts across Germany.
Foodvenience, fuel retail and mobility are undergoing the most fundamental transformation in decades.
The Retail Marketeer supports this transformation with market insights, best practices, innovative concepts and exclusive perspectives from leading industry players.
Convenience Leaders Convention
On November 11 and 12, 2026, The Retail Marketeers will host the tenth edition of the event in Hamburg, welcoming representatives from across the entire value chain to the only English-language industry event in the German-speaking region.
Rooftop Chat
The Retail Marketeers Rooftop Chat is an exclusive invitation-only networking format for senior executives from the global convenience, mobility and roadside retail industry. In a confidential setting, participants exchange insights on future trends, EV transformation, foodvenience, digitalization and new growth opportunities.
Study Tour
TRM Study Tours are curated executive learning expeditions exploring the future of convenience, foodservice and mobility retail. Through exclusive store visits, operational insights and market analysis, delegates gain practical inspiration and strategic understanding of the concepts, trends and business models shaping the industry worldwide.
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