As of: 13.10.2021 10:00 a.m.
Digitization is gaining in importance for retail. The pandemic has accelerated this development. Nevertheless, very few want to invest permanently in digital technology.
Before the pandemic, just 28 percent of retailers were active on Facebook, Instagram and Co. It is now 72 percent. And the sale of goods on the Internet has also increased significantly – from 58 percent two years ago to 85 percent now. The dealers either sell them exclusively on the Internet or as a supplement to brick-and-mortar stores. That is the result of a representative survey by the digital association Bitkom from mid-July to the end of August this year among 505 retail companies. “Now at the latest it is clear: A good online presence is not a ‘nice-to-have’ for retailers, it is a must,” concludes Bitkom President Achim Berg.
Online marketplaces are on the rise
It is interesting that the number of the company’s own web shops remains unchanged at 92 percent. For this, more and more retailers are using online marketplaces or online sales platforms such as ebay, Amazon or Zalando. Their number has now risen from 46 percent to 72 percent. Bitkom President Berg sees one reason in the fact that customers expect more when shopping online than that it technically works.
“We expect a high level of professionalism in every respect. During the Corona crisis, the demands of customers have increased enormously,” says Berg. “At the same time, large platforms offer even the smallest retailers access to the best e-commerce solutions with little effort.”
Have you really invested enough already?
Although three quarters of the companies surveyed see digitization as an opportunity rather than a risk, just two percent want to invest in digital technology year after year – and therefore permanently. Incomprehensible for the Bitkom President, especially since twelve percent of the companies surveyed have not yet invested at all and are not planning anything concrete.
Rethinking the future of city centers
At the beginning of the corona pandemic, many feared that stationary retail would end when the pandemic was over. Insolvent companies, abandoned shops and the pressure of Internet sales could desert inner cities and pedestrian zones. At the moment, however, the mood is much more optimistic: For 94 percent of those surveyed, brick-and-mortar retail has a future. However, almost three quarters (71 percent) also agree with the statement that he has to reinvent himself in the inner cities.
The retail trade association and the Federal Association of the Digital Economy lead the way. With technical innovations, the dealers could be relieved, the customers could be offered a shopping experience and the inner cities could be made more attractive. However, six out of ten companies could not even invest in their future because of the losses in the corona pandemic. What is needed is a state funding program, but also the networking of the actors concerned and a functioning infrastructure in the city centers.
Double strategy instead of against each other
Bitkom President Berg advocates a dual strategy: “Digital technologies can help to revitalize and revitalize established retail – and many of them are now mature and available on the market for little money,” said Berg. “It shouldn’t be about playing off online retailing and stationary retailing against each other. In order to be crisis-proof and successful in the long term, retailers need two pillars: on site and online.”
An example of this is Click & Collect. Before Corona, 36 percent of companies offered the opportunity to order goods online and then pick them up in the store. Since Corona, the number has risen to 77 percent.