Threat to Stationary Trade

Especially in comparison to online retail, there is no denying that times have become more difficult for stationary retail: Stationary retailers are increasingly struggling with declining customer footfall and stagnating sales, while online retail has been able to grow enormously and become a growth driver for the entire retail industry. The unchecked shift from offline to online poses a central threat to stationary retail. This results from the increasing digitalization, which already determines a large part of everyday life and thus consumer behavior and customer expectations. It is also changing the demands on experience orientation and service. But the internationalization and “platformization” of retail is also putting considerable pressure on traditional retailers, especially since many of them are still refusing to undergo a digital transformation. To make matters worse, in the wake of increasing vacancies as well as changing mobility, the role of city centers is also changing, making them less dependent on retail. The new survival formula is called “customer centricity”, which, however, only works digitally based.