Customers must be attracted and wooed.
Cologne It is a financial tour de force: According to a study by the research institute EHI, German retailers invested more than 9.1 billion euros in their stationary areas last year. For 68 percent of the trading companies, the focus was on conversion and repairs – the customers should have a good time.
The general overhaul is necessary, says Johannes Berentzen, managing director of the Munich trading consultancy BBE. “Online shopping has reached the masses at the latest with the pandemic.” In order to lure customers from the sofa to the city centers, you now have to offer a real additional benefit through special shopping experiences – with a feel-good atmosphere in the shops, excellent advice and digital concepts. Stationary and online are no longer separate worlds.
The majority of stationary retailers have an online shop, but at the same time more and more online retailers are relying on representative showrooms in the shopping streets. Meanwhile, inflation and high energy costs continue to weigh on the consumer climate.
But who manages to score points with customers in this area of tension? The Cologne-based analysis institute Servicevalue investigated this on behalf of the Handelsblatt. Thousands of consumers were asked about this in April. Among 541 stationary retailers from 53 sectors, the stationery chain McPaper received the highest percentage of nominations as “best retailer” in its sector. The company is the market leader in Germany with over 300 branches. The fitness equipment chain Hammer Sport took second place.
In both sectors, a few large chains have built up a special market position – and the competition is having a hard time catching up, says Servicevalue Managing Director and study leader Claus Dethloff. In addition to McPaper, the office and stationery retailer Kaut-Bullinger also made it into the top ten – and among the fitness equipment retailers, Sport-Tiedje and Cardiofitness also occupy top positions.
Fitness equipment retailers have benefited from high demand for home treadmills or weight benches during the pandemic years. At the same time, they consistently rely on several sales channels. The stationary shops are for personal advice and trying things out, the entire range is available online. Hammer Sport is not only a dealer, but also a manufacturer of its equipment – a development that can be observed in many industries. Because digital campaigns and social media presence facilitate direct contact with customers.
New forms of distribution and creative concepts on the one hand, bankruptcies of fashion retailers on the other – these developments are changing the appearance of the shopping malls. There will be more mixed use, says trade expert Berentzen. In addition to shops, customers in the city center can expect restaurants and cafés, medical practices and service providers such as hairdressers and beauty salons. Hotels and co-working spaces also attract walk-in customers. In a survey conducted in 2022 by Cima, a consultancy specializing in urban and regional development, almost half of those surveyed advocated that city centers should be used more for leisure activities and experiences in the future.
Karaoke stage in candy store
Some retailers have already internalized this. The fashion and sports retailer L&T has created a pool with a standing wave suitable for indoor surfing in one of its stores in Osnabrück. Since 2021 there has been a 3,000 square meter flagship store of the chocolate brand M&M’s on Berlin’s Kurfürstendamm. In addition to individually designed confectionery, there is also a karaoke stage.
It is often expedient to replace space with digital technologies, says Berentzen. A wide range of products on site is often dispensable. “After all, there is more choice online anyway.” Instead, individual products can be presented in an appealing way and part of the range can be presented on tablets or on large video screens. Even the badly battered fashion industry is by no means powerless. “Creative retailers create links to social media.” Customers could book their own area with catering for so-called VIP shopping – and then present their purchases to other users online.
Online retailer with local presence
At the same time, the analysts from Servicevalue examined more than 1,200 online retailers from 92 industries in their study. “An online shop can be set up in a relatively short time – a retail store has completely different entry hurdles,” says Dethloff. Therefore, there is a lot of movement in digital trade. Several providers from the sports sector were able to score points in the ranking. The football specialists 11Teamsports and Soccerboots received a particularly large number of “Best Dealer” mentions, as did the running sports retailer Lauf-bar, which also has a stationary shop in Munich – with the offer of a video-supported analysis of the running style.
A concentration on certain sports has proven its worth in the sports trade, says Berentzen. “After all, sporting goods require a particularly high level of advice.” 11Teamsports not only provides advice online, for example via WhatsApp chats, but also in more than 30 German branches. The largest Berlin branch offers a high-tech goal wall and changing rooms in the style of stadium catacombs. In March it was announced that founder Oliver Schwerin had handed over the CEO post to Ralf Fässler, who worked in Nike management for over 20 years. He is to drive the international expansion of the Baden-Württemberg company.
Meanwhile, the online giant Amazon, which was still among the top ten online retailers last year, has deteriorated in the ranking. The US group is still the clear number one among generalists and has set standards in terms of customer orientation and intelligent use of data for years, says Dethloff. But the competition – including German retailers such as Otto and Tchibo – are increasingly catching up on these issues. In addition, public reporting on poor working conditions or tax tricks is not conducive to Amazon’s image.
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