sportFACHHANDEL 02_2018 Leseprobe

184 | COVER | Digitalisation 2.2018
NFC chips, QR codes or RFID
in and at the products do
not only inform about the
features; they can also arouse
the play instinct.
If we want to
assert
ourselves as retailers,
we have to be a part
of the leisure
industry and convert
our shops into
leisure destinations.«
Kim Roether, Intersport
distribution channel either
used by the retailers or
considered as competition.
However, it was and is
not the deathblow for the
stationary trade.
The revolution is the digitalisation
of the society
which is obvious when we see how the digital natives
use the possibilities offered by modern technology
in their everyday life. This has an immediate
effect on the economy. Big players such as Apple,
Google, Microsoft, Amazon and Facebook are,
among others, the most important technology companies
of the world. Three of them do not produce
real goods or just start with it as additional business.
If they offer touchable products, they don’t do
it to make profit in the first place. These products
are only the vehicles for the transport of digital contents.
Facebook and the Chinese competitor Tencent
are very powerful media companies, but they
do not produce own informative contents. Amazon
and its Chinese rival Alibaba make turnover and
profit via retailers offering their products on their
platforms. Although both can be called retailers,
they don’t need to sell or have own products – is the
traditional retail an outdated model?
New developments are almost market-ready or
are already suitable for the mass market. The so
called Internet of Things and the home networking
(Smart Home) allow that everyday tools can communicate
with each other as well as making orders
by themselves. The voice control, for example Siri
by Apple, Alexa by Amazon or Google Home, has
just started to conquer the mass market and might
soon revolutionise this Internet of Things. 3D
printing is still in its infancy, but has the potential
to change the entire value added chain. The first
products such as soles or the ski boots of the startup
Tailored Fits are only a foretaste of what you
can achieve with a 3D printer. Interesting matters
for retailers are Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented
Reality (AR) which have a direct effect on shop design,
product range and customer experience.
An example for Augmented Reality is Tylko, a
producer of high-quality shelf systems, who
features his products via an AR app. The customer
can compose his individual shelf in real time within
his shop on the Smartphone screen. With AR, he
can watch the shelf from all sides. The shelf exists
already, at least on the screen of the mobile phone.
Compared with this, the way to the furniture store
seems quite long. Of course, it is also possible to
transfer this technology to apparel, shoes and
equipment. Sophisticated technologies are the
precondition, but why should a retailer further
store a broad product range, when he can present
all products via Augmented Reality? It is often even
possible to test them through Virtual Reality.
Within this thought experiment, the specialist
retailer does not need any samples, doesn’t he?
The true revolution for the stationary trade is
hot on the heels of technological achievements.
Due to the digitalisation of the society, the purchase
behaviour of the consumers has changed fundamentally
and will continue to change. The challenge
of the entire industry is to keep pace with
these upheavals. Even politicians have recognised
that the digitalisation radically changes retail and
society. The report of the Dialogue Platform for
Retailers, published last year by the German Federal
Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, states,
“The changes in the sector increasingly have consequences
for the entire society. The local supply of
the population, particularly in rural areas, is decreasing.
The variety of retailers as well as the number
of recreational and gastronomic offers in cities and
municipalities is dwindling. The requirements for
employees in retail are growing. The digitalisation
is the mega-trend with the most fundamental consequences
for the future retail sector.“ According to
the report, the trade needs, for example, digitalisation
strategies for company-specific processes such
as all tools discussed under the heading EDI; this
means, merchandise management systems,
analytical tools or the gathering of customer data.
“It is indispensable to establish an extern, customeroriented
digitalisation, if the specialised retail
wants to survive in times of digitalisation.“
However, this means nothing less than a change
of paradigm. When all products are available
always and everywhere, a sports goods shop can
no longer only rely on its product range. When all
product information is obtainable in a comprehensive
and understandable way via web, it will
not suffice to rely on the own product expertise.
When purchasing decisions increasingly depend
on online customer evaluations and the approval
of a community, it is not enough to assume that
the customers follow the recommendations of the
retailers or the producers.
Does this mean that the traditional virtues of the
specialised retail such as competent advice or a
broad range have become obsolete? Michael Kuhls,
Senior Marketing Manager at Sport 2000, does not
agree at all with this hypothesis, “The upholding of
broad product ranges will no longer be a distinctive
© LOADBEE, INTERSPORT