ANNUAL REPORT 2008 | 2009 - SinnerSchrader AG

SinnerSchrader 2008 | 2009Letter to the Shareholders3Letter to theShareholdersDear Shareholders,Two weeks after the start of the 2008/2009 Sinner-Schrader financial year, the collapse of Lehman Brothersbank finally unleashed a worldwide financial andeconomic crisis of a scale not seen in the previous 60years. In these days of reporting on the course of thefinancial year and the situation on the balance sheetdate, 31 August 2009, there are increasing indicationsthat the nadir of the crisis has passed and that theGerman economy, supported by state economicprogrammes, is growing again.In between was a successful 2008/2009 Sinner-Schrader financial year, in which three importantexpectations for SinnerSchrader were confirmedagainst the backdrop of the difficult overall economicsituation.dynamism of the change in the way in which consumersinteract with brands and companies and in the expectationsthat consumers develop towards providersof products and services is still high; it has possiblyactually increased due to the crisis.One indication of this is that, according to studies bythe market research company GfK, the value of nonfoodproducts sold over the Internet rose by over 19 %in 2008 against the consumer trend. This means thate-commerce revenues with goods grew more stronglythan in the three previous years. For 2009 the GermanE-commerce and Distance Selling Trade Association(Branchenverband des Deutschen Versandhandels)is expecting a further rise in commodity sales on theInternet by 10 % to 15 %. The relative importanceof the Internet has thus increased greatly during theeconomic crisis.The Internet is becoming the key medium formarketing and sales.The importance of the Internet for selling productsand services, acquiring and keeping customers, andestablishing and maintaining brands and image hasfurther increased, independent of the economy. TheThis development can be seen in the most variedindustries as the engine of changes in the competitivelandscape. The Internet is therefore no longer justanother channel for sales, marketing, and communicationamong many others, it is increasingly becomingthe channel to which companies must gear their sales,marketing, and customer loyalty strategies.