The challenge of e-commerce

Amazon, eBay, Google – for some time now, e-commerce companies have been enjoying high sales increases, while high street stores have had to make do with zero growth or even a drop in sales. But instead of gearing themselves up specifically for the Internet hype, large swathes of retailers continue to bury their heads in the sand while casting a wary eye at the success of the online businesses. Is this the case in the pet sector too? Alfred Glander, new CEO of Europe’s leading speciality chain Fressnapf, will disabuse delegates at the International Pet Conference of this way of thinking. Fressnapf has been working for a while now on a cross-channel retailing concept with the aim of improving the coordination of its bricks and mortar business and e-commerce. The main features of this concept will be unveiled at the International Pet Conference. Shopping on the Internet The Metro Group is also working on linking its high street stores and online shop more closely, taking account of the increasing spread of smartphones and the growing importance of social networks such as Facebook. In fact, many economists are predicting that the tidal wave created by the Facebook generation may be yet to break in the next few years. Kids and teens who have grown up with the computer and take communication via the Internet for granted will use the web for consumer transactions in the future – more frequently than their parents, many of whom are still hesitant about embracing the Internet. Frank Rehme, head of innovation at the Metro Group’s Metro Future Store, will speak at the International Pet Conference about how smartphones like the iPhone are changing retailing. Do they offer the retail trade a new opportunity, or do they pose a serious challenge? This is one of the key questions that Frank Rehme attempts to answer in his presentation. His account of the experience acquired to date with customers at Metro’s Future Store should also make for interesting listening. Strong brands are important The somewhat provocative conference title “Pimp my business. Spot market opportunities and exploit them” invites the pet sector to sniff out opportunities to “pimp” one’s company and then to take advantage of them. E-commerce is naturally just one of many challenges that trade and industry must confront increasingly in the future. In the face of the sustained success of private labels, industrial companies in particular must ask themselves how they can create a unique selling…