"Better to move forward pragmatically together than stand perfectly still." This credo of Roland Brack, owner and CEO of BRACK in the context of the cooperation between Intersport Schweiz and BRACK was one of the highlights of the Digital Commerce Conference 2018 and was representative of the positive mood of change in e-commerce. While stationary e-commerce is Commerce stagnating or even declining, online e-commerce is growing at anCommerce annual rate of 5%+, with double-digit growth rates in the non-food sector. However, competition from Europe, including the market entry of Amazon and Zalando, and internationally from AliExpress and Wish, among others, is becoming increasingly fierce.
Therefore, here are some starting points that Swiss online traders should actively implement today for a sustainable existence in the market:
Business model innovations: Digitec Galaxus has expanded its own product range from 0.5 million to over 2 million active products within a very short time with an ambitious growth strategy via the marketplace. In addition, the launch of its own EU hub in 2018 is, in my view, a milestone in the area of cross-border commerce, whereas Lesara has positioned itself as a vertically integrated fashion retailer with its own production and logistics from day one, in order to be able to serve new customer needs even more agile and faster. Keller Sports has recently introduced a "Keller Prime" offer with exclusive benefits for a membership fee of EUR 10 / year with exclusive benefits to increase customer loyalty, among other things.
Mobile & Apps: Not a new topic, but among others the discussion with representatives of Silver Surfer and Generation Z has again shown that today's consumers, regardless of age, prefer mobile shopping, ideally directly in a dedicated app, for convenience reasons such as simple user interface and time savings. In order to implement mobile commerce in an attractive and scalable way, however, competencies such as agile, iterative development, e.g. with the SBB Preview app, as well as high data quality for natural chatbot conversations are essential. Innovative technologies such as chatbots, AR/VR and a complete shopping takeover by AI hold enormous potential here, which has yet to be tapped.
Cross-Border Commerce & Amazon: Amazon dominates the German e-commerce market with 50%+ market share. Developments such as the "Lex Patrick Kessler" for the regular taxation of duty paid volumes from 01.01.2019 and cross-border commerce offers from e.g. MS Direct, Seven Senders and MeinEinkauf.ch are dynamising business with and from Switzerland. As Factor-a and MeinEinkauf.ch emphasise, Amazon is also essential for Swiss retailers as a product search engine (50%+ online shoppers search for products initially on Amazon), sales channel and prime example of uncompromising customer orientation ("Start with the customer and work backwards").
Cooperation: Brack as an online "pureplayer" with many years of e-commerce experience and highly developed logistics and Intersport with strong stationary anchoring and brand management have entered into an operative partnership. Competec operates the complete online shop for Intersport, brand management, product range and network remain completely with Intersport.
Process integration: In B2B business in particular, innovative, integrated service offerings are central to customers' ability to compete with Amazon Business, among others. Elektro-Material offers the customer a complete range of consulting expertise, administration and comprehensive logistics with 3x daily delivery in addition to product sales. OPO Oeschger and Löffler share the opinion that in B2BCommerce an integrated overall concept with above-average customer proximity, commitment, services and offers is more important than the price of individual products.
