The big class reunion was promised for the 10th anniversary of the K5 Future Retail Conference in Berlin. We think this promise was kept in full. This year, retailers, founders, brand providers and industry experts met again at the most important industry event for e-commerce to exchange opinions.
The varied programme with many exciting lectures and sessions focused on the practice-oriented exchange of knowledge with many concrete use cases. Industry observations, trends, forecasts and provocative theses were intensively discussed - true to the motto #LearnFromTheBest.
A platform for e-commerce experts thrives on the free exchange of new ideas and the thought-provoking theses. The most important theses were set out in the first session on the very first day:
While the focus in recent years has been on the rapid growth of marketplaces, this year it became apparent that there are definitely ways for innovative medium-sized companies to hold their own against large marketplaces. Malte Polzin, CEO of STEG Electronics, explained exactly how this can work and what the difficulties are for medium-sized companies.
STEG Electronics is part of the PCP.CH Group, which has been active in online retailing since 1998. The Swiss multichannel provider for home electronics and computers has held its own in the market with 17 specialist shops and the technology online shop techmania.ch, primarily because it consistently focuses on a high-quality and broad product range that is always up-to-date thanks to automation.
Most medium-sized companies cannot differentiate themselves from large and established marketplaces through price. Nevertheless, there are other ways to successfully assert themselves in the market. In addition to a broad, well-curated product range tailored to one's own target group, own brands and strong customer service are important pillars for being seen as a valued retailer by end customers. Depending on the strategy, according to Malte Polzin, it can also make sense to offer certain product groups on established marketplaces, because: "Not everyone has to be a marketplace.
The most frequently mentioned quote at the K5 trade fair from Johannes Altmann, CEO of Shoplupe GmbH and responsible for the platform at K5, can also be seen in this sense: "Valuable companies have real customers and work on relationships."
K5 2022 was an exciting trade fair with a lot of expertise, exciting insights into a wide variety of companies and many interesting visitors. This year, too, the organisers deserve a big compliment and thank you for the successful conference. We are already looking forward to being back at K5 2023.
