The future of trade

For years, online retail has been reporting one growth record after another almost constantly. Since the dotcom bubble at the beginning of the 2000s - and thus now more than fifteen years ago - the positive forecasts for digital commerce have been pouring in almost every year.

For example, the latest trend analysis "Die Wirtschaftslage im deutschen Interaktiven Handel B2C 2016/2017" (The Economic Situation in German Interactive Commerce B2C 2016/2017) published by the Bundesverband E-Commerce und Versandhandel Deutschland (BEVH - German E-Commerce and Distance Selling Trade Association) once again forecasts a good financial year for 2017.

Every eighth euro in retail is generated online. And according to the Institute for Retail Research (IFH Cologne), there is still no end in sight for the growth of online retailing in Germany.

Online sales are expected to rise to 80.4 billion euros by 2021, according to the trend calculation in the new "Online Retail Industry Report". In order for retailers in all sectors to benefit from this boom, the conditions must be in place - and that means not only a good product, of course, but also consistently optimized processes for handling.

These in turn are subject to continuous change, constant optimization and expansion, and increasing networking. This is particularly true due to the increasing spread of the omnichannel concept, i.e. when customers can use different channels for their shopping experience, including research.

These channels include retail stores, online stores, online marketplaces and platforms, mobile device purchases, phone orders, and any other method of transacting with customers that may include search, purchase, return, and presales and postsales service.

TradeWorld aims to provide digital food for thought for networked retail. Trade visitors with an affinity for retail from all sectors will be presented with solutions and services for digitizing, optimizing and networking their retail processes, enabling them to participate in the prospering online trade.