Anyone who enters a store today with the intention of purchasing a product is making a conscious decision to support that store. Yet the retail trade, as we have known it for the last hundred years, is currently dying out.

Online, on the other hand, almost everything is available at any time and immediately and can often be delivered within the shortest time and exchanged again without issuing a voucher.

e-commerce & m-commerce: blessing for stores?
Electronic commerce (e-commerce), i.e. electronic trade/trade traffic, is gaining acceptance across all industries. In 2017, one-third of all admission tickets were purchased over the Internet.

Two important reasons for the success of e-commerce are the opportunity costs and price transparency associated with online trading. From the customer’s point of view, it is often more convenient to have products delivered to your home - or office.

At the same time, competitors wishing to offer the same product at a higher price must offer added value such as increased security, faster delivery times or extended product warranties. Both increase the quality of the service and benefit the consumer.

What About Mobile Commerce?
Mobile commerce is in the fast lane. At the end of 2017, mobile devices overtook the desktop in online shopping for the first time worldwide with 52% and 48% respectively.

There is no denying it: Mobile devices have long maintained their position as a trade portal among consumers. Sooner or later, mobile commerce (m-commerce) will depend on e-commerce.

Competitors wishing to offer the same product at a higher price must offer added value such as increased security, faster delivery times or extended product warranties. Both increase the quality of the service and benefit the consumer.

The Power of Social
Social networks have significantly changed the method and speed with which we exchange information. They offer us the opportunity to be kept up to date at all times and allow worldwide communication around the clock – in real time.

The business world is also beginning to recognize the potential of social networks. For instance in 2017, more than 40% of companies in Germany used these networks to communicate with their customers.

Critics of social media often refer to the negative or the dark side of its existence: the lack of data protection, manipulation in opinion forming (keyword fake news or social bots), social bullying by ‘trolls’ (people who make a life’s work of posting negative comments and ruining people’s reputations), the loss of meaning of interpersonal communication or the negative effects that social networks have on our language - keyword “youth language” and communication via emoticons.

But even though social networks have been repeatedly caught in the crossfire of the media in recent months, it is clear that they can provide more transparency and are regarded as enrichment tools by the majority of the world.

After all, social media only offers a platform for users and is not a format to ignore one’s own responsibility to protect one’s self.