Management and strategies of retail companies

In addition to constantly changing buyer behaviour in the form of increased demands for performance and quality and growing pressure on margins, the retail sector is confronted with far-reaching challenges. However, retail has also been able to develop industry-specific capabilities, such as deep customer understanding, format and product innovation, and increased branding, to meet these challenges. Retail is thus faced with a spectrum of general and sector-specific developments to be mastered, which can be described in the following:
 

• Intensification of competition: Especially in developed markets, the competitive situation is showing increasing consolidation. Various growth levers are available to actively participate in the consolidation process or to act as a niche provider.
• Regional expansion (internationalisation): More and more retailers are participating in internationalisation to compensate for the lack of growth opportunities in their home country. A wide variety of brand entry concepts and approaches are available here. Above all, the BRICS countries are among the main growth markets, but they also bring country-specific challenges.
• Additional distribution channels (multi-channel retailing): For a long time now, the trend has been emerging that, in addition to the classic form of distribution, other distribution channels are becoming available and need to be implemented in a strategically sensible way. As a major driver of multi-channel retailing, the internet is the main growth driver.
• Changing business formats: While the classic supermarket was once the dominant retail format in the food sector and the department stores in the non-food sector, a specialised segmentation of other formats, e.g. discounters and specialist stores, is now emerging.
• Private label/branding: In the last 10 years, the global competitive private label share has increased, especially in food retailing, putting increasing pressure on the manufacturing side. The development of a strong umbrella brand is not only to be seen in terms of a desired increase in margins, but also to clearly differentiate the brand from the competition. In this context, it is important to build up manufacturing competence and to develop suitable cooperation partners and forms.
• Change in the assortment: While discounters in particular are constantly expanding their assortments, including branded articles, other retail formats are streamlining and consolidating their previous assortments.

The Chair focuses on retail management and other current developments in the following disciplines: strategy, organisation, change, marketing, supply chain, category management, lean retailing, and sales/distribution.

 

Events of the Chair

Master:
Retail Management (SS) (engl.)