Corona study - How is retail dealing with the current situation?

The topic COVID-19 continuous to dominate the media for months.  A large part of the retailers suffers enormously from the crisis. The Digital Commerce Research Network (DCRN), of which atriga is a founding member, has supported the institute ibi research at the University of Regensburg in quantifying these developments more precisely and has surveyed retailers.

To analyze e-commerce and its current challenges in more detail, ibi research conducted a quick survey among retailers and published the results. For this short study, ibi research was supported by the DCRN network, atriga, Concardis, eCube, SHI, Worldline/SIX Payments, D&G Software and CONCREDOS. The study focused on the status quo of the current corona situation, the main problems and effects of the protection and hygiene measures implemented in the course of the pandemic, as well as assessments of future development trends.

For months the topic COVID-19 has dominated the media. A large number of retailers are suffering enormously from the crisis in their business, as protective measures, hygiene regulations, curfews and other measures to control the spread of the virus have made shopping in stores and supermarkets difficult or even impossible. As a result, the majority of consumers have had to adjust or limit their purchasing behavior. As a result, many customers have made their purchases online. 60 percent of the interviewed retailers already had an online sales channel before the Corona crisis and were therefore able to sell their goods despite restrictions or store closings.

However, 40 percent of the retailers did not have this option for sales over the internet because they were previously set up purely as stationary units. Half of the retailers, without previous online sales, are now planning to start selling online. 28 percent are planning to do so shortly and 22 percent of those surveyed state that it will take some time to get started.

In total, 97 percent of the retailers indicated a variety of consequences: More than two-thirds had to temporarily close their stores, almost half had to announce short-time work and 45 percent recorded fewer orders and sales.

86 percent of the retailers surveyed agree with the statement that the Corona crisis will change customers’ shopping behavior in the long term. Customers who are only now increasingly shopping online will become accustomed to it and will continue to shop online more frequently in the future.

About the Digital Commerce Research Network (DCRN)

The Digital Commerce Research Network (DCRN) pursues the goal of bringing together retailers, manufacturers and service providers from the retail environment, working together with science and research to develop solutions around the opportunities and risks of digital transformation in retail, evaluating new technologies and developments and thus providing all players in the retail industry with a sound basis for decision-making. The partners of the DCRN include atriga, Concardis, CONREDOS, D&G-Software, eCube, SHI and SIX Payment Services.