Retail - More Than Shopping
Düsseldorf is one of the most popular shopping destinations in Germany. This is also due to a wide range of complementary experiences in gastronomy, leisure, culture, education and services on offer.
Although customer frequency in the city centres is declining, the stationary retail trade still has great potential”: this is the conclusion of the study “Future of Retail – Future of Cities” published in mid-2021 by the Cologne Institute for Retail Research IFH, which included the opinion of 26,000 citizens from all over NRW. What does this conclusion mean specifically? Firstly, in 2020, online trade in NRW increased by more than 20 per cent and now accounts for 13 per cent of total trade, with a strong upward trend. At the same time, visitor frequencies in NRW cities fell by around 30 percent. So the pressure on stationary retail is increasing, but – and this is the second part of this conclusion – it has great potential, because people still like to actually go shopping: the population in NRW is largely made up of “selective online shoppers” (64 percent), who switch between online and offline channels depending on the product and situation, and “traditional retail shoppers” (18 percent) who do not (like to) shop online. In addition, many consumers seek other offers provided by gastronomy, leisure, cultural, educational and health facilities, as well as some areas to linger. Multi-functionality is the key word here.
“The interplay between the city centre and the
district centres makes Düsseldorf so special.”
But Düsseldorf as a shopping destination also has a whole range of attractive centres to offer besides the city centre. “We also have to keep a close eye on the individual districts. Because it is precisely this functioning and complementary interplay between the city centre and the district centres that makes Düsseldorf so special”, says Marion Hörsken, Managing Director of the Düsseldorf Chamber of Commerce and Industry. And this interplay is extremely diverse and lively: From Benrath in the south with its 120 retail shops, which is also affectionately called “our village”, to the creative scene of the district of Flingern with individual shops, nice pubs and galleries, to elegant Oberkassel with its shopping mile Luegallee in front of a townhouse backdrop.
But Düsseldorf as a shopping destination also has a whole range of attractive centres to offer besides the city centre. “We also have to keep a close eye on the individual districts. Because it is precisely this functioning and complementary interplay between the city centre and the district centres that makes Düsseldorf so special”, says Marion Hörsken, Managing Director of the Düsseldorf Chamber of Commerce and Industry. And this interplay is extremely diverse and lively: From Benrath in the south with its 120 retail shops, which is also affectionately called “our village”, to the creative scene of the district of Flingern with individual shops, nice pubs and galleries, to elegant Oberkassel with its shopping mile Luegallee in front of a townhouse backdrop.
“I believe that identification with their respective district is quite important for our citizens – not only as a place of supply, but also as a place of encounter and enjoyment”, says Ruth Orzessek-Kruppa, the head of Düsseldorf’s urban development department. With regard to Düsseldorf as a retail location, she has two main objectives: 1. to keep the city attractive to the outside world as a regional centre and as a shopping destination. 2. to maintain the local supply within walking distance in the individual centres. “At a time when we need environmentally friendly mobility and short distances more than ever, good local supply has become even more important”, she adds. In this case, retail can be looked at like a sensitive ecosystem that needs to be cherished and cared for: on the one hand, it needs strong magnets in local supply that bring visitor frequency – from which other shops in turn also benefit. At the same time, there should be as much of a mix as possible: not only the large chain shops, but also the many smaller owner-operated shops that contribute to an individual “Düsseldorf feeling”. “Our investments in the Kö-Bogen 1 and Kö-Bogen 2 projects are a prime example of how we have already succeeded in positioning the city of Düsseldorf as a regional centre and further revitalising the retail sector. We have received a great deal of national and international recognition for this. A lot is also being done to revitalise Düsseldorf’s neighbourhoods, and we recently launched extensive development programmes” (see p. 14).
“the identification with their respective district is quite important for our citizens – not only as a place of supply, but also as a place of encounter and enjoyment.”
Increasingly, the success of a retailer is also determined by its approach to digitalisation: today’s multichannel possibilities, in which digital tools are combined with the stationary retail business, are extremely diverse (see article on p. 44). The Handelsmonitor 2020 of the Düsseldorf Chamber of Commerce and Industry accordingly shows how intensively local businesses are (having to!) deal with this at the moment. For example, for 63 percent of the companies surveyed, the internal use of digital data, e.g. for shift scheduling according to customer structure, is of great importance. 66 percent use a digital merchandise management system, 50 percent manage a CRM system with the aim of precisely targeting their customers.
COVID has probably intensified this trend towards digital. “Many retailers have become very creative and have also gained new customers and fans, for example by using social media in a more targeted way”, says Marion Hörsken. “A custom-fit digital strategy can extremely strengthen brick-and-mortar retail. There is still a lot of potential there.” According to the trade monitor, the topics of sustainability (see p. 22) and logistics are also high on the agenda: for example, 66 percent of the retailers in IHK’s region did without bags even before the amendment of the pack-aging law or only gave them out against payment. But here, too, is still a lot of room for improvement: 47 percent have not yet planned any concrete sustainability measures despite their interest in the topic.
Looking to the future, Dr Michael Rauterkus concludes: “It is important that urban retail faces up to the megatrends of digitalisation, innovation and sustainability. As a city, we need a space that offers new experiences, we need a mix of uses and we need to be distinctive in order to continue to inspire the people who stroll and shop in our city in the future. As the Office of Economic Development, we want to create the necessary framework for this, for example through even more live events in the city centre, and be a partner on an equal footing, especially for retailers who need support on the way to this exciting future.” •
Words Tom Corrinth
Pictures Düsseldorf Tourismus
Illustrations iStock