The retail sector is one of the industries hardest hit by Corona because shops have had to close for a long time and consumers are increasingly shopping online. What remains of our old shopping culture after the pandemic? Startup investor Frank Thelen is trying to make small businesses fit for the future in an initiative with Visa. The digital expert and the Visa manager On the occasion of the Digital Day, Merle Meier-Holsten spoke with ntv.de about the problems, hopes and challenges on the way there.
ntv.de: Mr. Thelen, during the pandemic you started an initiative together with Visa to give retailers start-up assistance in matters of digitization. You have carried out coaching for this. Turning a classic retail store into a hybrid business with two pillars – offline and online – doesn’t sound like rocket technology. Nevertheless, many companies find it difficult. Why?
Frank Thelen: I think the main thing is that there is a lack of courage to tackle things and just get started. You don’t need a lot of know-how or a large budget for a simple online shop. A social media presence can also be set up with few resources. All it takes is a passion for your own business and the will to get into the subject.
Who specifically was your initiative aimed at and how many companies did you reach?
Startup investor Frank Thelen and Visa are using video sessions to make small businesses fit for the digital future. The “Where you shop matters” initiative aims to raise consumer awareness and strengthen local trade. Examples of coaching are here retrievable.
Meier-Holsten: Our target group were mainly small retailers, who are the backbone of our society and who suddenly faced challenges such as online shops, website development and social media as a result of Corona. All topics that were suddenly vital. The sessions gave them an initial idea of how they can advance their company digitally. So that even more people can benefit from Frank Thelen’s expertise, these sessions have been available for traders on a Visa portal since this week. There are also valuable tips for other people. In total, Visa has set out to support eight million small and medium-sized businesses in Europe. Since the program started in summer 2020, more than two million small businesses across Europe have received support.
Digitization is a significant cost item for companies. If money is scarce due to the loss of income in the pandemic and the big leap in digitization may not be financially feasible, what would you advise, Mr Thelen?
Frank Thelen: Digitization is an investment in the future. If dealers do it the right way, they save a lot of time and money. There are many providers who offer cheap tariffs for smaller companies, and there are often even a basic version of tools with the central functions free of charge. Really everyone can get started today without a budget and find out about the existing possibilities and familiarize themselves with digital processes. Everyone has access to free knowledge. My recommendation: just get started.
When it comes to digitization, most people probably think of cashless payments. In what other areas do you provide assistance?
Meier-Holsten: The starting point of our initiative was of course the topic of digital payments. This is also the flight path to reach the entrepreneurs. Our support for other digitization topics is a logical consequence of this. For example, Visa has supported small businesses with marketing campaigns on social media over the past year. Digitization also affects customer communication, accounting, inventory, appointment bookings and many other processes that can be optimized as a result.
Digitization is not a panacea, warn critics. Small businesses cannot compete with the top dogs in retail anyway. Are you possibly raising false expectations?
Frank Thelen: It’s not about building up competitors to the online giants. It’s about setting yourself apart from them through a special shopping experience. In my opinion, this also includes an online presence today. I am a big fan of local trade and I want our inner cities to be preserved for a long time to come. That’s why I hope that small shops will recognize the opportunities offered by digitization and use them individually.
Fortunately, consumers don’t just want quick shopping with a click, but also a shopping experience. Shouldn’t that be much more a pound with which the stationary trade should proliferate among buyers?
Frank Thelen: Absolutely! The shopping experience in the store and the personal touch are the characteristics with which brick-and-mortar retail can stand out from the big e-commerce players. The shopkeepers should invest significantly more here and consider: What can I do to make shopping in my shop an experience and how do I communicate this via social media?
So trade won’t disappear in a digital parallel universe?
Meier-Holsten: No, buyers appreciate the shopping experience, a stroll through the city center, which of course should stay lively. We see again and again, also with the coaching, that retailers personal advice and customer contact are very important. A strategy with multiple sales channels is the basis, but buyers expect more: new ideas, new concepts and services.
How would you outline the future of retail?
Merle Meier-Holsten, Head of Marketing Central Europe at Visa.
Meier-Holsten: In the meantime, I shop via smartphone app, via the website and still via the stationary store – and ideally, all of these channels and also payment processing play together. So omnichannel – and thus omni presence. Then there are experiences, enjoyment, great moments. Stationary retail should make shopping an added value and offer something that goes beyond mere procurement.
Have you actually found the universal solution, the perfect checklist for retail that will make it fit for the future?
Meier-Holsten: Of course, there is no one-size-fits-all solution. It has to be considered how best to use the possibilities for your small business individually. It depends on the business model, the offer, the product or the customers.
Mr. Thelen, how optimistic are you for the future of retailers?
That depends on the willingness of retailers to keep pace with the progress of digitization and to take advantage of the opportunities that arise from it. I hope that brick-and-mortar retail and e-commerce can coexist in the future if brick-and-mortar retail reinvents itself to a certain extent and focuses on the shopping experience.
Diana Dittmer spoke to Frank Thelen and Merle Meier-Holsten
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