Shein, Pinduoduo, Tiktok
Is livestream shopping the end of Amazon & Co.?
29.05.2024, 10:00 a.m.
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Digital direct sales models such as those on the Chinese online platforms Shein or Pinduoduo are spreading rapidly. Established players such as Amazon and Zalando need to reinvent themselves, says e-commerce expert Alexander Graf at “So techt Deutschland”.
“Price always wins.” E-commerce expert Alexander Graf is convinced of this. The founder and CEO of the startup Spryker has been observing for many years how retail is changing in the digital age. Classic retail models are facing considerable problems because costs in Europe are constantly rising. “Every pick & pack costs money. The more effectively I get from production to the end customer, the fewer packing steps there are in between, the better and cheaper it will be,” says Graf in the ntv podcast “So techt Deutschland”.
But it’s not just rising costs and pressure on margins that are putting pressure on retailers. New players and business models are also shaking up the industry. Graf points to the success of platforms like Pinduoduo in China, where users can buy products directly from the video feed. “This ‘selling something within 10 seconds’ – that’s obviously catching on.” Tiktok is also adopting this model and, according to Graf, is launching its shopping offshoot in Germany in June. And that could have a big impact.
“In ten years, groceries will be cheaper online than in stores”
Established e-commerce players such as Amazon and Zalando may be better positioned than brick-and-mortar retailers, but they too must completely reinvent themselves and radically simplify their value chains. “This is not trivial,” the expert stresses. “As a supplier, I don’t want to produce my product in bulk, send it to Otto or Zalando and they will then sell it at some point.”
Using food as an example, Graf calculates: “In ten years, it will probably be cheaper to buy food online than in the store.” This is because the delivery infrastructure is becoming more and more efficient. Not surprisingly, Graf also sees stationary non-food retailers, such as fashion stores, under pressure: “In the city center, by the time the shoe is in the window and draped, a lot of hands have touched this product.” Today, he already buys almost everything online. He only visits stores on vacation.
“Brick-and-mortar retail must be careful not to be completely wiped out at some point.” Can it survive? And if so, how? Alexander Graf tells us this in the new episode of “So techt Deutschland”.
In “So techt Deutschland” the ntv presenters Frauke Holzmeier and Andreas Laukat ask founders, investors, politicians and entrepreneurs how Germany is doing as a technology location.
You can find all episodes in the ntv app, at RTL+, Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, Spotify and in the RSS feed.
Do you have any questions for Frauke Holzmeier and Andreas Laukat? Then send an email to [email protected]