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Stationary retail faces major challenges. In the current episode of the podcast "Beyond the Knowledge", Prof. Dr. Hans-Christian Riekhof talks about the opportunities of digitization in retail and presents the results of a current expert survey on the theme of Instore Navigation.

The Digitization of Stationary Retail – Prof. Riekhof on the PFH Podcast

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In the current episode of the podcast “Beyond the Knowledge”, Prof. Dr. Hans-Christian Riekhof, CEO of the company locandis and Professor of General Business Administration at PFH Göttingen, talks about the opportunities of digitization in retail and presents the results of a current expert survey on the theme of Instore Navigation. According to Dr. Hans-Christian Riekhof, the three major challenges for trade in the coming years are:

  • to realize an experience-oriented and high-quality design of the store areas
  • to improve delivery capability and logistical processes.
  • to drive digitization also in stationary retail and to communicate with customers not only face-to-face, but also via smartphone.

In an expert survey, Prof. Riekhof examined the digitization of retail. What are the major challenges for retail and how will the marketing concepts of retail develop in the future? These and other topics are discussed in the third episode of the PFH Podcast “Beyond the Knowledge”.

You can access the entire podcast episode here and then listen to it on all common podcast channels.

More about the company locandis:
www.locandis.de

On the topic of "Digitization of Retail", the magazine Rundschau für den Lebensmittelhandel has now reported under the title "The Next Step". In this context, the experts from locandis, who have already successfully implemented solutions in retail, were asked for their assessments.

Digitization of Retail: Trade Magazine Reports on Solutions from locandis

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On the topic of “Digitization of Retail”, the magazine Rundschau für den Lebensmittelhandel has now reported under the title “The Next Step”. The digitization of retail cannot be stopped, but it is less clear how the process must actually proceed in order to stay in the game as a retailer, and which technological upheavals will ultimately shape the shopping of the future.

In the course of the research for the article, the experts for suitable solutions around location-based marketing, indoor navigation, digital customer cards from the Hamburg company locandis were also asked for an assessment. Thus, the following is reported about co-managing director Prof. Dr. Hans-Christian Riekhof and locandis, among others.

Digitalization of Retail: Digital customer card with functions such as location-based marketing and in-store navigation

…With his company Locandis, Riekhof has now implemented a system in the Hagebaumarkt C.J.Wigger in Neumünster that could close all these gaps. “The basis is the digital customer card, which basically does the same as Amazon: it records what the buying behavior was in the past. And this card can then be connected with various functions, e.g. an in-store navigation and a location-based marketing, since I know when the customer is at which shelf.” This opens up completely new ways of marketing, because if a customer is e.g. in the confectionery department, it can be assumed that he is also interested in this product group – which makes him more receptive to tailored advertising at the scene…. “We digitize everything possible. Therefore, stationary retail should also digitally map the shopping process”, says Riekhof.

Links:

You can read/download the detailed article here as a pdf:
https://www.unicconsult.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/RUNDSCHAU-2202_Seiten-15-21.pdf

In a guest contribution in the Food Newspaper, Prof. Hans-Christian Riekhof illuminates the topic of instore navigation in retail. He had previously asked experts about the status of instore navigation in retail.

Guest contribution in Food Newspaper: Instore navigation offers more than just orientation

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In a guest contribution in the Food Newspaper, Prof. Hans-Christian Riekhof illuminates the topic of instore navigation in retail.
With the help of this digital technology, which allows customers to search for products and further information via their smartphone, retailers want to improve their customers’ satisfaction.

But in addition to orientation, the technologies of instore navigation offer many more possibilities, writes Riekhof. Thus, the trade also benefits from a number of advantages: in addition to positive effects on profitability with sales growth, it also learns more about what is happening on the sales floor. With regard to expectations of the use of technology from the perspective of experts in food retailing and other areas of retail, Riekhof conducted a survey among experts in retail.

Hagebaumarkt uses excellent app for instore navigation

Some key results of the (not representative) survey are presented by Riekhof in the guest contribution. He thus provides an insight into how the status of instore navigation is assessed in retail today. Finally, the expert makes a brief assessment of the extent to which – unlike in e-commerce – important aspects of digitization have arrived in traditional retail. The Hagebaumarkt in Neumünster has excellently implemented the digitization of its stationary retail business. With the recently awarded WIGGI app, developed by locandis, a company specializing in location-based marketing and instore navigation solutions, an indoor navigation is active that makes all 60,000 products of the hagebaumarkt easily findable via integrated product search. In addition, the product availability and daily price information can already be viewed at home via the app. Furthermore, the hagebaumarkt app allows a direct digital dialogue with each customer.

Hans-Christian Riekhof is, among other things, Professor of International Marketing at the PFH Private University of Göttingen and CEO and shareholder of locandis GmbH.

Further links

You can read the detailed article in the Food Newspaper here as a pdf:
https://www.unicconsult.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/LZ-Gastbeitrag_Studie-Instore-Navigation_1221.pdf

More about the excellent WIGGI app of the Hagebaumarkt:
https://www.unicconsult.com/hagebaumarkt-app-locandis-fuer-indoor-navigation-ausgezeichnet/

The newsletter from Mobilbranche.de addresses the topic of "Instore-Navigation in hardware stores". The online information channel points out the advantage in product search that the system developed by the Hamburg company locandis offers.

Mobile Industry: Newsletter Addresses Instore-Navigation in Hardware Stores

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The newsletter from Mobilbranche.de addresses the topic of “Instore Navigation in hardware stores”. In its issue on 06.09.2021, the online information channel, which informs decision-makers about important topics, developments and trends around mobile technology, reports on the advantage that the system of Instore Navigation developed by the Hamburg company locandis offers.

It says: “If you are not a regular customer in the hardware store, you probably know the difficulty of finding the product you are looking for. Not for nothing is there an information desk in almost every hardware store where you can then have the employees explain the way through the often long aisles. At Hagebau dealer Wigger in Neumünster, an app from the Hamburg locandis GmbH now helps. Here you can enter the product you are looking for and then be guided to the right place by Instore Navigation. If you need several products, the app calculates the shortest way through the store to find everything as quickly and stress-free as possible.”

Locandis GmbH specializes in solutions around location-based marketing, indoor navigation, digital customer cards and more.

Further links

Newsletter from Mobilbranche.de:
https://mobilbranche.de/2021/09/luca-app-mit-grossem-update-honor-zieht-an-xiaomi-vorbei-instore-navigation-im-baumarkt

Hardware store: Instore Navigation offers targeted finding of products:
https://www.unicconsult.com/baumarkt-instore-navigation-bietet-zielsicheres-finden-von-produkten/

Article on the homepage of the company locandis:
https://www.locandis.de/instore-navigation-mit-der-app-durch-den-baumarkt/

Recently, the PFH Private University of Göttingen published a study on Instore Navigation in retail:
“Instore Navigation in German retail” (Riekhof, Grüneklee, Reutel, 2021)

The Food Newspaper currently reports on the recently introduced system of instore navigation at Hagebau. With this technology, controlled via a smartphone app, customers can find their way around the hardware store better.

Food Newspaper Reports on Instore Navigation at Hagebau

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The Food Newspaper currently reports on the recently introduced system of instore navigation at Hagebau. With this technology, controlled via a smartphone app, customers can find their way around the hardware store better.

As reported, customers at Hagebau dealer Wigger from Neumünster can be guided through the market to the desired product by instore navigation. This is linked to offers and additional information that customers receive directly on their mobile phones at the shelf. This was realized by the company locandis from Hamburg, which specializes in technology, conception and strategies for solutions around location-based marketing, indoor navigation, digital customer cards and more.

The Food Newspaper refers in its article to the finding of experts that the technology is still waiting for its breakthrough. Thus, Prof. Hans-Christian Riekhof, Mathieu Grüneklee and Leon Reutel in 2021 conducted a study for the Private University of Göttingen (PFH) among executives in retail on the topic of instore navigation in German retail. The enormous potential of the technology for stationary retail also became clear.

Further links

Full article in the Food Newspaper (Paywall):
https://www.lebensmittelzeitung.net/tech-logistik/nachrichten/per-kunden-app-hagebau-lotst-per-instore-navigation-161283?crefresh=1

Hardware store: Instore Navigation offers targeted finding of products:
https://www.unicconsult.com/baumarkt-instore-navigation-bietet-zielsicheres-finden-von-produkten/

Article on the homepage of the company locandis:
https://www.locandis.de/instore-navigation-mit-der-app-durch-den-baumarkt/

The PFH Private University of Göttingen recently published a study on instore navigation in retail:
“Instore Navigation in German Retail” (Riekhof, Grüneklee, Reutel, 2021)

In Neumünster, you can navigate through the hardware store using an app. The instore navigation allows for accurate and quick finding of desired products. Unnecessary detours by frustrated visitors are a thing of the past.

Hardware Store: Instore Navigation Provides Accurate Product Finding

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Shopping can also be done without detours: In Neumünster, you can navigate through a hardware store using an app. This leads directly to the desired product. The so-called instore navigation is a trend that brings a multitude of advantages in the digitalization of stationary trade.

The starting signal for the project was given in July 2021, when the smartphone app “WIGGI hagebaumarkt” by C.J. Wigger KG Hagebaumarkt in Neumünster went live. In the hardware store, the visitor can expect a whole new shopping experience – one without unnecessary detours. If a customer is looking for saw blades for the jigsaw, for example, he can open his app when entering the store, enter the saw blades into the so-called Product-Finder and is then led directly to the relevant shelf by his smartphone. If the customer enters several products in the hardware store, the app calculates the shortest shopping route. Searching was yesterday, today is found – thanks to instore navigation.

The technology and idea behind it is the Hamburg company locandis.

Full article:
https://www.locandis.de/instore-navigation-mit-der-app-durch-den-baumarkt/

Recently, the PFH Private University of Göttingen published a study on instore navigation in retail:
“Instore Navigation in German Retail” (Riekhof, Grüneklee, Reutel, 2021)

The online marketing magazine One-to-One has now reported in detail on the study on instore navigation in German retail. The expert survey conducted by PFH Private University of Göttingen found that the opportunities offered by these tools are largely unused.

One-to-One Magazine Reports on Study on Instore Navigation in Retail

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The online marketing magazine One-to-One has now reported in detail on the study on instore navigation in German retail. With a view to digitization in stationary retail, the PFH Private University of Göttingen scientifically examined the role of contemporary tools such as instore navigation and digital customer cards. The diverse opportunities that arise from their use, such as generating more sales and important customer data, remain largely unused, the expert survey found.

For the purpose of researching the contribution that digital customer cards and instore navigation can make to building a digital dialogue with customers on site, facilitating their product search and gaining strategically important insights for their own business model, experts in retail were surveyed in March and April 2021. 66 people took part in the survey.

According to the survey, almost half (46 percent) of the companies surveyed have already implemented digital customer cards. Another 11 percent are planning them. Hans-Christian Riekhof, Professor of International Marketing at PFH and one of the authors of the study, concludes that most companies primarily aim to make the shopping experience more pleasant. “Location-based marketing and couponing, customer surveys directly at the scene and similar functions that digital customer cards also offer seem to play a secondary role from the perspective of the managers surveyed.”

Overall, the survey made it clear that brick-and-mortar retail has a need to catch up in terms of digitization compared to the booming online retail.

Links:

Full article in the online marketing magazine One-to-One
https://www.onetoone.de/artikel/db/869630frs.html

More about the study
“Instore Navigation in German Retail” (Riekhof, Grüneklee, Reutel, 2021)

More on the topic of location based marketing, instore navigation, digital customer cards
www.locandis.de

The trade magazine Hardware Store Manager now reports on the results of the study "Instore Navigation in German Retail" (2021, Riekhof/Grüneklee/Reutel). An expert survey among retail managers made it clear that there is still room for improvement in the exploitation of digital possibilities.

Hardware Store Manager Magazine picks up study “Instore Navigation in German Retail”

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The digital trade journal Hardware Store Manager picks up the current study “Instore Navigation in German Retail” in an article. As part of an expert survey, Prof. Dr. Hans-Christian Riekhof, Professor of International Marketing at the PFH, together with two other authors from the PFH, examined for the university what contribution digital customer cards and the associated instore navigation can make to the digitization of stationary retail, such as facilitating product search in large sales areas like hardware stores. The magazine has now published some research results.

Under the headline “Study: Retail gives away chance for additional sales at the shelf”, the magazine essentially summarizes as follows: There is still room for improvement in the exploitation of digital possibilities in stationary retail in Germany. The survey among retail managers made it clear that only just under half (46 percent) of the companies surveyed by the researchers have already used or are using digital customer cards, this is planned by 11 percent.

Most companies are primarily concerned with making the shopping experience more pleasant for customers. “Location-based marketing and couponing, customer surveys directly at the scene and similar functions that digital customer cards also offer, seem to play a secondary role from the perspective of the surveyed managers”, Riekhof is quoted.

Links:

Article in Hardware Store Manager:
https://www.baumarktmanager.de/studie-handel-verschenkt-chance-auf-zusatzumsaetze-am-regal/150/84280/

Article in Hardware Store Manager as pdf:
Study: Retail gives away chance for additional sales at the shelf

More about the study “Instore Navigation in German Retail”:
https://www.unicconsult.com/referenz/instore-navigation-im-deutschen-einzelhandel-eine-expertenbefragung/

Instore Navigation offers many opportunities for a digitized customer dialogue on site for retail trade. How is the topic assessed from the perspective of the companies, by the experts? A results report on an expert survey now provides insights.

Instore Navigation: Expert Survey Results Report

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An expert survey on the topic of Instore Navigation was conducted as part of the ERDF-funded DeepNav project by the PFH Private University of Göttingen. The results are now available.

Background: In contrast to online retail, digitization in stationary retail is progressing more slowly. This raises the question of a consistent implementation of accompanying digital communication concepts with the customer on site, especially for stationary store concepts. Instore Navigation, controlled by company-specific apps on smartphones, offers a range of options to practically support customers and improve the shopping experience, such as by facilitating product search.

Among other things, it was examined what contribution Instore Navigation makes in large-scale stationary retail to establish a digital customer dialogue on site. Can this generate exciting insights for retail? What role do app-based customer cards play, with which customers can be delivered promotional information directly at the shelf via push messages? How is this topic area assessed by experts, from the perspective of the companies?

The study basically shows two things: retail is at most at the beginning of a digitization of the customer experience in the stores, but there are also very concrete considerations visible on how to integrate Instore Navigation into this digitization process.

The study was created by Prof. Dr. Hans-Christian Riekhof, Professor of International Marketing at the PFH Private University of Göttingen, supported by the PFH graduates Mathieu Grüneklee and Leon Reutel.

Here you can read the results:

Further links:

The digital trends specialized magazine Internet World Business now focuses on stationary trade and its digitization. The magazine reports on topics such as Instore Navigation, Location-based Marketing and the Hamburg-based company locandis specialized in this. Locandis-CEO Hans-Christian Riekhof comments on the successful Instore-Navigation project for a hardware store.

Internet World Business reports on Location based Marketing, Instore Navigation and locandis

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The digital trends specialized magazine “Internet World Business” now focuses on stationary trade and its increasing digitization. The magazine reports on topics such as Instore Navigation, Location based Marketing and the company locandis specialized in this. locandis-CEO Hans-Christian Riekhof comments on the successful Instore-Navigation project for a hardware store.

Location based Couponing, digital customer cards, Location based Marketing

Shopping behavior has not only changed since the establishment of e-commerce. From specialized retailers to large department stores, from outlets to huge shopping malls on the green field, the industry has been in constant motion for over 200 years.

Currently, the magazine writes, the digitization of the stationary Point of Sale (POS) is the next driver of development. Especially thanks to the smartphone and its technical possibilities. This now allows a link between classic and online retail to be realized. Customers can thus be offered new and better on-site shopping experiences. In addition to Instore Navigation, Digital Shop Windows, Virtual Fitting for digital trying on of outfits, new payment processes such as Self-Checkouts at store checkouts are mentioned. Also further possibilities like additional product information via smartphone, upselling offers etc.

Hagebaumarkt – How locandis enables better orientation in the hardware store with Beacons

Technologies like Beacons and QR codes do great things. The smartphone is the game changer, the magazine states. It shows examples of already successfully implemented digital concepts in stationary retail.

Hans-Christian Riekhof was also interviewed, who as CEO co-manages the fortunes of locandis. A Hamburg-based company that specializes in such digital technologies. He gives insight into the successful Instore-Navigation project for a Hagebaumarkt. With Beacon technology, customers of the hardware store are conveniently guided to their searched products via app.


Further links
The article in the “Internet World Business” (pdf)
Website of the company locandis
More about Location-based Marketing (LbM)


The magazine
The “Internet World Business” is a monthly B2B trade magazine based in Ulm and Munich. It is aimed at readers with a connection to digital trade. The main topics are e-commerce, online marketing, webshop systems, online payment processing, logistics, social media marketing, studies and trends around the internet, internet law and reports from the internet economy.

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