The verdict of René Otto, President of rocknshop and Chairman of the e-commerce working group of the German Mail Order Federation, is final. "The raison d'être of other forms of retail is time-limited," he said. Actually, this depends on which method we are talking about.
The growth of online commerce portends a general transformation in the consumer sector. Retail areas in cities will not become a "graveyard" but changes in consumption patterns require a technical and intellectual evolution on the part of retailers.
René Otto presents a classic example of this transformation: IKEA. The largest IKEA store in Germany is found... on the web! This is in spite of the fact that its German stores are crawling with customers. Ikea.de is a successful addition, a new channel that has come into being in response to changes in consumption patterns. In contrast to the approach taken by KarstadtQuelle, another giant of the distribution world, the link between physical commerce and e-commerce is not just a question of means of communication.
A customer who is accustomed to purchasing across multiple channels ends up buying more. They feel better looked after, more closely listened to and this strengthens their loyalty to the brand or retailer.