While German retail sector sales rose by 1.5% in 2014, inner-city businesses in particular saw a decline in customer numbers. The reason is most likely the increasing popularity of shopping via the Internet: about 17% of sales are now generated online, 18% of which via mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets.
When it comes to the question of how this trend will continue in 2015, the British company Powa Technologies has formulated some interesting theories. It expects, for example, that retail will increasingly employ big data technologies to analyse customers’ behaviour and needs and to identify new trends. At the same, businesses will increasingly use technologies such as Bluetooth beacons in order to provide customers with offers tailored to their specific interests. Powa also expects retailers strive for ever more online interaction with customers.
This includes the option for mobile payment of goods. While in 2014 only some 176,000 German consumers took advantage of mobile payment systems, this figure is expected to rise to about 11 million by 2020. This goes hand in hand with an increasing use of payment apps: their market volume is expected to increase from 7.4 million euros in 2014 to 1 billion euros in 2020. If nothing else, this very optimistic forecast would ensure Powa Technologies itself of sold profits – the company’s main product is PowaTag, a mobile payment app.