Packlink Sees a Shift to ‘Phygital Commerce’ in E-Commerce

Packlink, the online comparison and booking portal for KEP transport, predicts that the year 2022 will mark the transition to a so-called phygital ecosystem for commerce. The boundaries between physical and digital offerings are increasingly being blurred, connecting the advantages of online and offline trade.

(PresseBox; Munich) 2021 was a record year for German online retail, with a revenue of 99.1 billion euros (an increase of nearly 19 percent compared to the previous year). Everything indicates that this upward trend in e-commerce will continue in 2022. Especially SMEs are increasingly integrating online and offline sales, responding to the changed demands since the pandemic. While the digital shopping experience has already enjoyed steadily growing popularity among consumers over the last two decades, the pandemic acted as an additional catalyst. This is also shown by the study “Consumer Habits,” commissioned by the international shipping expert Packlink and conducted by the provider Beruby among 5,000 people in five European countries. Many SMEs in Germany have responded to the associated challenges by finding flexible solutions throughout the shopping experience, from product presentation to delivery, to reach their customers in everyday life where it is most convenient for them.

Packlink supports over 36,600 SMEs across Europe in creating logistics solutions that meet their specific requirements. Customers are increasingly accustomed to receiving goods quickly and cost-effectively when shopping online – ideally on the same day. Packlink offers solutions that compare offers from the leading transport companies in the market to reduce costs for both merchants and buyers. The company has now become one of the leading European express parcel services, optimizing shipping processes for e-commerce companies, marketplace sellers, and individuals. The international shipping expert sees the trend towards phygital commerce concepts in ideas like live commerce and click & collect, which are now being adopted not only by large retailers.

New Developments Quickly Established

“These new developments have already become established in the shopping habits of Germans in a short time. What we are currently experiencing are the first steps towards the consumption models of the future,” says Roland Buquet, Sales Director at Packlink. In Germany, this is reflected, for example, in the increasing popularity of grocery delivery: nearly 25 percent of Germans report regularly ordering groceries online. However, Germany still lags behind other European countries like France and the United Kingdom. This results in two major trends for Germany:

New Platforms for Sales and Marketing

Sales channels are evolving, and Web 2.0 is increasingly becoming the e-commerce hub for the younger target group. Therefore, more and more SMEs are turning to social media platforms as sales channels and utilizing free marketplace portals like Shopify and Etsy, which can provide a prominent sales platform for vendors of all sizes alongside their physical stores. This concept has long played a significant role in Asia and the USA and is now establishing itself in Germany.

“We are excited about the flexibility with which our partners across Europe, especially in Germany, have responded to the challenges of the pandemic and the changing customer needs over the past two years. They are trying to get to know their customers better and make optimal use of social media and video platforms. We see a significant trend in live commerce in Web 2.0 with a continuous increase among SMEs and local businesses,” predicts Roland Buquet for the German market. She knows from her daily experience that SMEs require entirely different solutions than larger retailers.

Click & Collect Simplifies Logistics and Shopping Experience

Consumers are now accustomed to receiving orders as quickly and easily as possible and expect a maximally flexible shopping experience – this also applies to delivery. This naturally presents new challenges, especially for smaller retailers. For example, optimizing logistics with appropriate storage capacities and securely and efficiently capturing customer data. “Through our work with partners across Europe, we are currently noticing how strongly innovative delivery concepts are being embraced by customers, and we are supporting our partners in the implementation,” says Roland Buquet. In her opinion, click & collect, for example, has the potential to optimize the logistics of delivery services by centralizing delivery locations and thus saving costs. “Due to these advantages, both for customers and retailers, we predict a continued increase in the popularity of these innovative delivery concepts in the future,” Roland Buquet continues.

‘Buy-Online-Pickup-In-Store’

With these new “buy-online-pickup-in-store” options, the entire digital shopping experience can be tailored to the everyday habits of customers until the receipt of goods. Another trend towards phygital commerce that has been intensified by the Corona pandemic. The benefits for the environment and data protection, as well as the flexibility in pickup, are contributing to increasing popularity.

Commerce is in a transitional phase towards a phygital ecosystem. With concepts like live commerce and click & collect, which make the shopping experience more flexible and personal, retailers and marketplaces are responding to the changing needs of consumers. In this way, they are managing to establish themselves stably in the future.

Photo: © Packlink