Smart Retail in Smart Cities:
Best Practice Analysis of Local Online Platforms
Katrin Schade, Marcus Hübscher and Tanja Korzer
Institute of Urban Development and Construction Management, Leipzig University,
Grimmaische Straße 12, Leipzig, Germany
Keywords: e-Commerce, Local Online Platform, Smart City, European City, Smart Retail.
Abstract: Against the background of urban transformation processes aggravated by e-commerce, this paper discusses
chances and challenges of local online platforms. Three hypotheses are introduced. Firstly, the rapid
emergence of numerous local online platforms in various European countries is linked to the urban heritage
of the European City. Secondly, the success of these platforms depends on the integration of diverse services.
Thirdly it is argued, that platforms need to adapt to future topics of smart retail which is why a more holistic
approach is appropriate. A best practice analysis is conducted, which gives an insight into the variety and
complexity of local online platforms.
1 ADAPT OR DIE: SPATIAL
IMPACTS OF E-COMMERCE
High growth rates in e-commerce have contributed to
urban transformation processes in Europe in the last
decade (Beckmann et al., 2016, p. 8). Location-wise,
primary effects of e-commerce caused by market
leaders such as Amazon and eBay are expected to
change persisting structures in the retail sector. In
Germany alone, a close-down of 50.000 shops is
predicted until 2020 (HDE, 2016). As a consequence,
shop vacancies rise and city centers decline (fig. 1).
Figure 1: Shop vacancies in different (sub)urban settings in
Leipzig (2018), own source.
Whereas mainly small towns used to be affected,
shop vacancies in city centers in e.g. Leipzig are
already noticeable. Operation-wise, especially small
and medium-sized owner-managed retailers struggle
to get involved with omni-channel services, whereas
chain stores tend to adapt faster to trends in e-
commerce.
1.1 The Origin of Local Online
Platforms
For the last six years, diverse digital bottom-up retail
initiatives in Germany and other European countries
have been emerging. The main goal of these so called
local online platforms (LOPs) is to retain purchasing
power in the respective region, concerning only
respective local, mainly brick and mortar retailers.
LOPs network local retailers with a universal
digital platform, such as homepage or app. Some
platforms also contain location-based information,
for example event calendars or information on local
activities in the city centers. Either way, LOPs present
a multilateral approach by initiating omni-channel
services which aim to improve retailersperception
through customers in digital and urban space, to
survive on the market.
Probably one of the most popular LOPs within the
academic discourse that emerged in Germany is
‘Online City Wuppertal’. The platform started in
2013, funded as a pilot project of the joint initiative
Schade, K., Hübscher, M. and Korzer, T.
Smart Retail in Smart Cities: Best Practice Analysis of Local Online Platforms.
DOI: 10.5220/0006844901470157
In Proceedings of the 15th International Joint Conference on e-Business and Telecommunications (ICETE 2018) - Volume 1: DCNET, ICE-B, OPTICS, SIGMAP and WINSYS, pages 147-157
ISBN: 978-989-758-319-3
Copyright © 2018 by SCITEPRESS Science and Technology Publications, Lda. All rights reserved
147
of the German state, its counties and cities, called
‘Nationale Stadtentwicklungspolitik’ (national urban
development policy). The pilot project ‘Online City
Wuppertal’ aims at transforming stationary retail,
with the help of omni-channel services (Haderlein,
2018). The website of ‘Online City Wuppertal
includes 59 different profiles of mainly local retailers
who have a local store in Wuppertal. For local
retailers, an advantage of the platform is that the
operator helps local retailers, who do not have an own
web shop, to sell their products online through the
website of ‘Online City Wuppertal’. The website
contains a large categorized web shop out of all the
products the participating local retailers offer, like a
local version of Amazon. Local retailers who already
have an own web shop or website can also become
members. For them, the advantage is that the platform
has an own budget for marketing that is larger than
the expected budget of a single local retailer. Thus,
‘Online City Wuppertal’ contributes to improving,
the local retailers perception through customers in
digital and urban space and to survive on the market.
Additionally, the platform contains a few urban
services, e.g. it informs about local events in the city
center of Wuppertal. However, the success of ‘Online
City Wuppertal’ seems to be unsteady for different
reasons, e.g. the number of customers visiting and
buying on the platform is low (Haderlein, 2018).
By now, Germany counts more LOPs than any
other country. The platforms try to follow the
example of Online City Wuppertal’ or even become
more successful (CIMA, 2018). However, the
platforms differ from each other concerning their
functionalities and specializations. There seem to be
relevant differences that lead to either success or
failure of LOPs which is why the paper offers a best
practice analysis. The authors aim to analyze chances
and challenges of LOPs to offer smart retail services
in smart cities.
1.2 Aim and Scope of the Paper
To address the lack of research, a best practice
analysis of LOPs is carried out, focusing on the
chances and challenges of existing platforms. This is
done in the light of smart cities. Within the analysis,
the importance of a more holistic approach is
demonstrated. We propose three hypotheses. Firstly,
the high amount of LOPs in Europe raises the
question, why similar strategies cannot be observed
in comparable economic contexts such as North
America. We explain this by means of a literature
review of the historic development of each city model
and argue that characteristics of the European City
facilitate the emergence of local online platforms.
Whereas most platforms’ focus lies on commerce,
there are also LOPs that contain urban, especially city
center-relevant services, in addition to retail services,
such as ‘Online City Wuppertal’, e.g. they inform
about local events or list local clubs. The location
specific aspects help to distinguish cities and
contribute to their uniqueness. Introducing the
empirical analysis with the second hypothesis, we
claim that the success of local online platforms
depends on the integration of diverse services. The
strength and competitiveness therefore lies in the
location’s specific characteristics.
Currently, one notices a rise and fall of LOPs.
This might be due to the platforms’ still being in a
starting phase. Also the high number of competitors
plays a key role. We thirdly argue that local online
platforms need to adapt to future topics of smart retail
in order to survive on the market.
2 STATE OF THE ART IN
RESEARCH
At the present time only few scholars have examined
LOPs. This sections gives an overview about the
existing framework sources, starting with the
concepts of smart city and smart retail. Emphasis is
put on the spatial distribution of emerging LOPs.
Therefore, geographical patterns are not only
identified, but also tried to understand by means of
the existing academic discourse.
2.1 Future Topics of Smart Retail
The smart city approach does not primarily refer to e-
commerce. However, according to Silva et al. (2018,
p. 700) “[…] utilization of best practices and
applications of e-commerce and e-business to
escalate the city productivity is known as smart
economy. […]”. Moreover, Bakıcı et al. (2013, p.
139) define the “[…] smart city as a high-tech
intensive and advanced city that connects people,
information and city elements using new technologies
in order to create a sustainable, greener city,
competitive and innovative commerce, and an
increased life quality.” Silva et al.’s discussion of the
smart city, is based on the city of Barcelona. Both
definitions highlight a strong interaction between
smart city and e-commerce. This interaction is taken
into consideration when future topics of smart retail
are defined and analyzed. The following future topics
ICE-B 2018 - International Conference on e-Business
148
of smart retail are examined within SURTRADE
(2018), a current research project in Germany that
focuses on smart urban retail services. The future
topics will be applied later in this paper, in order to
explain the possible survival of LOPs on the market:
Integration, Usability, Community and
Sustainability.
Integration describes e-commerce interfaces
including different urban functions. Smart cities
represent diverse urban functions in their centers
apart from commerce such as gastronomy, different
kinds of services, tourist attraction activities and
others. Hence, looking at LOPs an integrated
approach needs to be adapted in order to show smart
cities’ diversity.
Usability refers to the design and accessibility of
digital services, which are going to be more
individual in smart cities and particularly e-
commerce in the future. All services should be
accessible to everyone in every location.
The third overlapping future topic is Community.
It refers to the fact that multidimensional
communication and networking in smart cities as well
as e-commerce is becoming more and more
important. Concepts of Community such as sharing
and the networking of interest groups need to be
simplified.
Fourthly, Sustainability is an overall relevant
aspect in smart cities and e-commerce concepts. One
can differ between financial, ecological and social
Sustainability (Adams 2006). When it comes to
stamina of e-commerce platforms, primarily financial
Sustainability must be regarded. Especially when
brick and mortar retail is already struggling, a
sustainable financing concept for the applying e-
commerce platform is an important issue. However,
e-commerce is not just a temporal phenomenon and
needs to be strongly adapted to brick and mortar retail
in future smart cities.
2.2 Mapping LOPs
LOPs are a relatively new phenomenon. Data, both
on concept and economic success is rare (Beckmann
et al., 2016: 10). However, a few primary studies exist
whose results are available online. In 2015, the
company CIMA Beratung + Management GmbH was
commissioned by the Bavarian Ministry of Economic
Affairs and Media, Energy and Technology and the
Bavarian Trade Association to investigate LOPs. Due
to the rapid development in the area, the project
stakeholders decided to expand the market
investigation. Data is available on the website
‘Gemeinsam Online’ (English: together online). The
high and continually increasing amount of platforms
on the website provides a comprehensive overview of
platforms in Germany. The study, however, does not
consider LOPs outside of the country. In contrast to
this, the website ‘Local Commerce’ offers an insight
into platforms in Europe and is updated regularly by
its initiator Andreas Haderlein. The website lists
related local stakeholders and provides an overview
on the strengths and weaknesses of each platform in
relation to their relevance for e-commerce. Despite
both investigations’ relevance for local e-commerce,
no comparative research of LOPs has been done so
far. Analyzing existing framework sources from a
spatial point of view, the vast majority of LOPs can
be found in European cities, with highest densities in
Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Italy. Only a
small fraction of platforms is detected outside of
Europe, such as Shop Midland, Canada. Thus, the
distribution of LOPs seems to follow a certain spatial
pattern and needs to be questioned.
2.3 The European City Cradle of
Local Online Platforms?
LOPs emerge in several European cities. In no other
part of the world, a similar density of platforms can
be observed so far. Surprisingly, the United States of
America show a much higher level of digitalization
than the European Union, when it comes to
businesses and economics (McKinsey and Company,
2016, p. 12). Consequently, there must be another
explanation for the high number of already existing
LOPs in Europe. This section develops the hypothesis
that the emergence of digital bottom-up retail
initiatives is strongly linked to the traditions of the
European City, as an antithesis to American
urbanism.
One of the main reasons that has probably caused
the rise of LOPs is the aim to compensate loss in total
revenue of brick and mortar retail. Particularly small
and medium-sized towns are predicted to be the losers
of retail digitization (BearingPoint und IIHD, 2015,
p. 8). In spite of that, the example of Leipzig shows,
that vacancies are an issue even in Germany’s fastest
growing city (Leibert, 2017, p. 10), counting about
600.000 inhabitants and approx. increasing by 20.000
people per year. Over the last ten years, vacancy rates
in Leipzig’s city center oscillated between nine and
twelve percent (Korzer et al., 2017, p. 3). In different
urban settings persistent vacancies can be observed,
such as in greenfield shopping malls, secondary
prime locations or even high streets.
These trends apply to cities worldwide, such as in
Akure, Nigeria (Bello and Ezeokoli, 2015); the UK
Smart Retail in Smart Cities: Best Practice Analysis of Local Online Platforms
149
(Hughes and Jackson, 2015) or the U.S. (Bushmeneva
2016), but the reactions differ particularly between
American and European cities. Based on theory in
urban geography, the following paragraphs outline
both city models, highlighting aspects that influence
the rise of LOPs.
The model of the American City has been
depicted by Burgess in the 1920s. His concentric zone
model characterizes the Central Business District
(CBD) as the center of economic, cultural and
political life (Jessen, 2002, p. 212). Häußermann
points out that CBDs have been mainly characterized
by commercial usages before WW2, which means
that a change of center-specific functions has taken
place since then (Häußermann, 2001, p. 249).
Particularly the process of suburbanization has
undermined existing functional structures in the city.
Based on increasing real incomes, a vast part of the
society was able to realize their American dream of
living in single-family homes in the suburbs (Hahn,
2014, p. 20). The residential suburbanization was
followed by a commercial suburbanization from the
1950s onwards (Jessen, 2002, p. 214), reinforcing the
competition between center and greenfield.
Moreover, the development of shopping malls, based
on the ideas of Victor Gruen, has been transforming
periphery-center relations since then (Hahn 2014, p.
109; see alsp Fig. 5). Thus, the degradation of city
centers in the American City is not a new
phenomenon but has been evolving since the early
1940s (Hahn, 2014, p. 74). In that respect, digitization
can be regarded as a process reinforcing the
competition between center and suburb.
Figure 2: American urbanism between CBD and suburbs,
based on Michael (2015, p. 222).
To some extent, this also applies to European
cities. However, the original conditions are different
there. In the European City, history and tradition play
a crucial role. The city center was and still is a place
of identification (Häußermann, 2001, p. 249). It
connects different functions such as living,
commerce, labor, culture and education in the same
public space (Hassenpflug, 2002, p. 43). Compared to
North America, commercial suburbanization hit
European countries not only later, their locations
were also much more controlled by planning
authorities (Klus 2013, pp. 20-21). Consequently, the
city center has been able to keep much of its
commercial function until now (Jessen, 2002, p. 220).
Nevertheless, e-commerce poses a new and additional
challenge for brick and mortar retailers leading to
decreasing sales and close-down of shops. Thus,
digitization in the European context coincides with
more or less intact retail structures in city centers
compared to American cities. Consequently, the
emergence of LOPs can be regarded as a response to
these negative outcomes from the retailer’s point of
view. However, these platforms should not be
regarded as protest. They rather try to cope with
digitization in a proactive way. Apart from that, the
rise of these platforms can also be traced back to a
broad civic consciousness in the European City. Most
of the analyzed platforms have been initiated by
means of digital bottom-up retail initiatives, e.g. by
citizens, local retailers or local IT companies.
Moreover, there is a tradition of sovereign
intervention when it comes to urban planning and
social balance in the European City (Jessen, 2002, p.
218-219). In the case of LOPs, public subsidies and a
strong cooperation with authorities play a crucial role,
always trying to balance free market economy and
preservation of European urban identities.
In summary, the aspects mentioned above
facilitate the emergence of LOPs in European cities.
Of course, models such as the European or American
City are theoretical constructs (Böhme, 2002, p. 49).
In spite of that, several common and opposite aspects
cannot be denied in both cultural areas. In a
globalizing world, the differences between both city
models seem to blur. Aspects of the American
urbanism have been taken over in Europe in the last
decades, such as shopping architecture or market-
orientation of administration. Simultaneously in
North America, city planners have proclaimed the
European model as a possible answer to the urban
problems there (Jessen, 2002, p. 223). Against the
background of Sustainability objectives, the
European City serves as a model for urban planning
and design (Hannemann and Mettenberger, 2011, p.
68). Digitization poses challenges to both continents
and requires smart answers.
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3 METHOD
3.1 Method and Background
With the thought of LOPs still being a phenomenon
of the European City but drawing a potential for other
city models such as the American City, it is still
uncertain, how platforms differ from each other and
what kind of functionalities help LOPs to survive on
the market. A best practice analysis of LOPs shall
help to analyze chances and challenges of the
platforms in the light of smart cities. The best practice
analysis of existing platforms is based on a
quantitative analysis (fig. 3).
Figure 3: Best practice analysis of LOPs, own source.
The analysis of LOPs will be completed by a
qualitative analysis, in order to get specific
information concerning chances and challenges of
best practice LOPs. The paper at hand concentrates
on findings of the quantitative analysis.
The first step of the best practice analysis is to
detect LOPs. We find evidence on different websites
(fig. 4).
LOPs are also detected by searching online with
key words in order to look for incidences worldwide.
This happens to be rather complicated because of
difficulties to find the right keywords. Since LOPs are
a new phenomenon, there are different expressions
for the same meaning. For example, in German one
can refer to “Lokale Online-Plattformen” (English:
Local Online Platforms) in the same way as “Lokale
Online-Marktplätze” (English: Virtual Local
Marketplaces). Also word combinations like “brick
and mortar retail online”, “municipal center AND
virtual AND marketplace”, “together online AND
commerce” or “smart retail service platformare used
and translated into other languages.
Figure 4: LOPs named in this paper, own source.
Figure 5: eight best practice LOPs concerning
functionalities, tools & services and specialization, based
on Haderlein.
We find 95 different LOPs and identify 42 out of
95 platforms that stand out due to their number of
functionalities, tools and services (Haderlein 2018).
Fig. 5 displays the different functionalities and, as an
example, the the tools and services of the
functionality ‘cross-channel services’. The selection
is done by a tabular display of the LOPs with the
counted numbers of functionalities, tools and services
per LOP.
We then rank the platforms and filter eight best
practices concerning their amount of functionalities,
tools and services but also their different
95
organization
functions
administration
technical structure
42
8
ranking
municipal representatives
operators
q
u
a
n
t
i
t
a
t
i
v
e
q
u
a
l
i
t
a
t
i
v
e
retailers
number of
research objects
detailed portraits
best practices
expert interviews
name online access
Online City Wuppertal https://atalanda.com/wuppertal
Lokaso in Siegen https://siegen.lokaso.de
Wir innzburg https://wir-in-guenzburg.de
Shop Midland http://www.shopmidland.com
Kauf.in Essen http://www.kauf.in
FutureCityLangenfeld https://www.futurecitylangenfeld.org
Allyouneed City in Bonn https://city.allyouneed.com/de
Mönchengladbach bei eBay https://www.ebay.de/rpp/mg
imGrätzl https://www.imgraetzl.at
Shöpping.at https://www.shoepping.at
Findeling https://www.findeling.de/berlin
Atalanda https://atalanda.com
Lokaso https://www.lokaso.net/de/home/
CIMA Beratung + Management
GmbH
https://gemeinsam.online.
Andreas Haderlein https://localcommerce.info
Koblenz University
https://www.hs-
koblenz.de/rmc/fachbereiche/wirtschaft/akt
uelles/detail/_n/harvard-business-manager-
berichtet-ueber-studie-der-hochschule-
koblenz/
LOPs named in this paper
information platforms on LOPs
LOP operators
study on LOPs
https://www.frankfurt-
airport.com/de/infopool/flughafenplan.html
Frankfurt Airport Online Shopping
best practice LOPs
x out of 12 functionalities offered +
specialization
Online City Wuppertal 8 (spec.: most functionalities)
Lokaso in Siegen 8 (spec.: logistic services)
imGrätzl (Vienna) 7 (spec.: city districts)
Wir-in-nzburg.de 6 (spec.: online advertising & communication)
shöpping.at 5 (spec.: platform of platforms)
Findeling 5 (spec.: selected vendors)
Frankfurt Airport Online Shopping 5 (spec.: certain space)
Future City Langenfeld 1 (spec.: concept of urban development)
Smart Retail in Smart Cities: Best Practice Analysis of Local Online Platforms
151
specializations (fig. 6). We then focus on future topics
of smart retail in order to show how LOPs apply to
them, which is explained under 3.2.
Figure 6: functionalities and tools & services of LOPs,
based on Haderlein.
3.2 Measuring Future Topics in LOPs
Figure 7: Characteristics of future topics and way of
measurement in the best practice analysis, own source.
Concerning the smart city approach, future topics of
smart retail investigated by the research project
SURTRADE (2018) were named in section 2.1. Fig.
7 summarizes the characteristics of each future topic.
In the quantitative analysis we use the future topics to
explain chances and challenges of LOPs in relation to
smart retail services. Therefore, fig. 7 also contains a
measurement to what extent the future topics are
considered by the eight best practice LOPs.
4 ANALYSIS OF LOCAL ONLINE
PLATFORMS
Based on the method described in the section before
this chapter presents the empirical findings. Firstly,
the structural similarities and differences of selected
42 LOPs are outlined. Secondly, the eight best
practice LOPs will be measured concerning future
topics of smart retail.
4.1 More than Shopping?
In the paper, it was argued that the emergence of
LOPs is strongly linked to the characteristics of the
European City. Apart from this spatial perspective,
platforms’ specialization in the light of functionalities
and services are also a relevant aspect. The platforms
started to emerge in 2011 (fig. 8). Particularly from
2012 on, a rising growth rate in total start-ups can be
observed each year, peaking in 2015. After that, the
growth rate slowed down again. In addition, a
constant number of close-downs can be observed
from 2015 on.
Figure 8: Start-up of online-platforms, based on Haderlein
(2018).
There is a possible relation between start-ups and
the product lifecycle model of Vernon (1966, p. 16).
The model identifies five stages of product
development: introduction or launching phase,
growth, maturity, saturation and decline. During the
first phase of introduction, a high number of products
from different companies emerges. For reasons of
competitiveness, not all products persist on the
market. When it comes to LOPs, a similar conclusion
no. functionalities
1 check-out & payment
2 cross-channel services
3 mobile services
4 digital infrastructure
5 customer loyalty
6 logistic services
7 moderation & project management
8 online advertising & communication
9 promotions
10 services for vendors
11 social media
12 advertising & communication (offline)
Functionalities of LOPs
Integration urban functions, for example notification of
events in the city, information apart from local
retail in the respective region
measurement: available / partially av. / not av.
Usability open accessibility, digital services in the form of
categorization of products and stakeholders,
compatibility with different digital devices
(mobile, laptop, computer)
measurement: open accessibility: yes / no;
digital services: available /partially av. / not av.;
compatibility: all / two / not
Community sharing concepts, B2B+B2C+C2C communication,
number and activity of platform stakeholders
measurement: sharing: yes / partially / no;
B2B+B2C+C2C: all / two / one / no; number of
stakeholders: more than 3 / 2-3 / 1; activity of
stakeholders: all / more dimensional / one dim.
Sustainability social, ecological, financial/economical
measurement: available / partially av. / not av.
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
4
2
13
24
29
12
3
2
start-ups
close-downs
ICE-B 2018 - International Conference on e-Business
152
can be drawn. Of course, these platforms do not
compete with each other directly due to their location-
based approach. Still, without public funding,
platforms need to perform in a financially sustainable
way in order to survive on the market. Difficulties
might arise due to a lack of professionalism,
acceptance or integration. Considering LOPs as
products in a lifecycle, it can be pointed out that their
launching phase is still ongoing. In this stage of trial
and error, a strong market movement is still to be
expected. In spite of that, several companies started
exporting their business models to various cities,
namely Atalanda and Lokaso competing for
leadership on the German market.
Apart from the numeric monitoring of the
platforms, structural similarities and differences were
analyzed beneath 42 profiled LOPs. Firstly, in most
of the platforms, communication takes place in a one-
dimensional meaning, i.e. vendors utilize platforms
by providing information to the customer. Contrary to
that, a mutual exchange between retailers and
customers or a link between customers does rarely
take place. In Kauf.in Essen for example, this is
exactly the case. Although the platform focuses on
promoting products no communication between
involved players takes place which can be considered
as one of the reasons for its current closure.
Secondly, few platforms integrate urban functions
apart from commerce. Of course, retail is one of the
main motivations for LOPs to emerge. However, the
success of these platforms also depends on the overall
attractiveness for their users, which might increase by
providing different services. While Lokaso in Siegen
currently shows growing sales without integrating
functions apart from commerce, other platforms such
as FutureCityLangenfeld try to draw a complete
digital image of the urban.
Thirdly, platforms tend to specialize in one
function, which is considered as a strategy to develop
and apply expert knowledge and to offer professional
services. The example Allyouneed City in Bonn
specializes in logistics, providing highly
sophisticated services, for example a delivery-time
within 120-minutes.
Fourthly, in most of the platforms a lack of active
participation of local stakeholders can be identified.
However, this is crucial for a platform that needs to
develop persistent structures. Networks and
integration contribute to the acceptance of platforms,
in addition to stationary shopping. Only multiple
stakeholders are able to represent the plurality of the
urban. Mönchengladbach bei eBay, a local platform
using eBay’s infrastructure, may enjoy high
popularity due to its brand, but it fails to connect
urban stakeholders.
LOPs are still in the phase of introduction. Their
success is difficult to measure solely from an ex-post
perspective. Considering the constraints of such
analysis, a representative survey conducted by
Koblenz University revealed that platforms did not
significantly increase sales for most of the 200
interviewed retailers. This illustrates the difficulties
that these platforms face, especially in their initial
phase (Reimann 2018, n.p.). In order to work
successfully, platforms have to be designed in a
financially sustainable way, provoking daily visits of
their customers and addressing different target
groups.
4.2 Smart Retail in Smart Cities
In section 2.1, Integration, Usability, Community and
Sustainability were defined as future topics of smart
retail. In order to find out about LOPs chances and
challenges to survive on the market, the eight best
practice LOPs are measured concerning their
consideration of the future topics in this section. Of
particular interest are similarities and differences of
LOPs, specific examples will be given.
Integration of LOPs can be divided into two
categories. First, platforms were viewed with regard
to their inclusion of diverse stakeholders. Second,
functionalities and services that went beyond
commerce in the light of other city-center relevant
functionalities, were identified. It is noticeable that
the platforms differ to a great extent in the
involvement of number and type of stakeholders.
Commonly, they involve local stakeholders to
guarantee the projects’ funding on the one hand, and
possibly, to build credibility among interest groups,
on the other hand. Frequently, projects are financed
from different sources. It is not uncommon for the
federal state, the city and the operator to pay costs that
can only be partially transferred to the participating
vendors. Even though local stakeholders are involved
in financing the project, it is not clear to what extent
they are in fact actively involved in the project’s
content. They might merely be advocates or donors or
both. Typically, local stakeholders are respective
states, city administrations, chambers of industry and
commerce, city marketing associations, private
associations, restaurateurs, banks and other service
providers, for example in the field of logistics and
others. Some platforms are even involved in regional
initiatives such as marketing campaigns like ‘buy
local’ or ‘Heimat shoppen’ (English: home town
shopping), in which respective stakeholders often
Smart Retail in Smart Cities: Best Practice Analysis of Local Online Platforms
153
firstly get to know each other. However, from the
quantitative results, initially no conclusions can be
drawn from the amount of stakeholders on the success
of the respective platforms because this would require
a network analysis. Considering that, the Integration
of other city-center relevant functionalities beyond
commerce are regarded and differences are
determined. Most platforms focus solely on
commerce associated with optimizing omni-channel
services. There are a few platforms, such as Wir in
Günzburg, which illustrate a local event calendar,
gastronomy and an overview of private associations
on site. Also, there are few examples such as imGrätzl
from Vienna in Austria, which do not consider
commerce as being independent. The operator
understands commerce in a neighborhood-based
approach which is similar to the functional,
multifaceted structure of a neighborhood, without
focusing on commerce itself.
Usability can be divided into three categories.
First of all, it is important to which extent respective
platforms are compatible to different target and
interest groups. In this regard, it is interesting,
whether people are capable and therefore willing to
use the platform. This can, for example, depend on
quantitative factors such as age, gender, family
situation, work, education, but also habits, disabilities
or specific everyday situations. Secondly, Usability is
determined by the website design, i.e. clarity, help
and contact details, comprehensiveness of product
categories, search settings and other special features.
Thirdly, the compatibility of various devices is
essential for the shopping experience. Overall, most
LOPs are well structured. Frequently, shopping is
divided into categories such as fashion, electronics or
books, each of which can be subdivided. Most
platforms proof to be clear and relatively easy to use.
There is a lack of detailed product descriptions, so
that the desired product is sometimes assigned to a
wrong category or to not only one but several
matching categories. Here, an improvement must be
achieved in the future. Differences were investigated
in terms of website presentation. The arrangement of
individual search areas or applications are only partly
well-placed. As a result, the time required to navigate
the respective platforms increases and reduces the
chance of re-use at the same time. A particularly
creative website presentation can be achieved for
example via so-called “gamification”. This term is
defined as a process of enhancing a service with
affordances for gameful experiences in order to
support user’s overall value creation.” (Huotari and
Hamari 2012, p. 19). Non-local retail platforms such
as Mister Spex (https://www.misterspex.de) already
apply this. The exclusive online retailer gives the user
the opportunity to try on different glasses with the
help of the camera of one’s electronic device. Most
platforms still have to catch up when it comes to
gamification, in order to be competitive. Only
‘Frankfurt Airport Online Shopping’ uses a map of
the airport area. The visitor receives information
about all kinds of interesting airport services besides
shopping, by clicking on different fields in the map.
The website could still improve introducing more
gamification elements. Not all LOPs are optimized
for mobile devices, like smartphone, pad or computer.
Hardly any platform has developed other applications
such as apps, which might have a marketing effect
and would contribute to cross-channel measures.
Most platforms have help and contact options, some
even have chatbots. Lokaso in Siegen integrates a
personalized assistance called ‘die gute Fee’
(English: the good fairy). Most platforms show
similar features regarding Usability but few special
features could be found. There is, for example, the
shipping calendar on shöpping.at, which allows
customers to determine the time of the goods’
delivery. In general, the more individual a page is
designed, the more likely the platform will be re-used.
While some processes become more
individualized, there are also future topics dealing
with processes that encourage Community
participation. From an operator’s perspective,
business to consumer communication is important
(B2C). This entails that the company, be it in the form
of the platform operator or in the form of the vendor,
can get into contact with the consumer in order to
initiate or improve processes. An example is the use
of chatbots, which encourage the customer to
communicate with the operator. Another example is
the connection of platforms to social media. Vendors
put information online for the consumer. The social
media website Pinterest stands, among other things,
for B2C communication. A local online platform, that
uses Pinterest, serves to enable the customer to select
the vendor community that he wants to follow. The
platform Findeling can be mentioned here. LOPs also
encourage business to business communication
(B2B). This includes, in particular, the provision of
vendor training, for example on how to use omni-
channel features, which are carried out by the
platform operators and are offered on many LOPs. So
far, there are hardly any platforms with the possibility
to connect customers (C2C). An exception is the LOP
imGrätzl. On this platform, vendors, residents and
other stakeholders connect with each other in the
community hub. They can share ideas through
various channels, including newsletters, Facebook
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and blogs. Also, imGrätzl is probably the only
platform that enables sharing. Other platforms are
geared to the revenue of the participating merchants
and do not work in this regard. However, multi-
dimensional communication can have a positive
effect on the multiple use of the platform. For
example, the large-scale omni-channel company
Tchibo (https://www.tchibo-share.de) is already
trying to tie customers by renting children’s clothing.
This effect of sharing is considered as a separate
future topic here, under the term Sustainability.
In terms of Sustainability, a distinction can be
made between financial, ecological and social
aspects, whereby the three forms often overlap
(Adams, 2006, p. 2). As mentioned before, Tchibo is
testing a sharing concept on its website. The renting
of children’s clothing has a social and a financial as
well as an ecological aspect. While parents can buy
used clothes, they save money and contribute to the
decrease of producing new energy-consuming goods
at the same time. Also some of the LOPs pursue social
Sustainability. In Siegen, for example, Lokaso is
supporting a project called “Zeitungspaten für
Schüler” (English: Newspaper Sponsors for
Students), whereby students in Siegen can receive
daily newspapers free of charge. Further fundraising
events can be found on a few other platforms. The
topic of ecologically sustainable delivery services is
often discussed and implemented, which concerns
both the consumption of materials and the delivery of
goods. This is still a relatively new territory for LOPs
but some have already started to use cargo bikes or e-
cars, for example. Another interesting project is
“Raumteiler” (English: room divider) at imGrätzl,
which can be understood as a cooperation with a
property developer to revitalize vacant spaces in the
city districts. So far, this contribution to sustainable
urban development is unique among LOPs.
Concerning Sustainability, the platforms still have to
catch up. Especially the issue of CO2-free and
resource-conserving delivery should be put on the
agenda more strongly to further support smart retail
in the future.
The analysis of eight best practices based on the
future topics of smart retail describe LOPs’ status quo
and their chances to survive on the market. Since
LOPs are still in the launching phase, further
development remains to be awaited and should be
analyzed.
5 CONCLUSION: HOLISTIC
APPROACH AS A FACTOR OF
SUCCESS
In this paper, three hypotheses concerning a
quantitative competitor analysis of LOPs are
introduced. Therefore, future topics of smart retail
were defined, linking e-commerce and the smart city
approach. Within the first steps of the analysis it is
shown that the search of platforms by definition is
difficult and requires further research. Still, 95 LOPs
are found and spatial disparities among those are
identified which leads to the hypothesis that the
development of LOPs is strongly linked to the
characteristics of the European City. Further research
has to address reasons for availability or lack of
platforms within various European countries and also
on- and offline spaces within respective regions.
Beside commerce, other center-relevant functions are
identified as possible success factors of 42 profiled
LOPs, which is expressed in the second hypothesis.
Few LOPs tend to integrate other functions, which
might be the result of the fact that platforms are in a
launching phase, i.e. means they are still developing.
In the third hypothesis, future topics of smart retail
are applied to eight best practices of LOPs. Large
gaps of development and crucial differences were
identified among integrated Community features and
ecological Sustainability, especially when it comes to
goods delivery. Similarities were mostly striking in
terms of Usability concerning platform design and
clarity, even though background product descriptions
ought to improve. Overall, the research refers to a
more holistic approach of LOPs which also takes into
account logistics, IT, urban development and
business, since smart retail covers several aspects.
Based on the analysis conducted, a set of factors of
success can be identified (fig. 9).
Figure 9: Factors of success of local online platforms, own
source.
Platforms are networks. Bottom-up projects are more likely to be
successful than top-down initiatives.
In order to address diverse target groups, platforms should
integrate urban functions.
Communication needs to be multidimensional to enable
networking.
In structurally weak regions, public funding is particularly
necessary.
Public funding helps, but a stable financial model is indispensable.
factors of success
Smart Retail in Smart Cities: Best Practice Analysis of Local Online Platforms
155
The quantitative research approach that has been
chosen for this study offered a comprehensive
overview on existing platforms. In that respect,
literature reviews and desktop research were the main
instruments. According to their methodological
constraints, no in-depth portraying was possible. In
order to gain knowledge about structures and
organization of platforms, a qualitative analysis has
to be done. Moreover, the competitor analysis carried
out so far needs to be considered as a snap-shot,
observing a certain status quo. This neglects the fact
that the market for LOPs is currently moving at a vast
pace. The results also show the requirement to
redefine the scientific understanding of platforms,
since the growing variety leads to blurred definitions.
This paper argues, that the emergence of LOPs is
strongly intertwined with the European City.
However, further analysis needs to be done in order
to understand prevailing spatial disparities. A contrast
cannot only be identified between Europe and North
America. Platforms currently emerge particularly in
Central Europe, e.g. in Germany, Austria and
Switzerland, but also in Italy, which leads to the
question why these countries are currently the leaders
on the market. Apart from that, even within these
countries stark spatial contrasts can be observed when
it comes to the distribution of platforms, opening up
areas for further research.
Considered as a field of research, LOPs are
relevant from different disciplines’ perspectives. Of
course, commerce and business belong to the most
relevant aspects. Due to its smart approach, IT is a
further central aspect, providing necessary
infrastructures. As platforms redefine local
organizations between producer, retailer and
consumer, logistics is another discipline of
importance. Last but not least, the research object
addressed in this paper impacts spatial reorganization,
requiring an urban geography approach for a better
understanding of LOPs.
It remains uncertain whether LOPs as possible pre-
forms of smart retail service platforms will prove to
be viable in the future. The development and
feasibility must be examined individually for each
location, as this may be the real strength of urban
retail locations in the future.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This research and development project is funded by
the German Federal Ministry of Education and
Research (BMBF) within the program “Innovations
for Tomorrow’s Production, Services, and Work” and
managed by the Project Management Agency
Karlsruhe (PTKA). The authors are responsible for
the contents of this publication.
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