“Pandemics, wars, economic crises, recessions: Crises are the new normal,” said Angela Titzrath, CEO of Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG, at the German Trade Congress in Berlin. In terms of logistics, you cannot simply “manage away” all of the supply chain problems. It’s not just the case with logistics: crises demand changes, and some changes are permanent. The articles in this issue are united by exactly this topic: change. For example, my colleague Christopher Mastalerz sheds light on the changes to Zalando’s fee model and spoke to various retailers. The online retailer’s new strategy required a rethink from the connected retail partners: the product selection was reconsidered and only certain price ranges are now offered. The profitability of orders for Zalando was questioned a year later, so the fee adjustment even meant a potential exit from the program for some.
The Herzogenaurach-based sporting goods manufacturer Adidas also announced changes around a year ago. After the change in the board, the signs were good for the retail sector under the returned CEO Bjørn Gulden. Silja Hintz, Vice President Sales Central Europe, also agreed: “We are convinced that close cooperation with retailers is a key factor,” she said in an interview in summer 2024. How this relationship with retailers has developed since then Petra Steinke wanted to know from dealers. And Etos’ Key Customer Day also underwent some changes this year. Not only did it operate under the clearer name of Customer Day for the first time in Werne in mid-November, but this time instead of dealers reporting on their experiences, it was mainly Etos partners who spoke about their latest software solutions.
And then there was the German Trade Congress in Berlin. In addition to the usual political exchanges, there were repeated calls for more cooperation in order to be prepared for future changes. “Anyone who tries to push through an agenda unilaterally will fail,” said Sven Giegold from the Greens. You can read in this issue what other topics were discussed – and also why HDE President Alexander von Preen took the stage armed with a chainsaw.
