Six Reasons to be more confident about retail

The key points in brief (German)

Reason 1: Nearly 90 per cent of retail turnover is generated in-store

Channel shares (online vs. offline) vary significantly depending on the sector. In certain sectors, such as the clothing industry, as much as a third of sales are already generated via online channels (1). Nevertheless, the dominance of online retail is often massively overestimated. Even though established food retailers have been investing heavily in digital sales for years, buying food online remains a rarity. In Switzerland, only 3 per cent of food retail turnover is generated online. In the non-food sector, too, online sales stand at just under 20 per cent. The majority of turnover – 88 per cent – is still generated through physical retail. (2)

Reason 2: As some businesses fail, many new start-ups emerge 

Yes, there have been bankruptcies. Many were accompanied by sensational headlines. In the first quarter of 2026 alone, 480 retailers in Switzerland were forced to file for insolvency. However, during the same period, as many as 1,624 new retail businesses were set up. This constitutes a factor of 3.4. (3) 
Important context: around 88 to 90 per cent of the approximately 34,000 retail businesses in Switzerland are micro-enterprises with fewer than ten employees (4). Frequent changes of ownership, bankruptcies and business closures have always been part of normal economic activity in this segment. This is not a problem specific to the retail sector: according to the Federal Statistical Office, only around 50 per cent of businesses across all sectors in Switzerland are still in operation five years after being founded (5). One in two start-ups goes out of business.

Reason 3: Brick-and-mortar retail is growing whilst online retail has lost momentum

In almost all European markets, retail turnover rose between 2024 and 2025. This growth is not coming solely from the online channel. On the contrary: following the major COVID-19 boom, online retail has lost momentum, whilst the non-food retail sector as a whole has performed very well, as the figure shows. By the end of 2025, real turnover across the non-food retail sector as a whole was 6 per cent higher than in 2021, whilst online turnover fell by 5 per cent over the same period (6).

In Germany, too, the share of online sales in total retail turnover has been stagnating between 13 and 14 per cent for the past five years, having grown strongly in previous years (7). At the same time, the proportion of people who shop exclusively in-store and avoid online shops has risen from 25 per cent in 2021 to 37 per cent in 2026 (8).

Reason 4: Advice remains a key USP of high-street retail

Online retail and AI are making shopping faster, more efficient and more convenient. However, high-street retail has one advantage that digital channels can only replicate to a limited extent: personal contact. Our GDI study ‘Smart & Human’ from last year shows that this human factor remains central. For 64 per cent of consumers, personalised service and human advice cannot be replaced by any technology. 50 per cent cite the conversation with sales staff as one of the main reasons for shopping in-store in the first place. At the same time, staff are viewed largely positively: overall satisfaction with sales staff (53 per cent) is nearly five times higher than dissatisfaction (11 per cent). And only 20 per cent can envisage a future with no staff at all in the shop. (9)

Reason 5: The counter-trend to digitalisation is an opportunity for high-street retailers

Every strong trend gives rise to a counter-trend. After years of intensive digitalisation, digital fatigue is becoming apparent in our everyday lives: in Germany, internet usage has already fallen significantly this year. People under 40 are particularly eager to reduce the amount of private online time even further (10). This desire for a break is also evident in Switzerland: 58 per cent of 18- to 29-year-olds find that taking time off from the internet helps reduce their stress levels (11). Physical space becomes the antithesis of constant digital stimuli.

The impact this is having on the retail sector can already be seen in China. The ‘20-minute supermarket effect’ is becoming increasingly popular among young Chinese people: they spend around 20 minutes strolling through a supermarket, not primarily to shop but to mentally switch off and relieve stress (12).

Reason 6: Retail has been dying for 2,000 years – but it’s is still here

Today, it is primarily low-cost goods from Temu, SHEIN and similar Chinese retailers that are putting pressure on many European retailers. Interestingly, there were fears surrounding the exact opposite phenomenon around 2,000 years ago. Back then, it was not cheap mass-produced goods but imported luxury goods that were seen as a problem. As early as 77 AD, Pliny the Elder lamented that enormous sums were flowing out of the Roman Empire every year to pay for silk, spices and other luxury goods from India, China and Arabia (13). The Silk Road had linked the continents, thereby triggering one of the Western world’s first shocking experiences of globalisation. The reactions were exactly the same as they are today. 

Since then, the pattern has repeated itself: new retail channels, new formats and new suppliers are putting pressure on existing business models. In the Middle Ages, guilds restricted access to their markets to prevent outsiders from trading there. In Switzerland, it was illegal to open or expand department stores for over ten years, as they were seen as a threat to small businesses (14). Later, mail-order companies put pressure on department stores; shopping centres drew customers away from city centres; ‘category killers’ put pressure on the shopping centres; and Amazon put pressure on the ‘category killers’. Now, the time has come again: ‘brick-and-mortar retail is dying.’

But in most cases, it is not retail that dies. One format disappears whilst another emerges. What remains is people’s need to buy things, to compare them, to experience them and, sometimes, to touch them. That was the case 2,000 years ago. And it’s no different today.

International Retail Summit: Retail Reality Check

How much of the crisis in the retail sector is actually real and how much of it is simply a narrative? At the International Retail Summit on 16 and 17 September 2026, we will be joining forces with international figures such as Oliver Kahn, Anna Rosling Rönnlund and Daniela Schwarzer alongside executives from IKEA, Hitschies and Thalia to discuss why the retail sector is more adaptable than its reputation suggests. Together, we will challenge established assumptions and look for new opportunities for growth.