The total investments in new construction and renovations of retail stores in 2009 was Euro 6.04 billion and thus roughly Euro 1 billion higher than in the reference year 2006 (Euro 5.1 billion). This is communicated in the first excerpts from the EHI Retail Institute's "Ladenmonitor 2011+", published in September 2010. The special focus is on investments in modern environmental-friendly technology with energy-saving benefits, predominately energy-efficient lighting systems with intelligent light control, as well as cooling devices with significantly improved energetic characteristics in the food sector – areas in which the highest savings potential is expected.
 
   Exhibitors at EuroShop 2011, The Global Retail Trade Fair, confirm this trend: "Intelligent use of energy is an important topic that will be in the forefront for retail throughout the next decade due to statutory provisions and increasing electricity prices. In this context, energy-efficient lighting concepts – increasingly based on LEDs – and electronic light control are of great significance. LEDs will revolutionize conventional lighting," predicts Andrea Kleppe, Marketing Communications Director Lighting for GAS and Philips Area Marketing Office. "The recent past has shown that this is happening more quickly than anticipated. Thus the digitization of light demands a change in thinking when it comes to decisions about which lighting concept is the better investment in the future."
 
   Energy conservation and environmental awareness are also top priorities at Carrier: "Ecological responsibility is one of the core values of Carrier which we constantly accommodate through continuous improvement of products, services, processes and sensitization. Consequently this core topic will dominate Carrier’s trade fair participation at the next EuroShop," explains Christoph Brouwers, Director of CO2O Business Team, Carrier Commercial Refrigeration EMEA.
 
   The shortening of product and collection cycles and the increasing competition through the Internet with its fast reaction times lead to stock renewal in increasingly shorter intervals. Renovation cycles have shortened again to an average of 8.7 years in food retail and 6.9 years in the non-food retail sector. About one-third of those surveyed begin thinking about an entirely new store concept after five years, regardless of the industry. Businesses spent Euro 1.37 billion last year for shop fittings alone, close to the same level of investment as in 2006 (Euro 1.33 billion).
 
   Current concepts are characterized by a high level of importance placed on market image, particularly in the food and fashion sectors. "More and more, the sales areas, shop fittings and products are adapted to the respective brand, so that the customer steps into a uniform, authentic shopping world. The trend toward individual shop design is going strong," reports Matthias Hummel, Managing Director of Vizona GmbH. "The use of natural materials derived from sustainable cultivation that are recyclable, as well as energy-optimized lighting (green store) are becoming increasingly important. Moreover, sales spaces that are quickly and easily modifiable, so that customers are surprised again and again, will dominate in the future."
 
   Sonja Scheidl, responsible for marketing at Umdasch Shop Concept GmbH, detects the following trends in shopfitting: "Mulitmedia walls, interactive shop windows, changing atmospheric pictures through LEDs…these are all topics for the future. Large-scale projection onto facades and other large areas opens the door to new possibilities. One keyword in this context is "media architecture". LED lighting is transforming from spot lighting to (sales) area lighting applications, though currently it is not quite there yet." Sonja Scheidl also anticipates that those people who are open to exploring new options will succeed: "In the future those businesses and concepts that can synchronise the digital world with the physical world will flourish. It will be necessary to continuously animate consumers to communicate and interact – on the sales floor and on all channels. For this reason our shops will need to look different in the future."
 
   Nevertheless, at Euro 435 per square meter, shopfitting costs in textile retail are slightly recessionary compared to the reference year 2006; in food retail they have only very slightly increased. Process optimization, a high level of standardization in shopfitting and an expansion of the supplier portfolio through new partners from abroad significantly contributed to this fact.
 
   The Internet, a growing percentage of foreign suppliers, primarily from Eastern Europe, and shorter product cycles have further increased cost pressure in the shopfitting market. Thus extra services, personal customer care and comprehensive after-sales service take on greater significance and support the still very high level of supplier loyalty in the German-speaking retail sector.
 
   The preliminary results of the study (effective September 2010) are currently based on information from retail companies in Germany and Switzerland. On the German market they represent about 25% of the overall retail revenue. The study is based exclusively on personal interviews. The complete study will be available in time for the upcoming EuroShop in February 2011 from EHI Publishing at www.ehi.org EuroShop 2011 will be held from February 26 - March 2, 2011 at the fairgrounds in Düsseldorf, Germany.
 
   For further information on visiting or exhibiting at  EuroShop 2011, contact Messe Düsseldorf North America, 150 North Michigan Avenue, Suite 2920, Chicago, IL 60601. Telephone: (312) 781-5180; Fax: (312) 781-5188; E-mail: [email protected]; Visit our web site http://www.mdna.com; Subscribe to our blog at http://blog.mdna.com; Follow us on twitter at http://twitter.com/mdnachicago  

Source: Messe Dusseldorf North America