The fifth edition of this German-language book has been revised and expanded to incorporate the newest e-commerce developments: key figures have been updated and information on best practices  brought up-to-date, while more time has been spent on the core topics of mobile and social commerce and business model examination. In addition, the author addresses the question of whether new business models are capable of long-term profitability and of guaranteeing an adequate return on investment; accordingly, the topics of economic efficiency, profit maximisation and scaling are also given more weight than in previous editions.

Praise for the book

“In his book, Gerrit Heinemann lists eight success factors for new generation e-commerce. Using international best practices as a guide, decision makers in commerce discover paradigms for successful online retail.” — Internetworld

“Heinemann’s work is distinguished by its clean-cut structure and clear presentation. Complex subject matter is addressed is an easily understandable and comprehensive way. The book comes as recommended reading for anyone wishing to further their existing knowledge and engage intensively with the subject of online retail.” — www.ecc-handel.de

Today’s consumer behaviour is increasingly characterised by the parallel use of media and purchasing channels. To avoid customer confusion, multi-channel retail should cease to make distinctions between the purely online and purely offline worlds. From the customer’s perspective, it makes far more sense for online and offline channels to be fused as part of a “no-line” system in which all distribution channels are interlinked and networked to as great a degree as possible. No-line systems also necessitate the existence of a mobile commerce channel that consumers can use in parallel to the business’s brick-and-mortar retail offerings. Only with such a channel will companies be able to offer the fullest possible range of multi-channel services on an anywhere, anytime basis. In this German-language book, Gerrit Heinman describes the features of no-line retail and the enormous opportunities it can offer – particularly for more traditional business operations – in its status as the as the highest evolutionary level of multi-channel retailing.

Praise for the book

“Very innovative! To date, I haven’t seen any other book that combines offline, online and mobile channels in such a holistic, coherent approach. Superbly written: clear, precise and – as always – with handy best practices…” — Dr. Dirk Seifert, Research Director at Fudan University in Shanghai

“[…] existentially significant answers to the fundamental challenges faced by the retail sector.” — www.channelpartner.de, 2013

This book provides an insight into the working of Amazon’s business model and value chain. The authors highlight Amazon’s formula for success and the threats and opportunities this brings for a wide variety of industries. Understanding the threat is not difficult; dealing with it, however, is a much bigger challenge. Amazon is digitalising entire industries. Publishers, retailers, software companies (e.g. IBM or Microsoft), manufacturers and suppliers, B2B companies, insurance companies, even service providers like the gardener around the corner: no one is safe from Amazon’s unbridled power and ability to reinvent itself, not even Amazon itself.  Just a few years ago, Amazon’s core business was selling and shipping CDs, DVDs, and books; today, Amazon Prime customers can download films, music and many books directly. In Germany, the victims include once heavy-hitters such as Thalia, Weltbild, Neckermann, Saturn and Mediamarkt, with many more to be added to the list. This book aims to clearly and simply present the correlations and the economic consequences of increasing “Amazonisation”.

Financially weaker companies from the SME sector are particularly at risk in the harsh times of the global economic crisis: while restructuring consultancies are struggling to cope with demand, more SMEs are fighting for their survival than ever before. Consequently, industry experts expect a significant increase in corporate insolvency cases by the year end, the majority of which will involve SMEs. This, in turn, will have drastic effects on the labour market, since SMEs are Germany’s leading employers. But insolvency isn’t inevitable. If a company has a holistic management accounting concept, it benefits from two advantages: a) the likelihood of the company being able to resist a crisis is increased; and b) the opportunity is created for the company to increase its value. If economic crises are to be coped with successfully, early warning signs must be pinpointed and dealt with by upper management. For companies upwards of a certain size, a well-functioning management accounting system is an essential requirement for being able to do this.

Content:

• Management accounting principles
• Current status of management accounting in the SME sector
• Fictional example “Toys GmbH & Co. KG”
• Defining the target requirement profile of a management accounting concept for a small to medium-sized industrial and trading company during a time of crisis
• Analysis of the existing management accounting concept of a small to medium-sized industrial and trading company during a time of crisis