The Range boss Chris Dawson has revealed plans to expand into Germany. Retail Week takes a look at why it is targeting the market.

Germany

Population 80.7 million

Gross domestic product (GDP) $3.91tn (£2.75tn)

GDP per capita $48,226 (£33,968)

Unemployment rate 5.3%

Demographics:

0–14 years 13.9%

15–64 years 66.1%

65 years and over 19.6%

International retailers with a presence in Germany H&M, Ikea, Intersport, Zara, Notonthehighstreet.com

Economic outlook

Retailing in Germany is going through a rapid transformation.

German flag

German flag

Source: fdecomite

Retailing in Germany is going through a rapid transformation.

Entire store groups are disappearing from the landscape, such as music stores, bookshops and electronics and appliance specialist retailers, and there is currently no end in sight to the crisis in the department store sector.

The primary factor driving this change is internet retailing, which is opening up new distribution channels and enabling new forms of customer behaviour.

For store-based retailers, individual store concepts, including multichannel retailing, are becoming increasingly important in order to survive.

Despite the continued Euro crisis, wars in the Middle East and the refugee crisis, retailing in Germany continued to show healthy value growth in 2015. This was driven by low unemployment and rising annual disposable incomes, according to a Euromoniter report.

Germany’s overall economy has remained on a robust footing.

Growth is projected to strengthen in 2016 as a strong labour market, low interest rates and low oil prices underpin the market.

In the first four months of 2016 there was sizable expansion in Germany’s industrial production and broadly-stable consumer sentiment.