Handelskraft Trend Book 2021 – The Manifesto for Digital Freedom Out Now!

Handelskraft Trend Book 2021 Manifesto for Digital Freedom — Download the Handelskraft Trend Book 2021 »Digital Freedom« for free now!

Today is the day we celebrate digital freedom. The brand new Handelskraft Trend Book 2021 »Digital Freedom« is now available for free download – exclusively for retailers, manufacturers and publishers. Do you want to know what it is all about and how you can benefit from it? This article tells you everything you need to know.

Handelskraft Trend Book 2021: Throwback Thursday

The trend book content team gathered for the kick-off meeting for – well, at that time we did not know what our baby would be called.

First of all, we brought along trends that we had been collecting for six months, we brainstormed, exchanged ideas, clustered trends – the typical design thinking procedure. That went well. Very well, actually.

Just like the follow-ups, chapter and design kick-off meetings as well as several reviews before the trend book »Digital Freedom« was finally launched.

Hallelujah! What a wild ride. Today, we shed a little tear and are thrilled to announce the digital birth of our baby »Digital Freedom«.

Handelskraft Trend Book 2021: Digital Business Is More Than Just a »Buy« Button

147 pages, 10 chapters, one message: digital is now! Alright, one message is an understatement. Get ready for at least 66 messages – that is how many subchapters the manifesto for digital freedom has. Read the »E-Commerce: The E Stands for Experience« chapter to find out

why digital business is more than just a »buy« button
how to get from data to decisions
… from product information to product experience
… from usability to positive UX
… from keyword bingo to page experience
… from products to services
… from shop to feed

Handelskraft Trend Book 2021: Welcome to Experience Commerce

Yes, it is all about the good old basics of digital business once again. It is about personalisation, convenience, service and interaction. However, you will see that new trends and old virtues are not mutually exclusive. Quite the opposite: technological innovations play a role in shaping the user experience – and just a minor one.

Apart from that, the need/expectation – technology – trend – innovation cycle starts over and over again. Thank goodness, because otherwise there would be no more things for us to research and write about ?

Seriously: all the new trends can take the basics of e-commerce to the next level – be it a business intelligence tool for central data management, product experience management for personalised product information or live chats for customer-oriented services.

Handelskraft Trend Book 2021: Remote Works!

So far, so good. Of course, we cannot avoid talking about the new normal in terms of hybrid anything in the trend book either. Writing about it, you know. Remote works! In the chapter of the same name, you can find best practices and answers to the following questions:

- What opportunities does digital office infrastructure offer?
- How can an open mindset, innovative tools and flexible, digital and/or hybrid workplaces continue to promote employee satisfaction and collaboration in the future?

Why does virtual corporate culture have to be far more than just providing internal content on sober intranet pages?
How does tutorialisation improve not only location-independent collaboration and training, but also productivity?
Why are room for innovation and an open corporate culture two of the most important prerequisites for ensuring that good ideas do not fail due to internal hurdles, but can grow into innovations?

Learn how to organise your working day and that of your employees around private life – and not vice versa. One thing is clear:

» The workplace is no longer a place. It is simply where we are productive. «

Christoph Herzog

Handelskraft Trend Book 2021: Data-Driven Business

Think digitally, act in a data-driven manner, stay innovative. We have already covered points 1 and 3 (and there is more to come!). And what about the most important topic of all? Data-driven business? It should be clear that we have also included it in the trend book.

In the data chapter, we analyse why the whole thing is more than just big data, i.e. more than just collecting huge amounts of data. The challenge on the way to data-driven decisions lies in data quality, or rather the lack of it – not to mention legal restrictions or simply inadequate expertise.

We provide you with numerous international examples to show you how you can

pool your data in one place, make it available and ensure high data quality
benefit from the best data-based results
transform data into a valid basis for decision-making, new business models, products and processes

In this chapter, we also show you what the post-cookie world, clustering, storyboards and corporate bots are all about.

Handelskraft Trend Book 2021: AI Undergoing a Reality Check & Tech Trends

A trend book without artificial intelligence? No way! That is why we have added the excursus »AI Undergoing a Reality Check«.

And what else? Well, the hottest tech trends of the year. These include:

DevOps as tech hybrids
Technical business monitoring
Performance boost JAMstack
Low code – high score
Best of cloud
Leasing instead of buying

Handelskraft Trend Book 2021: Facts and Figures

In the well-known »Facts and Figures« chapter, we show you, well, facts and figures that shape digital business worldwide.

Whether it is digital experience, customer needs, social commerce, payment, marketplaces in the DACH area (Germany, Austria and Switzerland), e-commerce, tech, AI, BI & data business or the hybrid working world: we have compiled all the relevant data so that you can really drive your digital projects forward.

Handelskraft Trend Book 2021: Future Retail

Last but not least, the »Future Retail« and »Social Commerce« chapters present strong brands, innovative solutions and modern approaches that will be required in 2021 and beyond to acquire and retain customers.

One thing that should be at the top of your agenda (again) is that future retail is primarily digital-first retail.

Let yourselves be inspired by exciting success stories and discover why »Rethink retail«, quick commerce, »Everything is possible, service is a must«, retailification, the loyal family, humanising business and full transparency are definitely the retail trends of the year – and, much more importantly, how you can implement these trends for your business.

Handelskraft Trend Book 2021: Social Commerce

A time to make friends – that is the slogan for 2021. Although this is not possible physically, we all know by now how powerful digital channels are. Social channels are no exception. Be a guest of your customers, be close to them, convince them with the right content on the right channels via