European CEO: With the rapid growth of digital consumption and the explosion of social media channels, marketers are faced with more and more choices when considering how they want to reach the consumer. With me to discuss is Dietmar Müller, CEO of KPS Consulting.

Dietmar, how important would you say the omni-channel era is for business and do you think it is being capitalised sufficiently?

Dietmar Müller: Traditional retailers are under attack by digital pure players. They have reacted by establishing their own web presence, but in a way it’s nothing more than playing catch up. While it will keep them in the game, it won’t help them stay ahead of it.

Retailers need to devise an innovative digital strategy to become omni-channel-capable, integrating their offline and online channels, but also devising innovative ways to capitalise on the strongest weapon they have against pure players: their physical presence.

The most innovative retailers are investing now in new technology and new ways of doing business. These are the retailers that will be able to capitalise on their investments in the end. But those that don’t act soon will see their market shares dwindle.

European CEO: Why would you say a comprehensive digital strategy is so important to omni-channel?

Dietmar Müller: Carly Fiorina, the former CEO of HP, put it in a nutshell: “Everything that can be digitalised will be digitalised.”

We are seeing a shift in traditional roles: future customers will have a growing impact on the manufacturing process by demanding personalised products configured at the retailer’s local store or in their web shop.

Digitalisation is not just about digitalising existing business processes, it really goes a lot further than that: we are essentially creating new business and operating models. An innovative omni-channel model will cater for these developments.

European CEO: And how does your advice differ from other consulting companies?

Dietmar Müller: With so many disruptive developments on the market, retailers are becoming unsettled. They are seeking innovative ways of doing business at a time when the future is difficult to predict. They are lacking sound strategies and roadmaps on how to transition from the ‘as is’ to the ‘to be’.

KPS provides consulting at all levels – from innovative strategy to transforming business processes and implementing state-of-the-art applications and technology solutions. And we are one of the few companies who are able to cover all areas: classic enterprise resource management, e-commerce and customer management. So our customers can work with a single responsible partner.

European CEO: So your approach is different?

Dietmar Müller: Yes, definitely. Process and technology landscapes have become overly complex and companies tend to shy away from profound changes. They keep tackling one issue at a time, which essentially means they keep renovating an old house again and again.

Our approach is a radically different greenfield approach: it enables a company to construct a “new build” using all of the expertise they have amassed over the years but without being held back by legacy technology or process restrictions.

This gives them a far better chance of introducing innovative solutions and driving success. Our motto is: innovate, don’t renovate!

European CEO: You actually went public at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in 2007 – how have you developed since then?

Dietmar Müller: KPS went public in 2007 by means of a reverse-take over. We acquired two listed penny-stocks in desperate need of restructuring and turned them around in just two years. Since then KPS has developed into one of the most successful listed companies on the Frankfurt stock exchange.

Our shareholders benefit from our extraordinary and robust development. We have been paying our dividends continually since 2010, with sales and profits performing exceptionally well.

After reporting €50m in sales in 2010, we more than doubled that figure to over €120m in 2015. Operating profits increased from €4m to €18m during the same period and we are forecasting continued growth for the coming years.

European CEO: And how do you see your business developing as technology and the online world evolves?

Dietmar Müller: Digitalisation is going to change how companies do business. Digital networks will link manufacturing processes with omni-channel infrastructures and will take personalisation to the next level. One of the biggest challenges will be the ability to not only collect massive amounts of data but also to leverage the data to predict customer behaviour – in real time.

Decision makers are starting to focus on more on the culture of innovation and completely new business models are emerging. Our company and its customers are very well positioned to address these developments.