The impact of COVID-19 on the grocery retail industry: innovative approaches for contactless store concepts in Germany

Purpose Contactless shopping concepts meet the needs of those consumers who want to minimise social interactions, especially due to COVID-19; they also offer added value by combining the advantages of traditional shopping with digital features that stem from online shopping. The development of digitalised retail concepts has been made possible through digitisation and the use of new technologies. To date, the concepts have been created with various formats through the application of the most advanced Industry 4.0 technologies. This paper aims to provide a deepened understanding of the latest trends and draws attention to the various classes, including shopping functionalities and features. Design/methodology/approach This paper performs a review of current disruptive and new business retail concepts within the grocery retail industry in Germany. Therefore, a secondary research methodology and observations were performed to create an overview and a categorization. This categorization has been used to identify the related cases. Findings The results add to the literature as follows. First, a matching of contactless shopping to innovative business models is made. Second, a status-quo analysis of contactless shopping solutions in Germany is carried out with defined set of criteria. This study created a list of all major available contactless shopping solutions. Third, this study examines two new business models, namely, automated vending machines and walk-in stores, which meet the changes in consumer behaviour and needs in times of the COVID-19 pandemic. Originality/value This paper provides a deeper understanding of the latest trends within the retail industry and draws attention to disruptive business models as well as the functionalities and features of shopping solutions. New store concepts launched during the COVID-19 pandemic have resulted in unique selling propositions of 24-h everyday shopping and contactless shopping.