Accelerating the transformation? The impact of COVID-19 on the digital maturity of retail businesses

The lock-down situation and subsequent restrictions as response to the COVID-19 pandemic led to a decline in revenue, liquidity bottlenecks and complicated customer management for German retailers. The crisis has put the organizations in a situation to rethink customer experience, business models, processes and IT. Thus, COVID-19 may be a tipping point for retailers to accelerate their digital transformation. For this study, a Digital Maturity Model is adjusted and transferred to construct a set of questions investigating the impact of COVID-19 on the digital maturity of retail businesses. In semi-structured and open-ended expert interviews, nine participants from retail businesses were asked to report the impact of COVID-19 on the digital transformation in the different dimensions. The participating organizations changed the way of collaboration. New business models in E-Commerce were created. Further, less digitally mature organizations were found to pursue their digital transformation stronger.