Guest Lecture by Martin Sieg & Hans Görtz (DEICHMANN)

DEICHMANN, headquartered in Essen, is Europe’s largest shoe retailer. Since its founding in 1913, the family-owned company has developed into an internationally active corporate group. Today, DEICHMANN operates more than 4,700 stores in over 30 countries, employs around 50,000 people, and generates annual revenue of €8.9 billion. In addition to DEICHMANN, the group also includes retail concepts such as SNIPES, Dosenbach, and Rack Room Shoes.

In front of around 150 students, the two speakers shared fascinating insights into the group's innovation strategy. The focus was on the development of a proprietary digital foot measurement device, with which DEICHMANN plans to build the world’s largest foot measurement database, as well as the broader innovation agenda surrounding the “Store of the Future 2030” – from the One Device Strategy and RFID to mobile payment solutions. They also shared five key learnings from working with start-ups, from rapid pilots to iterative scaling.

Questions from the audience focused on the data potential of the digital foot measurement device, the profitability requirements for innovations within a family-owned business, and the impact of new technologies on day-to-day store operations.

We sincerely thank Martin Sieg and Hans Görtz for their inspiring contribution. Their visit was a valuable enrichment to our lecture series, offering students vivid insights into how a company with a long family tradition consistently deploys technological innovation in service of customer experience.