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Leading retailers must become more resilient and adapt to rapid societal change - or risk being left behind, a top executive warned delegates at the World Retail Congress in Berlin on Wednesday.

Speaking during a keynote address, Petra Scharner-Wolff, Chair of the Executive Board at Otto Group, said businesses are navigating an increasingly volatile environment shaped by overlapping global crises.

“For several years, we have not faced just one crisis at a time, we have faced many of them at once,” she said. “These crises reinforce each other and change the rules of the game. Consumer behaviour is changing.”

Scharner-Wolff said many consumers are already feeling the pinch as inflation rises amid conflict in the Middle East, which is sparking uncertainty across the board. And she urged retailers to step up and respond decisively.

“We must act responsibly, and with courage, responsible courage,” she said. “Grounded in facts and data, guided by values and driven by purpose. At Otto we see these crises as a time to shape our future.”

Scharner-Wolff outlined how the family-owned Otto Group, founded in 1949 as a mail-order business, has evolved into a multibillion-euro international retail group.

“You can imagine how big the journey was until now,” she said. Launching its online store back in 1995, Otto is now one of Europe’s leading e-commerce sites with thousands of partners. But she said the pace of technology is accelerating.

“From my point of view, e-commerce took years, decades,” Scharner-Wolff said. “What we see currently with AI is much faster.”

The retail leader spelled out what that means for companies: “Transformation is not a choice, it’s a requirement. Or I can be even more direct - transform or die.”

To that end, the Otto Group is sharpening its portfolio and expanding into other services such as logistics and finance. Like other companies, Scharner-Wolff said Otto is integrating AI into the workforce and even has plans to install robots in warehouses.

“I’m very sure it [AI] will adjust every job inside our company and every job in our society,” she said. But it’s not just about tech advances. The group is focusing on expanding physical stores through their Crate and Barrel brand.

“In the end it comes down to a very strong cultural challenge in the companies,” said Scharner-Wolff. “It’s not just about upskilling and learning, and being ahead of the curve, it’s also about questioning organising structures.”

Scharner-Wolff closed the speech with a plea to leaders: “Business, politics and society must work together,” she said, acknowledging that it won’t be easy.

But Scharner-Wolff said despite all the challenges she is “optimistic that Germany, Europe - and other countries - have enormous strengths, strong companies and people”.

“None of us knows what the economy and retail will be like in 10 years,” she added. “It’s our responsibility as leaders to shape the change."