Zukunftsorientierte Geschäftsmodelle für die klassische Bäckerei in Österreich – Theoretische Konzeption und empirische Analyse von Szenarien und Geschäftsmodelloptionen

Between 2005 and 2020, 507 bakeries disappeared in Austria. With 1,091 (2020) remaining bakeries, this erosion appears worrying. The statistical figures clearly show that while medium-sized and large bakery companies are growing, small-managed classic bakeries disappear due to their structural disadvantages in self-destructive competition. Strategic management research has already produced strategic approaches to solve such challenges. Nevertheless, due to the increasingly complex, uncertain and ambiguous bread market, the difficulty lies in applying those strategies to secure the company’s existence. Orientation towards customer experience provides a chance to a differentiated positioning by further developing the current business model in a customer-oriented way. Customer experience provides deeper insight into how consumers experience and evaluate a company’s products along the customer journey map.
A mixed-method research design was used to investigate the consumer behavior regarding bread. In three online meetings, eight customers each discussed the consumption of bread. Furthermore, it was predicted how bread consumption will change in the next 5 to 10 years. The subsequent quantitative investigation builds on the results of the qualitative investigation. In an online survey, 400 Austrian respondents were asked about bread consumption along the customer journey. Median comparisons of 13 factors show that both urban and rural areas offer interesting design options for a classically managed bakery. As a meta-conclusion of the empirical part, four scenarios were reported: (1) "Increase of demanding buyers", (2) "Increase of consumers with individual needs", (3) "Increasing importance of online purchasing" and (4) "Bread is increasingly understood as a basic food only".
The path to a sustainable and healthy corporate existence consists of consistently setting oneself apart in the self-destructive competition that is determined by large companies. This is to be achieved by implementing incremental, radical or disruptive business model innovations. Looking at the scenarios, business model options for securing the company's existence were created. As a result, an entrepreneur of a classically managed bakery has 13 different business model innovations at his disposal that affect the manufacturing or marketing components of the existing business model and thus promise a differentiated positioning vis-à-vis the competition.