For example, entire industries are suffering – air travel, hospitality, entertainment, traditional retail and more are among the industries that have been hit the hardest and are being forced to fundamentally change their business models. Organizations that have successfully weathered COVID-19 all have one thing in common – they are digitally native or have gone through a digital transformation. Legacy retailers without digital commerce capabilities, for example, were amongst the hardest hit.
Product launches have expedited, and MVPs for new commerce experiences have been more highly prioritized. A few customers of ours told us that productivity in engineering has increased, because of fewer meetings and a generally sharpened sense in a company’s mission during a crisis. Most parts of the world have historically come together during times of crisis and this one is no exception.
During this unexpected global crisis, governments are stepping up to keep the virus contained and the economy going. Germany, in particular, is stepping up on both fronts to support the economy and society in these unprecedented times. On the economic front, a package of laws has been signed to support the German economy. One of them is a reduction in VAT starting July 1st until the end of the year which will drop from 19 % to 16 % (7 % down to 5 % for some goods).
Implementing this change will be hard for many, given the disparate back-end systems that all need to be in sync.
If you are already running on commercetools, we have you covered. Have a look at what our Professional Services team has set up for you (German).
I personally and we at commercetools welcome these changes. Not only will goods be cheaper, but you will be able to see yet again the advantage of an API-first headless commerce platform. With a traditional platform, you’d have to wait for the vendor to issue a patch. Then you would have to apply it. If you’re API first like commercetools, it’s really just a few API calls.
Hauke Rahm scales organizations with purpose, bringing strategy to life with clarity and impact. At commercetools, he’s led the global customer success organization through rapid growth — scaling revenue from €3 million to over €150 million ARR, expanding leadership layers, and keeping customer success at the heart of our growth. With a background in software engineering and consulting, he bridges product, tech, and commercial strategy to turn complexity into clarity. Hauke believes that leadership means giving direction, not giving orders, empowering teams to drive sustainable, customer-centric growth.