basic definitions
Key terms play an important role in our work, and we want to clearly define and classify them. The term "digital platform" in particular is complex and understood from different perspectives. To avoid misunderstandings, a common working definition is necessary, which we will refer to throughout the project.
Stationary Retail
Brick-and-mortar retail encompasses the sale of goods in physical stores that customers visit directly on-site. Retailers and customers maintain direct contact. A distinction is made between "branch-based" and "owner-operated" retail, which plays an important economic and social role in shaping city centers.
Digital Platforms
A digital platform is an internet-based infrastructure that acts as an intermediary between different user groups—for example, between suppliers and consumers of goods, services, or information. It enables interactions, transactions, and data flows through technical standards and algorithmic control, thus forming the basis for new forms of value creation and market organization.
They appear in very different forms, such as social networks, online marketplaces, app stores, or comparison portals, and are increasingly shaping economic and social processes. Platforms are changing the traditional roles of consumers, producers, and owners, penetrating entire industries and, in some cases, completely restructuring them. Their major advantage lies in so-called network effects: The more people use a platform, the more attractive it becomes for everyone. Low transaction costs, few regulations, and access to large amounts of data make them particularly influential.
Geographies of Marketization
The Geographies of Marketization approach according to Berndt & Boeckler examines how markets are spatially created, anchored and changed.
The focus is on the process of marketization, in which social and technical structures are deliberately maintained to enable the exchange of goods.
Markets are not understood here as neutral or natural entities, but as social, power-based and contested constructs.
