This publication was produced by the OECD Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities (CFE), led by Lamia Kamal-Chaoui, Director, and Nadim Ahmad, Deputy Director, as part of the programme of work of the Committee on SMEs and Entrepreneurship (CSMEE), the Local Employment and Economic Development Committee (LEED), and the Working Party on Urban Policy (WPURB) of the Regional Development Policy Committee (RDPC). It received financial support from the European Commission through the project “The Twin Transition and the Future of Retail SMEs in Urban and Rural Areas”.
Marco Bianchini, Economist and D4SME Coordinator (CFE/SMEE) co-ordinated the report, under the supervision of Lucia Cusmano, Head of the SME and Entrepreneurship Division (CFE), in co-operation with Anna Rubin (CFE/LESI), Wessel Vermeulen (CFE/LESI, Trento), Camille Viros (CFE/CITY) and Tadashi Matsumoto (CFE/CITY), under the supervision of Soo-Jin Kim (CFE/CITY).
Chapter 2 on "The twin transition of retail SMEs" was prepared by José Montegu, Policy Analyst (CFE/SMEE), under the supervision of Marco Bianchini, with research support from Daniel Ruiz de la Concha (CFE/SMEE) and Maria Sofia Malaver Suarez (CFE/SMEE). The section on "Measuring web technology adoption in retail: Evidence from five EU countries" was prepared by Giuseppe Cappellari, under the supervision of Wessel Vermeulen and Carlo Menon (CFE/LESI, Trento). The section was subsequently revised and adapted by José Montegu to ensure consistency and coherence within the chapter. Comments from Rudiger Ahrend (CFE/EDS) are gratefully acknowledged.
Chapter 3 on "Addressing labour shortages in Europe’s retail sector" was prepared by Wessel Vermeulen, with support of Francesco Romagnoli (intern), Mattia Corbetta (CFE/LESI, Trento) and Katerina Ciampi Stancova (CFE/LESI, Trento). Comments from Ana Moreno Monroy (CFE/EDS) and Karen Maguire (CFE) are gratefully acknowledged.
Chapter 4 on "Harnessing the twin transition to revitalise retail SMEs in town and city centres" was prepared by David Burgalassi (CFE/CITY), Lukas Kammerer (CFE/LESI) and Thomas Kergonou Jimenez (CFE/CITY), under the supervision of Anna Rubin (CFE/LESI) and Camille Viros (CFE/CITY), with contributions from Celia Benhocine (CFE/LESI), Elizabeth Doherty (CFE/CITY), Marion Lagadic (CFE/CITY), Andrew Lombardi (CFE/CITY) and Alicja Mizeracka (CFE/CITY).
Special thanks for their co-operation and feedback in the preparation of the report are extended to Joanna Zawistowska (Policy Officer), Geraldine Fages (Senior Expert), and Giulia Del Brenna (Head of Unit) from the Food, Retail and Health Ecosystem, Directorate General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs of the European Commission, led by Kristin Schreiber (Director).
Thanks are due to the Delegates of the CSMEE to whom the report was submitted for comments by the 23rd of December 2025, under cote [CFE/SME(2025)22], and of the other relevant OECD Committees and Working Party (LEED, RDPC and WPURB).
Thanks as well to Marguerita Lane (Economist) and Michele Tuccio (Senior Economist, Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs, OECD), Jan Tscheke (Policy Analyst, Directorate for Science, Technology and Innovation, OECD), Leena Whittaker (Director, EuroCommerce) and Else Groen (Director General, Independent Retail Europe), for their thoughtful comments on the draft report.
The report also benefited from discussions held in four dedicated knowledge events. Special thanks to Deputy State Secretary Zaiga Lepina (Ministry of Economics, Latvia) and to the experts who contributed as panellists (in alphabetical order): Claire Albaret (Chief Operating Officer, Belgian Association of Town Centre Management, Member of the board of directors of Town Centre Management Worldwide), Prof. Else Bruegelmans (Full Professor, Faculty of Economy and Business, KU Leuven), Philippe Crist (Senior Advisor, Mobility Innovation and Foresight, International Transport Forum, OECD), Anton Delbarre (Chief Economist, EuroCommerce), Valeriya Despaihne-Chernyak (Adviser Jobs & Skills, EuroCommerce), Oran Doherty (Head, Retail Ireland Skillnet, Ireland), Diana Filip (Deputy CEO & Chief Development Officer, JA Europea), Fabio Fulvio (Director of Marketing, Innovation and Internationalization, ConfCommercio), Diane Gallais (Deputy Head of the Action Coeur de Ville national programme, Agence Nationale pour la Cohésion des Territoires, France), Annika Flaten (Director of Commerce and Tourism, UNI Europa, The European Services Workers Union), Fabian Ladda (Head of Policy for Local Commerce, Wolt), Holly Lewis (Co-founding Partner at We Made That and Town Architect for London Borough of Hackney), Helena Loredan (Director of the Institute for Youth, Culture, and Tourism, Koper, Slovenia), Pedro Profírio Coutinho Guimarães (Assistant Professor at the Institute of Geography and Spatial Planning, Lisbon University, Portugal), Mats Johansson (CEO, Swedish Retail and Wholesale Council, Sweden), Friederike Morgenstern (Counsellor, Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Action of Germany), Anne Papke (Legal Officer, Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Action of Germany), Hiroyuki Oiwa (former Policy Analyst, OECD CFE), Eleonora Orso (Forum and Policy Officer, EuroCities), Lukas Reiff (Policy Officer, Federal Ministry of Labour and Economy of Austria), Ricardo Rio (Mayor of Braga, Portugal), Prof. Thomas Rudolph (Full Professor of Marketing and Retail Management, University of St Gallen), Gilles Scholtus (Director General, General Directorate SME, Crafts and Trade, Ministry of Economy of Luxembourg), Isabelle Senand (Director of Studies, Fédération des Entreprises du Commerce et de la Distribution), James Waterworth (Director of EU Public Policy, Amazon), Josep Xurigué (Deputy Director, Barcelona Comerç).
The report also benefited from discussions held with national governments officials and city practitioners for the various case studies. Special thanks to the experts who contributed their insights (in alphabetical order): Nerea Ansuategui (Business Promotion Technician, Bilbao Ekintza, Spain), Sofia Barturen Ugalde (Head of the SME and Retail Division, Bilbao Ekintza, Spain), Charlotte Boulton (Principal Research Officer, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, United Kingdom), Dominique Consille (Head of the Action Coeur de Ville national programme, Agence Nationale pour la Cohésion des Territoires, France), Pedro Couto Soares (Advisor to the Mayor, Municipality of Braga, Portugal), Romain Desroches (City centre manager, Municipality of Poitiers, France), CJ Dippel (Spatial economy policy advisor, Municipality of Amsterdam, The Netherlands), Luc Faraldi (International policy coordinator, Agence Nationale pour la Cohésion des Territoires, France), Mateja Hrvatin Kozlovič (Deputy Mayor, Municipality of Koper, Slovenia), Dr. Darka Jezeršek Žerjal (Expert Associate, Municipality of Koper, Slovenia), Karen Kenny (Planning Senior Advisor, Department of Housing Local Government and Heritage, Ireland), Kolokotroni Konstantina (Officer, Ministry of Environment, Greece), Chiara Lucchini (Head of the Territorial development, Torino Urban Lab, Italy), Arnulf Marquardt-Kuron (City manager, Municipality of Bonn, Germany), Dritsas Michalis (Executive, Ministry of National Economy and Finance, Greece), William Milburn (Delivery, Data, Finance and Programme Delivery Leader, Department for Levelling Up, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, United Kingdom), Liliana Popescu (Associated Professor, Geography Department, University of Craiova, Romania), Julie Reynard (Deputy Mayor for Local Economy and Agriculture, Delegate for Trade, Markets and Crafts, Municipality of Poitiers, France), Pauline Riordan (Planning Advisor, Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Ireland), Antonios Stasis (Director General, Ministry of Digital Governance, Greece), Jason Taylor (Planning Advisor, Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government, Ireland), Christina Tseliou (Head of Communication and Publicity, Ministry of Economy & Finance, Greece), Cristiana Vîlcea (PhD Lecturer, Geography Department, University of Craiova, Romania).
Jack Waters (CFE) helped prepare the report for publication with the support of Heather Mortimer Charoy (CFE), who also provided project and administrative assistance together with Juan Mendez (CFE).