Three Retail Shifts that will last in the Post Covid-19 World
Convenience will Replace Brand Loyalty
Brick and Mortar Re-think / Investment in BOPIS
Contactless Payment / Pick-up
Convenience will Replace Brand Loyalty
Retail shelves continue to sit empty of popular items.
I’ve always run in adidas Ultraboost. However, while staying with my in-laws in Maryland I needed new running shoes, and quick. I discovered DICK’S Sporting Goods was offering “Contactless Curbside Pickup”. The local DICK’s didn’t have my size Ultraboost in stock. Instead I went for the new Nike Infinity Run Flyknit. I never would have discovered the comfort of the Infinity if not for the current social and shopping climate. At the time of purchase, my decision was based solely on availability, and my brand loyalty was upended by pure chance.
Retailers are going to need to compete on price, availability and accessibility to keep consumers loyal, engaged, and participatory.
Brick and Mortar Re-think / Investment in BOPIS
Retail facades and store designs will need to be rethought as we move to into this “new normal”.
We already saw many of our retail partners in metropolitan areas creating a designated retail footprint for BOPIS (Buy Online Pick-up In Store), which now will become more and more common. Some retailers are even testing installation of new pick-up windows in store facades, which will inevitably decrease store dwell time, retailer upselling, and impulse item buys. Along with curb-side pick-up in suburban areas, retailers will need to rethink of how to upsell online for this new breed of true omnichannel shopping.
Contactless Payment / Pick-up
With states enforcing face masks and gloves in retail establishments, the general public will be looking for ways to minimize exposure without added inconvenience. Hand-to-hand transactions will become less common. Consumers have been moving to fewer cash transactions over the past decade, and we will see new, more sanitary forms of transactions emerge post Covid-19.
Chip-and-pin has become the new normal, with mobile payments on the rise, but are we on the brink of facial recognition payments. Prepayment will certainly become more common, especially with curbside pick-up and BOPIS.
These are uncertain and anxious times. The silver lining is that when we emerge on the other side there should be an uptick with innovation in the marketplace.
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written by Rob Mammone, managing director New York