Post Pandemic Retail Strategies

Fashion Consort News Bytes

As businesses across the United States begin to reopen, questions remain about the best way for retailers to open their doors, with consumer desires and fears both in mind. Let’s consider five key questions related to fashion retail experience, post-pandemic. 1.) What will the reopening of retail look like? Slow and cautious. While retailers are anxious to open their doors sooner than later, they also want to assuage customer fears, and ensure they are not opening themselves to liability. This is an opportunity for retailers to really rethink the customer experience in brick and mortar, including store flow and customer services. Retailers will need to thoughtfully connect touch points between their online and brick & mortar stores, an opportunity to put omni-channel retail principles to practice. 2.) What should retailers be doing now to prepare for the reopening? Retailers should be thinking very much about their core customers and the key products and services customers expect from them. Even before the pandemic, retailers were beginning to realize that customers want more focused merchandise offerings and more authentic brand experiences, tying back to customer lifestyle. Additionally, retailers should really be looking at their total operation, and determine exactly how to optimize digital technologies to decrease “high touch” areas of business. For example, an integrative Buy Online, Pick Up In Store, or BOPIS, will likely be a crucial offering post-pandemic. Additionally, in reverse, retailers will need to have a very transparent returns process and policy in place, that carefully considers the safety concerns around Covid-19. 3.) How will COVID-19 impact consumer behavior over the long term? Consumers will become more aware of what they are buying, particularly from a supply chain perspective, including materials, manufacturing and distribution. They will demand full transparency from brands, as a way to ensure their own individual safety. Ultimately, consumers will rely heavily on brands they feel they can trust on all levels. Retailers are going to have to work very hard to build that trust considering their mission, vision and values. 4.) What will be the lasting effects of COVID-19 on brick and mortar retail? The long-lasting effects of Covid-19 on brick and mortar will primarily focus on in-store experience and service. Consumers will be much more aware of how stores are designed to increase personal space while shopping. Clean bathrooms, hand sanitizer and masks will likely be demanded, as well as clear messaging around products and services across all channels. Brick and Mortar retailers will also need to be much more strategic in where they operate stores and will be required to provide more localized experiences that engage the communities they do business in. This is especially true now, in an environment where regions are affected differently by the coronavirus. customers will expect more localized approaches. 5.) What retail technologies will see adoption accelerated due to COVID-19? Already there is a major shift towards digital showrooms, 3D shopping environments and even digital fashion, meaning digital clothes that can be worn in digital spaces whether it’s Instagram or Fortnight. Great examples of companies working in this space, in the fashion sector, include ByondXR and Fabrikant. Additionally, it’s likely that fashion weeks across the world will move more fundamentally online. For more in-depth conversations about retailing post-pandemic, tune into the “Retail Revolution” podcast now streaming on your favorite podcast platforms. Learn more at www.RetailRevolutionPodcast.com.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices