Retail dies hard
The keyword for 2021 is rationalization.
This crisis will cause damage to many businesses in the distribution chain: directly-operated stores, franchisees, multi-brand retailers; that’s true. It certainly won’t be a painless, passing crisis, but it will have its merits.
The reduction in the number of directly-operated and franchised brand stores, benefiting the income statements of companies that will cut back on low-profit or even loss-making branches.
The reduction — obviously not a positive thing in itself — of multi-brand stores too, again with economic benefits and greater sustainability for both the retailer and the supplier. More revenue, less risk for the brand in supply.
Greater awareness that retail is not only physical but also digital. We at RetailTune have been saying this for many years now.
This awareness is pushing companies to accelerate all the processes that can improve online experiences in their relationship with the store. Booking, payments finalized via chat or messaging, in-store reservation systems, and detailed analysis of local audience preferences per store are just a few examples.
The need to train staff to be increasingly prepared, not only in serving the customer who walks into the store but also in using increasingly sophisticated and technological tools. RetailTune has long been working on training store staff, passing on more and more skills and autonomy.
The awareness that Care and Loyalty are not just abstract topics but play out every day in the crucial moments of the purchase decision. A correct phone number on a digital touchpoint, a call answer rate close to 100% instead of the current 60-70%, the ability to restock stores based on local audience preferences.
Finally, I’ll allow myself to mention a money supply that, for the first time in living memory, has grown enormously. This time central governments have distributed real money not only to banks but also directly to businesses and small entrepreneurs. Money that didn’t exist before and that is now available on the market.
What we expect is greater spending power and lower distribution costs.
Not everything is rosy, of course.
In any respectable economy the balance must always be zero, but what is certain is that retail, the distribution chain, will not come to an end in the coming years.
Just these past few days, talking with someone, they told me that in the survey done for their thesis, the audience that has now turned to digital systems for shopping will go back to buying in person as soon as possible. This is also confirmed by research commissioned by Facebook among 2,336 people aged 18 and over: across every sector, those who made online purchases during this pandemic phase will go back to buying in physical stores.
Retail dies hard