In 2020, the variables from the COVID-19 pandemic put retailers through more changes and uncertainties than most ever could have imagined.
Now, the question is how many of the lessons learned by retailers need to be retained this year in the pandemic’s second year?
The online news site Retail Dive carried a useful piece about some of the lessons that retailers should carry forward this year. They include:
- Bringing fixed costs under control to allow for surprise adjustments in spending. This could include switching from a fixed payment model with landlords and suppliers to revenue-sharing arrangements.
- Turning attention more frequently to the e-commerce side of the business, or starting an e-commerce option.
- Being prepared to make quicker decisions to adjust to and ups and downs of sales.
- RapidRatings Chairman and CEO James Gellert summed up the article well with this quote: “How quickly can you move to capture new opportunities? How quickly can you move to avoid huge pitfalls?” How can you grow quicker than you have before to capitalize on a competitor’s weakness? How can you source from one place versus another? How do you source a product when a key supplier goes under?”
